SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — Last week, a bride-to-be and her friend contacted ABC7 News and told them about the nightmarish story of a wedding dress.
The bridal shop in Pittsburgh where she purchased the dress suddenly closed two weeks before the wedding without delivering the dress to her.
Dozens of viewers reached out to us about the story, and on Tuesday night we learned that the bride-to-be has a brand new wedding dress.
“Hi guys, we are at Nelly's Bridal Boutique in South San Francisco!”
Akila Mwongozi is all smiles in a newly recorded video, but things were very different last week when the bridal shop in Pittsburgh where she bought her dress many months ago suddenly closed and the owner was nowhere to be seen before the alterations. And all this less than two weeks before Akila's wedding.
“Completely empty! No clothes, nothing. I just thought, 'What's going on?' I really thought something had happened to her,” Mwongozi said.
PREVIOUS STORY: Bride-to-be left without wedding dress days before ceremony after Pittsburg bridal shop shuts down
An East Bay woman getting married in less than two weeks is now without a wedding dress after her Pittsburg bridal shop closed
A few days after our story was published, the owner suddenly returned and even met with Akila, albeit without a dress and angry that the story had become public.
“You have to apologize,” said the first owner of the bridal shop in Pittsburg.
“I was told I had to apologise. What do I have to apologise for?” Mwongozi said.
Hours later, Akila received his money back, but no dress.
But that was then and today is today.
“I wanted Akila to forget her past and her experiences, and I wanted to give her a new experience in a bridal shop!”
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This is Nelly Santana of Nelly's Bridal Boutique, one of many who saw the story and wanted to help. They did so by reaching out to ABC7 News reporter JR Stone and Akila's friend Carlina Williams.
“I even got emails this morning still offering me a dress, JR,” Williams said.
“There were about three ladies, one lady from Michigan who actually sent me a dress here via UPS. She knew it might not fit, but when she heard the story, she said she was close to tears, you know,” Akila said.
But in the end, it was Nelly's family-run shop in South San Francisco that delivered a dress that fits like a glove and requires minimal alterations.
“The first dress I pulled out was the dress that Akila loved. I tried it on and we were all in tears afterward. It was very emotional, honestly, in the 20 years that my family and I have had the business, I don't think I've ever experienced that feeling of gratitude and happiness,” Santana said.
There are pictures of Akila in the first dress she never got, but there are no pictures yet of her in the new designer dress Nelly gave her for free. Not until the wedding day, which is Sunday.
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“So where is the dress now?” asked Stone.
“It's in my hotel room. It's not going to anyone except the lady at the tailor's,” Akila said, laughing.
“JR, ABC, all of you – thank you so much. You just came through, we can't thank you enough. Thank you for spreading the word,” Williams said.
“If I learned anything from this, it is that you must not give up on humanity, because there are good people, there are really good people,” Akila said.
The wedding is September 1st. Stay with ABC7 News as we will keep you updated with pictures.
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