I'm wearing my grandmother's wedding dress for my April 30th wedding. It's defintely right out of the 50's, so we're making a few design changes to the bodice. The dress was bought off the rack in 1957, never altered, and worn in January of 1958 for the wedding. It's a sweatheart ballgown. Grandma passed away 3 years ago. So it's going to be a full on water works show from the majority of my dad's side of the family.
We had a friend, and wonderful vintage seamstress, alter the dress. Seeing her take those scissors to it the first time was a pretty big blow! We had to completely remake the bodice to get it to fit, but the skirt will be 100% original. The waist fits perfectly and the hem won't have to be changed either. It's pretty creepy how well it fits me...definitely meant to be. While the seamstress was cutting a seam apart, a grain of rice fell out. A 50+ year old grain of rice that had survived the wedding, cleaning, and being sealed up in the box.
I apologize that I don't have pictures to post of her in the dress at the wedding. I should be getting it back soon and can share pictures of grandma's "new" dress.
I'm looking for ways to really make a tribute out of this. Any ideas of how we can let our guests know just how special my dress is? Has anyone else reworn a special family dress like this??