GENESEO, Illinois (KWQC/Gray News) – A woman in Illinois recently opened her wedding dress box after 25 years and discovered that there was a completely different dress inside.

Faith Nelson, who married in June 1999, had her dress cleaned by Collins Quality Cleaner in Fort Madison, Iowa. Only now, years later, did she notice the mistake.

She and her husband recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, so she thought it would be a monumental moment to try on her special dress.

“When I opened the vacuum-sealed, taped box and looked through the little window, I was shocked. It wasn’t my dress,” Nelson said.

She expected to find the dress she had chosen for her wedding day, but instead discovered a dress with a JCPenney tag and a size that wasn’t hers, KWQC reported.

“My dress had cap sleeves. This one has long sleeves,” Nelson said.

According to Nelson, the mix-up occurred at Collins Quality Cleaners, but that company no longer exists, making her search for the original dress difficult.

“We joked about it a little bit, then it suddenly dawned on me and I started crying. I thought, oh, that’s the dress. I only picked one. I didn’t try on any others,” Nelson said.

Nelson is now looking for the woman who may have received her dress and is asking brides who had their dresses cleaned at the same dry cleaners around the same time to come forward.

“I just hope that anyone from that area and that time, when they got married 25 years ago, just checks their dress. Opens the box and relives that day.”

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