Woman ditches custom wedding gown for $90 op shop dream dress

Kaila Scally-Chadwick discovered her dream wedding dress not in a high-end boutique, but for just $90 at her local op shop in Donnybrook, Western Australia. Just months before her wedding, she stumbled upon the gown while searching for winter clothes for her baby. The moment she tried it on, she knew it was the one, deciding to forgo the custom-made dress she had already purchased.

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I was literally just about to walk out the door, turned towards the front room and saw the back of this beautiful gown.

Ms. Scally-Chadwick described the find as a "Cinderella moment." She was about to leave the op shop when the back of the beautiful gown caught her eye. In the small fitting room, another customer helped her take a photo so she could see the full effect. "I walked up to the front desk and I said, 'Listen, I think this is it', … I could not have dreamed of anything better," she recalled. The dress fit perfectly, which she took as a sign.

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And I thought, 'Oh, hold on, this might be something.'

She felt the dress, with its lace details, was perfectly suited to her wedding's western theme. "You don't often put a dress on and it fits like a glove," she said, emphasizing how meant-to-be the discovery felt. She plans to "pay it forward" by donating her original wedding dress to the same op shop.

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One of the other customers took my phone and took a photo of it so I could see what it looked like.

Hannah Fox, a volunteer at the Donnybrook Op Shop, described the dress as spectacular, unlike the more common vintage or plain wedding dresses they usually receive. "We begged her please if you can come back and share photos with us. She made our day coming back and sharing that moment with her … the photos were stunning," Fox said. The op shop later shared Ms. Scally-Chadwick's wedding photos on social media, prompting others to share similar stories of finding treasures at the shop. Fox believes Ms. Scally-Chadwick's dress was truly "meant to be."

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I walked up to the front desk and I said, 'Listen, I think this is it', … I could not have dreamed of anything better.