Woman reunites with 'priceless' wedding dress after mom accidentally donates it to yard sale
Renee Lounsbury says her sparkly, corset-top dress, which she wore to her wedding in 2018, cost around $1,300 new. It was her "dream dress for that day."
"Definitely wasn't something I would typically pick out," she told Windsor Morning's Amy Dodge on Thursday. "But once I put it on, it fit me perfectly, and I fell in love with it very quickly."
The bridal blunder began last week, when the Sun Parlour Curling Club hosted its annual yard sale in Leamington, Ont. Lounsbury's mom, Daphne Derbyshire, had donated several items she had been collecting for the sale — and had kept them in the same bedroom where Lounsbury's dress was stored.
"Unfortunately, she thought the box the dress was in was her dress, so she kind of just pushed it into the pile," Lounsbury said.
It wasn't until after Saturday's sale was over that her mom realized what she'd done, Lounsbury said. Sometime after 10 p.m., she called her daughter in a panic.
"She was frantic, crying, cussing, 'I'm sorry,' and I was like, 'What is going on?'" Lounsbury said. She thought something terrible had happened, such as a death.
Then, her mom revealed the news: "I sold your wedding dress."
"I'm like, 'What are you talking about?'" Lounsbury said.
Her mom explained what had happened. Lounsbury said it was an "oh no" moment for her, but that she also wanted to console her mom. "It's just a dress," she said, adding that she has many photos and memories of her wedding day.
Still, Lounsbury wanted to get it back. She told her mom to reach out to the curling club to make a public appeal for the dress, which they did the next day.
"We realize this is a shot in the dark, but we have to try!" the club said in a Facebook post.
From there, the community worked its magic. The post travelled across social media, garnering nearly 200 shares on Facebook alone.
"It was crazy seeing all the nice comments, and the people offering to help and wishing me well," Lounsbury said. Some people even offered to give their dresses to whomever bought Lounsbury's dress so the person would still have something to wear on their big day.
By Tuesday, the dress had been found. The woman who bought the gown had seen one of the posts and reached out to Lounsbury. "And then my mom was able to go pick up my dress and the lady was more than happy to give it back," she said.
16 years after her wedding, this Guelph woman opens package with gown to find it's not hers
It's unclear how much the woman paid for the dress at the yard sale, but she refused to take any money for it. "She was very kind, she didn't ask for anything in return, she just wanted me to get my dress back," Lounsbury said.
To Lounsbury, though, the dress will always be "priceless."
"It's something you wore on one of the most special days of your life, so it was nice to get it back at no cost," she said.
The next step will be getting the dress resealed in the box, Lounsbury said, and storing it at her mom's house again. She said that after all that, she's confident the dress is now safe — and maybe, down the road, her own daughter will want to try it on.
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