Interval House, Canada’s first shelter for abused women, wanted to increase awareness and get more people talking about domestic abuse.

But research showed us that many people have become desensitized to conventional images of abused women, believing that it’s something that only happens to “someone else”.

We needed to find an unexpected way to demonstrate that domestic abuse can happen to anyone.

Through visiting Interval House, we learned that, for many women, marriage is when abuse begins.

So we created The Broken Bride Registry. It is like a regular wedding registry, but instead of fine china or linens, it features items like “Jealous Rage Bandages”, “Cigarette Burn Cream”, and the “Don’t Talk Back Arm Sling”.

Through the registry, people could unlock real stories of domestic abuse.

We launched this idea at Canada’s largest bridal show.

Having learned that marriage is often when abuse begins, we decided to bring this shocking fact to life and specifically target brides-to-be and their loved ones.

We launched The Broken Bride Registry at Canada’s largest bridal show, where we knew we would stand out and provoke conversation.

The Broken Bride Registry launched at Canada’s largest bridal show.

Amongst the booths of tiaras, chocolate, and vacation packages at the bridal show was our booth, with all our shocking registry items on display.

At the booth, people could pick up a scanner – the same kind used when creating a registry in a department store – to scan the items and unlock true stories of abuse.

They could then add Interval House to their own bridal registry, right there and then. As many couples already have so many traditional registry items already, this provided a unique way for excited newlyweds to help those less fortunate than themselves.

Since the bridal show, we have continued to drive people to the online registry BrokenBride.ca, where they can dive deeper into the real stories of abuse, donate, and add Interval House to their registry.

Since the bridal show, we have continued to drive people to the online registry BrokenBride.ca, where they can dive deeper into the real stories of abuse, donate, and add Interval House to their registry.

The campaign is ongoing, but since launch, donations have increased by 14% (vs. the previous year). Plus, many people have already added Interval House to their registry, so come next wedding season, there will be a significant spike in donations.

The Broken Bride Registry successfully sparked a national conversation about domestic abuse. It was featured on several national news programs. It has also been widely shared on social media, and has 585 million earned media impressions so far.