Redeem now - Emmali Osterhoudt stumbled upon a wedding dress that fit her perfectly at Goodwill.
- The dress turned out to be from the designer brand Galia Lahav.
- It typically retails for $6,000, but Osterhoudt got it for just $25.
An Alabama woman had the find of a lifetime during a shopping excursion to Goodwill.
Emmali Osterhoudt, 21, is a student in Birmingham, Alabama. On Labor Day, she went to Goodwill with her roommate — her first visit to a Goodwill in the area — to find picture frames for a gallery wall, she told Business Insider.
Osterhoudt was able to find the picture frames she needed, and she had already checked out when she and her roommate spotted a section marked 50% off that they hadn't seen yet.
"After we checked out, we wandered over there, and I was in the purses and she was over at the dresses," Osterhoudt said of her roommate, who then called her over to see the wedding dresses.
Osterhoudt said she wasn't expecting to find anything she actually liked.
"I thought it was gonna be like the '80s, poofy sleeves dresses because we've always wanted to reenact that scene from 'Friends' where Monica, Rachel, and Phoebe are sitting on their couch in '80s wedding dresses," Osterhoudt told BI. "So I go over there, and she shows me this dress, and it was so pretty."
Osterhoudt wasn't engaged when the dress caught her eye — though she and her boyfriend Nick had already discussed their plans to get married someday — but she felt so drawn to the dress that she decided to try it on anyway.
"It looked like it was my size," she said. "So we go and we try it on, and it fits like a glove."
Osterhoudt said she fell in love with the dress, which turned out to be a Galia Lahav design
The mermaid dress had a low neckline and back, and it was covered in an intricate lace pattern from head to toe. Galia Lahav designed the gown for its Gala line.
"I immediately fell in love with it," Osterhoudt said of the dress. She also fell in love with the price, as Goodwill was selling the gown for just $25.
She decided she had to buy it, and when she left the store, she did some digging into the gown and discovered it typically retails for around $6,000.
"My mind was just blown," Osterhoudt said of how she felt after finding out how much she could have paid for the dress if she bought it at a bridal boutique.
Osterhoudt decided to post a TikTok about her experience finding the wedding dress on September 6, and to her surprise, the video amassed over 3 million views.
@emmalifaith Im so freaking excited about this find, i may not even use it when it comes to the day because im not getting engaged or married for awhile but maybe its fate lol also jlo has worn this brand as well #galialahav #galialahavbride #goodwill #weddingdress @Galia Lahav ♬ original sound - Emmali"I thought that maybe it would get like 5,000 views or a couple hundred likes, but I had no idea that it would get to 3 million views," she told BI.
Many people in Osterhoudt's comment section left positive comments on the video, with some even wondering if she was going to sell it. But Osterhoudt said she plans to keep it.
"I am definitely not interested in selling it because I actually do plan on using it whenever Nick and I eventually get married," she said.
Osterhoudt said she worked at a bridal boutique when she was in high school, so she's storing the dress in a bag in a dark part of her closet to keep it intact until she needs it.
Osterhoudt will have a reason to wear the dress sooner than she anticipated
Though she wasn't engaged when she bought the dress, that changed when Osterhoudt and her partner took a trip to London in December.
Nick popped the question on Monday, surprising Emmali by proposing in front of Buckingham Palace.
"I knew Nick was going to propose in London, I just didn't think he would that soon," she said of how the proposal happened. "Not only was I surprised, but I got my own little royal engagement at Buckingham Palace."
Osterhoudt won't get married until June 2025, but she'll definitely be wearing the Galia Lahav dress when the time comes.
She even gave the gown a shout-out in a TikTok post, where she shared the news of her engagement, captioning her post, "I can finally wear my $25 Galia Lahav dress!"
"Nick, if you're reading this, you're the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'm so excited to spend forever with you," she said in her comment to BI.
Galia Lahav wants to donate more dresses to Goodwill
Galia Lahav caught wind of Osterhoudt's Goodwill shopping trip and offered her congratulations in a statement to BI.
"Emmali is the definition of LUCKY GIRL — congratulations!" Yael Friedman, Galia Lahav's global public relations manager, said.
Friedman also said that Osterhoudt's one-in-a-million find might not be as rare in the future.
"We already got in touch with Goodwill to donate gowns for more Cinderella moments like this one," Friedman said.
Galia Lahav did not specify when or to which Goodwill locations the brand may donate dresses, but hopeful brides-to-be should keep their eyes peeled.
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