Bride-to-be searches for accidentally donated wedding dress

LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Las Vegas Valley bride-to-be is asking for the community’s help tracking down her grandmother’s wedding dress that was accidentally donated to Goodwill.

Alexia Wilborn is checking all local thrift stores and Facebook Marketplace, everywhere she can think of, searching for the dress she wants to wear for her wedding ceremony in 2027.

“We met in 2020 doing line dancing,” Wilborn said of meeting her husband, Troy.

The couple’s love story began during the pandemic when traditional weddings were on hold. Then came babies.

“I had been pregnant and having kids, and so I was finally starting to lose weight after the last, after our twins that we just had in August. So I wanted to see the dress, so I’d have a goal of how much weight I would need to lose to fit in it, because she’s like 4 foot 10, little Italian lady,” Wilborn said.

Family heirloom discovered missing

She had fallen in love with her grandmother’s dress years before meeting Troy.

“I first came across it, I believe, when I was like 18. So very single Pringle, not a man insight... And I actually thought it was just a pretty sundress. My Nani had actually cut the sleeves off. It was hot in Vegas,” Wilborn said.

When she went to look for the dress at her grandfather’s house, she discovered it had been accidentally donated after her grandmother’s passing.

“The wrong bag was donated about a month prior,” Wilborn said.

The family believes it was likely donated at the Goodwill at Tropicana and Pecos, but the dress could now be anywhere.

“Without the help of the valley, I’d know that we’re not going to be able to find it,” Troy Wilborn said.

Wedding plans and family tradition

The young couple had a courthouse ceremony but plan to have a big wedding in 2027. Alexia wants to wear her grandmother’s dress in her grandparents’ backyard.

“So my grandparents got married here in their backyard here in Vegas... and my aunt... so it has always been a dream of mine,” Wilborn said.

“Obviously, no marriage is perfect, but they were really two people who wanted to make it work no matter what,” she said of her grandparents.

She said not being able to have her grandmother there for her wedding means wearing her dress would make her big day all that she’s dreamed.

“I mean, we’re not having our actual wedding until 2027, so I feel like that’s enough time to hopefully find it,” Wilborn said.

Alexia said the more people who can share her search, the better the odds of finding the dress. If she is able to find it and wear it, she hopes to pass it on to her daughters.

If you happened to have purchased the dress, the best way to reach her is on Instagram at @alexiawilborn and comment on the wedding dress post.