Story by Luke Madden
Feb 14, 2024
No matter how long you’ve been shopping at MCC Thrift, chances are you’ve stumbled upon an item that feels custom-made just for you.
That’s exactly how Grace Marcy Bayles felt when she found a particularly special piece of clothing at her local thrift shop — her wedding dress.
Grace, who currently lives in Texas due to family obligations, and her now-husband, Bob, who lives in Saskatchewan, first met in the ‘90s but reconnected in 2020 over Facebook. The relationships they were in ended on bad terms, but they found companionship in each other again and became each other’s safe space.
Countless video calls, texts and in-person visits over the next three years paved the way for the couple to get married in April 2023 in Texas.
Wanting to celebrate the occasion with their Canadian family members, they planned a second wedding celebration in Ontario, where most of their family live, for July of the same year.
For their Texas wedding, Grace, a proud thrifty shopper, bought her wedding dress from Amazon for $100. But she wanted to do something different for her Canadian wedding.
“I thought, ‘It would be so fun to make the whole experience new and different and to surprise Bob with a different dress.’”
While thinking about cost-effective options, Grace remembered something she’d heard the last time she’d shopped at the Warman MCC Thrift Shop in Saskatchewan, close to where Bob lives. They’d mentioned that they occasionally get donations of wedding dresses.
She said, “I’m going to give the shop a call and maybe by chance they’ll have something. And if they don’t, I’m just going to forget the whole thing.” One phone call later and, to her delight, they had a dress in stock.
When Grace was in Saskatchewan to spend time with Bob the week before the wedding, she stopped by the shop to try on the dress.
“When I got there, they were all so sweet and attentive. They pulled it off the rack and brought it to me and I thought, ‘Oh wow!’ From first sight, it looked very appealing.”
Grace will never forget the reaction around the room after one of ladies at the shop helped her cinch it up.
“Several of the ladies were there and they were giving me so many compliments on the dress. And I thought, ‘Oh my goodness, this is it!’”
For Grace, the thrifted dress was perfect, even magical.
“I decided so late in the summer to look for another dress, so I only had a few days to find something. It was magical because it felt like another affirmation that God can provide for us… It was a sign of his provision.”
Grace and Bob’s Ontario wedding was a blast, and everyone loved her thrifted dress. MCC Thrift has no plans to go into wedding planning full time, but any time one of our shops gets to play a part in making someone like Grace’s day extra special, we’re thrilled.