Why this mom had to rescue her daughter’s wedding dress from the dumpster
Lucida Ballard said “I do” last weekend to her new husband Theodore May in Nantucket. After the whirlwind wedding weekend was over it was back to reality, and her parents headed back to their home on Park Avenue in New York City. They were in charge of the bride’s stunning Oscar de la Renta wedding gown, but things quickly went awry: The dress, which was packed into a garment bag, was accidentally thrown into the garbage. Hold up. How does that even happen, you are probably thinking right now. Friends, we will tell you how.
“We had driven it back from the wedding and we were exhausted so… we handed it over [to building staff’ to be taken up with our luggage,” Lucinda’s mom (also Lucinda Ballard) told The Post.
It appears that a handyman from the building accidentally threw the dress in the garbage, mistaking the word “dress” for “trash.” Mrs. Ballard said the mishap was “a totally understandable, forgivable human error,” but wasn’t going to rest until she had the dress back.
“How could I let this happen?” she continued. “I thought, ‘This dress is a symbol of a beautiful love story. I can’t let it go to garbage heaven.”
Once they realized the mix-up, the trash was already on its way to the dump. But luckily, that wasn’t the end of the story. The building superintendent Michael Porth immediately called the Sanitation Department, and together they identified the truck number. Mama Ballard had her marching orders: Get thee to the dump in Fairview, NJ by 6:30pm before the truck dumped its contents and the dress was lost forever. So they went.
“We were ripping through these bags—wearing masks, high boots and gloves,” the mother of the bride said. “I was moving quickly, going, ‘No dress, keep going.’”
After over an hour of searching, it was starting to get dark when Porth found the dress! Amazingly, it was in perfect condition—just a tad wrinkled. Ballard says it didn’t even smell like garbage.
So, where was the bride during all of this? They didn’t clue her in until the dress was found. Once Lucinda heard the full story, she was totally shocked, but oh-so grateful that the dress was found.
And hey —we get it. Your wedding gown symbolizes something beautiful and wonderful, and it serves as a tangible memory of your wedding day. We’ve seen vintage wedding dresses with really sad stories, and wedding dresses that have been passed down for 120 years. So, we’re relieved nothing bad happened to Lucinda’s gorgeous dress (and also, congrats!).
Featured image via Twitter