Strangers-turned-friends share the story of their traveling wedding dress
Choosing a wedding dress can often be one of the biggest decisions in someone's life. For Simone Crouch, the perfect dress was proving especially hard to find.
"I tried on about 10 wedding dresses," Crouch told "Good Morning America." "They put me in the wrong sizes and it wasn't the right fit and it wasn't the right cut and none of them made me feel good."
Then one day, as Crouch was scrolling on Instagram, she spotted her dream gown.
"I tried to get the dress and it didn't work," Crouch, who lives in South Africa, recalled.
Crouch noticed another woman named Emily Heath had worn the gown at her own wedding three years ago and decided to try sending her a message.
"I reached out to Emily and she responded to me and I got like a glimpse of hope," Crouch said.
Crouch and Heath bonded quickly. "It just felt like we were meeting up with old friends that we've known forever, to be honest," Heath told "GMA."
Crouch then asked Heath whether she could buy Heath's wedding dress.
Heath, who lives in California, initially declined before eventually coming to an agreement with Crouch -- she would lend her the dress as long as Crouch returned it.
Soon after, Heath shipped the dress, a floor-length lace gown which Heath said was from the Rue de Seine brand, to the U.K. where Crouch's mother was. Crouch's mother then brought the dress with her as she traveled to Johannesburg for her daughter's wedding.
"To my surprise, it fit like a glove," Crouch recalled after she tried on the dress. "It just fit like a dream. So I cried and … I was so excited that it was going to be a reality for me."
With a dress secured, Crouch then invited Heath to her December wedding and Heath graciously accepted.
"Just the feeling that I got to, like, add that piece to her wedding day … made me feel really good and it made me feel like I had done the right thing, sending my dress down there," Heath said.
Heath recently shared the epic story of her wedding dress on TikTok where it's since been viewed 4 million times. The two women said they've been overwhelmed by the love and support they've received from people online.
"I'm really glad that that piece of it resonated with people because it's definitely something that it was, you know, a big leap of faith," Heath said.
Crouch added, "I think the story of this is the kindness of two people and how it's brought along a friendship."
