ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Two Tampa Bay area women are now back in possession of their own wedding dresses nine years after a mix-up got them switched.
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Two Tampa Bay area women are now back in possession of their own wedding dresses nine years after a mix-up got them switched.
Marie Keeney was planning a ceremony to renew her vows with her husband of nine years. Her 8-year-old son, Braden, asked them to do it so he could be part of the ceremony.
But the planning came to a halt last year when she took the wedding dress out of the storage box and realized it wasn’t hers.
She was devastated and canceled the ceremony.
“It made me cry,” she said. “And I never cry.”
But Keeney, 45, began investigating.
She contacted the dry cleaners that did the preservation and was told the task was outsourced to a New York company, Wedding Gown Preservation.
She thought her dress was lost but wanted to get the dress she had back to its proper owner.
She posted photos on Facebook and contacted the media, in hopes the owner would learn about the dress. But no one came forward.
Then, Wedding Gown Preservation found Keeney’s dress and shipped it back to the dry cleaners.
“I think it’s a miracle,” Keeney said. “I can’t believe I got my dress back.”
An invoice also found showed the other dress belonged to a Katherine Stephenson. The St. Petersburg Times tracked down Stephenson living three miles from Keeney. Stephenson long accepted her dress was lost.
She picked it up last week.