Bride Surprises Groom with Thrifted Marriage ceremony Gown (Unique)

• Charlotte and Canaan Bennett went thrifting collectively on April 3, 2022, at Goodwill, the place they “randomly” discovered Charlotte’s dream wedding ceremony costume. Charlotte purchased and secretly saved the costume to put on at their wedding ceremony virtually precisely a 12 months afterward April 2, 2023
• “He cried. I cried. All of us cried,” Charlotte tells PEOPLE. “I wore my grandmother’s pearls, my mother’s veil, and my costume — hand-picked by my husband himself. I used to be so excited to lastly put it on once more for him. There was magic in that costume”
• Charlotte and Canaan at the moment are saving the costume for his or her daughter

A bride stunned her groom by sporting a marriage costume they discovered whereas thrifting collectively a 12 months earlier than their nuptials.

Charlotte and Canaan Bennett’s wedding ceremony ceremony on April 2, 2023, at Adam’s Property in Lake Alfred, Florida, was made much more particular by the bride’s costume shock.

Virtually precisely a 12 months prior on April 3, 2022, at a Goodwill in Lakeland, Florida, the couple “stumbled upon the costume” of the bride’s desires. On the time, Charlotte instructed Canaan a “little white lie” and stated she’d purchase the costume to resell it as a result of they weren’t engaged but. In secret, she saved the robe for his or her large day.

“Canaan begged me to purchase the costume and I knew I couldn’t depart the shop with out it in case another person purchased it, however I additionally didn’t need him to search out out I used to be going to put on it at any time when we received married,” Charlotte tells PEOPLE. “We had been nonetheless simply relationship…..I couldn’t look too loopy, ya know?”

When Charlotte walked down the aisle, Canaan could not imagine his eyes.

“He cried. I cried. All of us cried,” Charlotte says. “I wore my grandmother’s pearls, my mother’s veil, and my costume — hand-picked by my husband himself. I used to be so excited to lastly put it on once more for him. There was magic in that costume.”

The second Charlotte “randomly” noticed the costume on the rack, she knew it was the one for her. Charlotte and Canaan — who at the moment are 22 and 24 years outdated, respectively — had been on the Goodwill just because one in every of Charlotte’s favourite hobbies is thrift procuring. “It is like treasure searching!” she says.

Whereas rising up in Malawi, Africa, Charlotte typically went to native markets to dig by piles of garments shipped over from Europe to search out promenade and wedding ceremony clothes to strive on as a result of she “loves fairly clothes.”

“So once we walked into Goodwill, I dragged my boyfriend over to the costume part very first (like standard),” she remembers. “We noticed the costume immediately and I used to be in awe. Hanging on the hanger in the midst of a bunch of clothes from the ’70s, this costume sparkled! Canaan instantly made me go strive it on!”

Though it felt “foolish” to strive on a marriage costume when she wasn’t engaged but, Charlotte knew “deep down” that she could not cross the chance up.

“I gasped the second I slipped the costume on and it match like a glove. It felt like….MY costume?! I couldn’t imagine how a lot I beloved it,” she says. “I felt nervous to open the dressing room door and present Canaan. At this level I believe I KNEW that this was the costume I used to be going to turn out to be his spouse in.” 

“Opening the door and stepping out of that little altering room felt like our first look. I nonetheless bear in mind his face,” she continues. “After taking part in ‘trend present’ numerous instances at thrift shops, this time was totally different.”

Even onlookers might see that it was destiny.

“Earlier than I knew it, there have been two little outdated girls that got here working as much as me,” Charlotte says. “They oohed and ahhed over the costume. They spun me round and bustled it and couldn’t recover from how fantastically it match. They requested about our relationship and prayed over our future marriage. We didn’t damage the second and inform them that we weren’t engaged. However that second in the midst of our small city Goodwill felt magical.” 

As soon as she received dwelling that day, Charlotte instructed the story of her “Goodwill fairy godmothers” and tried the costume on for her household. Her dad and mom agreed that she needed to hold the costume for herself, and her mom “labored tirelessly” to change the again of it.

Only a few months later, Canaan popped the query. Charlotte was excited to know that her wedding ceremony costume was “already hanging in [her] closet.”

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Canaan and Charlotte started relationship within the fall of 2021 after being arrange by Charlotte’s siblings.

“My brother was at all times attempting to play matchmaker. He known as my mother within the spring of 2021 and instructed her he discovered the man I wanted to marry,” she explains. “Just a few weeks later, my sister-in-law known as and requested me to return to Florida for a couple of weeks in the summertime to assist with their youth camp at church. I used to be tremendous excited for the prospect to go to my household and assist mentor their college students, however my brother and sister-in-law had ulterior motives.”

Charlotte had “rapid butterflies” and was “memorized” by the camp’s new intern, Canaan. Just a few days after camp, the couple went on their first date and Charlotte was “hooked.”

“Lengthy story brief, I took a leap of religion and determined to pack up every little thing and transfer to Florida the following week to stay with my household,” Charlotte says. “And whereas I swore I did not transfer for a boy, it certain labored out.”

Charlotte finally realized she beloved Canaan at a thrift retailer when he picked out varied clothes for her after which purchased her favourite ones. The pair thrifted many parts at their wedding ceremony, the service of which was carried out by Charlotte’s brother and Canaan’s father.

As for the marriage costume, that is saved for his or her daughter, whom they welcomed in July 2024.

“I will probably be saving this costume for her,” Charlotte says. “She’ll develop up thrifting with Mother and Dad and listening to our love story unfold as we peruse the costume aisle of Goodwill.”