Tauranga woman Samantha Carter has been left distraught at the loss of her wedding dress which was among precious gowns and costumes stolen from The Fairy House at the Historic Village over the weekend.
The mother of three estimates about 30 gowns, 15 children's costumes, two wedding dresses, and about six
wigs had been taken from her business, as well as barbie dolls, and a precious mask she had made in Venice for her birthday last year.
"Some of them I've been collecting since I was 14, like every ball gown I've ever worn, every pageant dress I've ever had. Some of them were still brand new."
Mrs Carter fought back tears yesterday as she described the three most sentimental dresses she had lost, including her wedding dress and two hand-beaded ball gowns from the United States - one worth more than $1000.
"I'm sentimental about everything so I'm just devastated they're gone," she said.
Mrs Carter was at The Fairy House, a wooden house next to Detour Theatre, on Saturday and suspects the burglary occurred between 5pm that evening and 3pm the following day.
Mrs Carter's main business at The Fairy House is hosting children's dress up birthday parties and the occasional ladies' party, however she was gathering her personal collection of gowns to hire them out for balls.
Mrs Carter estimates the stolen items are worth $5000 to $8000, but said it was not the cost that bothered her most.
Mrs Carter is American and most of the dresses were from the United States, and many were one of a kind.
She said her 5-year-old daughter was devastated at the theft of a blue hand-beaded dress which she had been told she would inherit one day.
"She's devastated because she grew up in The Fairy House basically," Mrs Carter said.
Mrs Carter said as her business was relatively new, she had not had the finances or found the time to insure the gowns and costumes or install an alarm at the premises.
"Next was going to be an alarm and insurance and things like that," she said.
Tauranga Police would like to hear from anyone with information about this crime and would also like to warn members of the public who could be offered these items. If you have any information call the police station on (07) 577 4300 or call 0800 SPEAK UP.
