A Milford woman has been reunited with a special locket she lost on her wedding day thanks to social media.

Renee Garelick married her husband Jason in their backyard beach on July 23.

“It was amazing! Two-hundred-fifty of my closest family and friends,” Garelick said.

But two very important people weren't there.

“Both of my parents had passed. My mom passed in 2000, and my dad passed two years ago from COVID,” she told News 12.

Garelick's parents still got to be part of her special day thanks to a surprise from her wedding planner and close friend, Kathleen Porto.

“She said to me, ‘I know your parents can’t be here to walk you down the aisle right now, but I want you to have this locket so they can be with you when you walk down the aisle,’” Garelick explained.

The heart-shaped locket had pictures of Garelick with her mom and dad, which Porto placed in the bouquet. The next day when Garelick went to unravel the bouquet and get the locket, she realized it was gone.

“And I was devastated,” Garelick recalled. “I didn’t want to tell my friend Kathleen. I was like, ‘I’m going to look for it.’”

Garelick borrowed a neighbor's metal detector and walked the beach but never found it.

It turned out a summer resident did find the lost locket. Realizing the sentimental value, he gave the locket to a neighbor, Melodye Grant Bucci, who lives there year-round. Grant Bucci told News 12 she didn’t recognize the people in the pictures, so she put the locket in a drawer. Grant Bucci said she forgot about it until she cleaned out the drawer after the new year. That’s when she turned to the Facebook group "You know you live in Milford CT if...."

Grant Bucci posted a picture of the locket and wrote, “Does anyone know who this might belong to? Found on Fort Trumbull Beach. Looks like it could be very sentimental to someone.”

Almost immediately, Grant Bucci had her answer. Garelick owns Moda Hair Studio on Bridgeport Avenue, and it was her clients who first saw the post and quickly commented.

“The salon phone was blowing up all day. My cellphone was going crazy,” said Garelick. “Within like an hour, Melody brought it over to me. I couldn’t believe it. I was so surprised.”

Garelick said she was also emotional, especially when the reunion occurred.

“My birthday is Jan. 4. My father’s is Jan. 5. It was returned to me on Jan. 6. My dad and I always celebrated our birthdays together. I just felt like it was a present from my father,” she said.