Husband accidentally donates wife’s wedding dress to Goodwill

MOUNT WASHINGTON, Ky. (WAVE) - A local husband is feeling extremely guilty this week after he said he did something that would send any wife into a panic.

He accidentally got rid of something precious and irreplaceable. It was his wife’s wedding dress.

Kayla Alvey said she may not remember every single moment of Aug. 29, 2015, but she remembers how she felt on her wedding day.

“I felt pretty,” Kayla Alvey, of Mount Washington, said. “My dress ... was kind of a bit of a sweetheart neck and lace. It was a mermaid style.”

Alvey said she felt that special feeling the moment she put on her dress.

“Such a big day in your life,” she said. “It goes by in such a blink of an eye.”

Fast forward years later. Add two kids to the mix, and a new home in Mount Washington. Kayla and her husband decided it was time to clean out the garage and give up the tablecloths from their wedding.

“My husband had set aside what he thought were tablecloths, but wasn’t positive,” Alvey said.

And this is where her husband made a mistake. The garment bag her wedding dress was in was ripped, so it was placed in a garbage bag as a quick means for protection. Her husband grabbed it.

“Donated my wedding dress with the tablecloths,” Alvey said. “He feels horrible.”

Alvey said she felt sick to her stomach. Alvey said her husband dropped off the bag containing her dress, veil, and sash at the Mount Washington Goodwill on Jan. 19, but the Alveys didn’t realize what was missing until Tuesday of this week. Her father visited the Goodwill looking for it with no luck.

The Goodwill heard about what happened and even posted a flier inside the store.

“I’m hoping someone has just purchased the dress and if they have, by all means, wear it,” Alvey said. “It’s a beautiful dress. I just want it back in the long run.”

Alvey said she doesn’t have a daughter to pass the dress on to, but it’s sentimental. She said it was the last time she felt a certain way about herself.

“I was diagnosed with breast cancer in February 2019; I had a mastectomy in March of 2019,” Alvey said. “So the dress is kind of the last thing I was able to wear that was form-fitting and myself. Just having that dress is a keepsake from the day.”

A WAVE 3 News crew went to the Mount Washington Goodwill store on Wednesday and looked inside. There was a wedding dress there at the time, but it’s not Alvey’s. Goodwill said since the dress was donated several days ago, it more than likely sold.

If you know where Alvey’s dress is, email her at kayla.alvey@nortonhealthcare.org.

Copyright 2020 WAVE 3 News. All rights reserved.