Let me start with a confession: I watch a lot of "Say Yes to the Dress." Like...probably too much. Even now, even after my wedding is over, I'm catching up on "Atlanta" on Netflix. My favorite iteration of the series is "Say Yes to the Dress: Bridesmaids" because A) the girls are typically nuts; and B) it never fails to lead me to gratitude about how incredible all my bridesmaids were!
My penchant for wedding dresses is not contained by reality TV, however. I've been maintaining a Pinterest board for more than a year featuring exclusively non-strapless wedding dresses (I mean, strapless dresses are gorgeous, but I refuse to believe I was the only bride-to-be who wanted a little more coverage and a vintage feel).
I thought that choosing my wedding dress would be nearly impossible. I loved all the trends: lace, sleeves, tea length. How was I supposed to pull the trigger and commit? (Good thing falling in love wasn't this hard!)
But then (thanks to Pinterest) I stumbled across Whitney Deal. She's a wedding dress designer based in North Carolina (and half of a wedding photography duo with her husband Dustin), and I immediately fell in love with the Glea Blouse and Ruby Skirt on her website. They just felt so...classic. Timeless. I was enamored with the simplicity, the loveliness. And that Peter Pan collar? Come on! I knew this was my dress, and I emailed Whitney right away -- but with an extra request.
My grandfather (yup, that handsome guy above) operated airplane radios during World War II. He flew all over the world, and while in India, bought fifty yards of ivory parachute silk (at just 50 cents a yard), hoping that his future bride would use the material for her wedding gown. After he returned to the States, he met my grandmother and they fell in love. She had her wedding dress made from the silk. They got married on July 2, 1949.
Thirty-six years later, my mother wore the very same dress when she married my dad.
Luckily, there was more than enough of the saved silk leftover from the original dress that they both wore, and Whitney was happy to use the antique fabric to make the blouse portion of my dress. (Did I mention she also had her first baby during the time she was creating this beautiful ensemble? Superwoman.)
My grandmother passed away four years ago. I looked up to her so much throughout every stage of my life, and losing her was very difficult for everyone in our family. She was our matriarch; our fountainhead. I miss her. (It's still hard to write about her without tears pricking at the corners of my eyes.) Having the silk around my shoulders all day made me feel like she was with me. I'm so grateful to Whitney for creating this treasured memory.
There's still enough leftover silk for my sister to incorporate into her wedding dress someday, too, and the tradition will keep moving forward, from grandmother to mother to daughters. I don't know if my potential future daughters will be interested in wearing the blouse when/if they decide to get married; it very well may not be their style (although it would make me happy if it were). But hopefully they'll be able to find a dressmaker like Whitney to incorporate our family history into their dream gown.
It meant a lot to my grandfather, too, to know that his wife was with us that day. Thank you, Whitney!
Now here's the best part. I emailed my Aunt Carol (my mom's sister) to see if she had a photo of my grandmother in her wedding dress that I could use for this post. Not only did she send the one above, but she also made a quick movie interviewing my grandpa about the silk (you can hear my Aunt Sarah in the background too)! I loved hearing the details about how the silk parachutes would release. And the very end has me in tears every time. I hope you enjoy it!
My wedding photos by Love & Perry Photography. See more here, and our video here!
