Wellington woman Donna McQuaid has asked the public for help after her wedding dress was accidentally donated to an op-shop.
McQuaid says she lent the dress to a friend, before it somehow got taken to a Salvation Army in what she describes as "an almighty cockup".
Speaking to Breakfast this morning, McQuaid said she's not usually a sentimental person, but the dress holds a lot of family history and she wanted her children to see it. "I'm gutted, I can't replace it."
McQuaid had lent it to a friend for her own wedding and when she went to ask the friend for it back in August, she told her she'd drop the dress off.
"But then I didn't hear anything until last Friday when she rang me and said 'I'm so sorry, it's gone, it's accidentally went to the op-shop in Lower Hutt, I've been in, they don't have it and I can't get it back I'm so sorry'.
"And that's when the whole saga started, because if it went to somewhere in Lower Hutt, you know maybe someone has seen it and so I started posting it on some Facebook groups and yeah, it spiralled."
She said the Salvation Army have been "fantastic" about the situation, looking for the dress in all their Wellington stores.
"But it's not there. Somebody has a bargain, it's a stunning dress, it was still in its original box, still with my veil and jacket and belt. It's not just the dress, it's the full outfit.
"Somebody, somewhere has seen this in an op-shop and I'm sure they've just been absolutely stunned at their luck ."
She said whoever has it, will look "stunning" on their own wedding day, "but when that's over, can I please have it back".
A teary McQuaid explained to Breakfast that a lot of her last memories with her late mother were leading up to her wedding.
"My marriage will carry on, I can make more wedding memories, I can't make any more memories of my parents."
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