A mother kept her wedding gown in a box for her daughter to wear, but 32 years later, when they opened the box, the wrong gown was inside
When they opened it they realized something was wrong
A bride-to-be who planned to wear her mother’s wedding gown for her rehearsal dinner discovered that the dress they had stored inside a sealed box for 32 years was not the same one her mother had worn down the aisle on her wedding day. The mother and daughter believe that there was a mix-up when the mother had the dress preserved in the nineties.
Stacy Cohen and her daughter, Madison, told People that the idea for Madison to first use her mother’s dress as part of her wedding celebrations came when she looked through her mother’s wedding photos. “I was beyond excited at the thought of her wearing something so special to me and creating her own memories in it,” Stacy told the outlet.
Stacy bought the gown in 1992, choosing a Christos Yiannakou design made from silk and French lace, which she later wore to her wedding. In 1994, she had the dress preserved in a sealed box, which she stored for more than 30 years.
Stacy and Madison discussed bringing the dress out of the box to use for Madison’s rehearsal dinner ahead of her 2028 wedding. They also discussed making alterations to the dress, such as shortening it or transforming it into a robe. However, when they opened the box, the dress inside was not the same one Stacy had worn at her wedding.
Stacy and Madison searched for the dress
Madison recorded the moment she and her mother opened the box and captured their initial shock upon realizing her dress wasn’t inside. She later posted the video to TikTok.
“The dress wasn’t even remotely similar to my mom’s,” Madison told People. “Once the shock wore off and we realized what it actually meant, it became incredibly heartbreaking.” Stacy told the outlet that she was “completely shocked and devastated.”
The mother and daughter sought answers regarding what had happened to the dress, eventually concluding that her mother’s dress may have been swapped with a dress belonging to one of her sisters. Wedding photographs seemed to show that the dress Stacy had in her box belonged to her oldest sister, Sheri.
Stacy’s younger sister had borrowed Stacy’s dress for her own ceremony in 1994. Jodi said she later gave the gown to their mother, who arranged to have the dress worn by Stacy and Jodi preserved along with Sheri’s dress. However, they believe the boxes may have been accidentally switched when their mother returned them and, as they were sealed, Stacy had no way of knowing it wasn’t her dress inside.
However, Stacy claims she can’t simply swap the dresses back, as Sheri experienced a flood, damaging the wedding dress box believed to contain the gown beyond repair. “We now believe that the dress she lost in that flood was actually my mom’s original wedding dress,” Madison said. Stacy claimed they had searched for the missing box but “Sadly, my original wedding dress is still nowhere to be found.”
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