Every wedding dress is special. It’s something that brides and grooms remember forever. Zipping it up for the first time. Seeing their partner wearing their gown on the big day. Dancing into the night and all of the photos wearing it that a family cherishes forever. And while every dress holds some magic in it, there is something really special about a dress that has been handed down through the generations. I had the pleasure of shooting a wedding this summer with Alec and Emma. Their ceremony was absolutely gorgeous surrounded by the mountains out Silver Creek. While shooting, I got to learn the special history of Emma’s dress—she’s the 7th member of her family to get married wearing the gown!

The dress started with Maggie, Emma’s grandmother, when she found exactly what she was looking for in a wedding dress—ivory satin and Chantilly lace, with a six-foot train—at an incredible bargain price of $75! Maggie wore it at her Valentine’s Day wedding to James Stolley (Emma’s grandfather), a recent MIT graduate working for Procter and Gamble in Cincinnati. The dress was then passed to Emma’s mom, Beth, 27 years later after Maggie first wore it, when Beth married Harry (Emma’s dad). Over the next 10 years the dress was worn by Karen (Beth’s sister), Kate (the daughter of Maggie’s sister, Kathy), and Ashley (Kate’s sister).

The dress didn’t make an appearance again until 2016 when Kathleen (Karen’s daughter—and granddaughter of Maggie) brought it back out for her wedding in New York City.

Now in 2021 Emma brought the dress to Idaho for her wedding!

Emma first tried the dress on in February 2021, after nearly a year of pandemic life when so many tangible connections had been replaced (fairly inadequately) with virtual ones. “I was surprised at the very cliche gasp that came out of my mouth when I first touched the dress,” said Emma. “My grandmother, mom, and aunt were on a video chat and a close friend and her mother were with me at my home in Idaho for the first trial and the dress fit nearly perfect right out of the box.” I got to chat with Emma’s mom, Beth, a bit more about the history of the dress. She never wanted Emma to feel pressured to wear it, but loved that Emma brought her own spin to the tradition. “I figured getting married on a mountain would rule out Emma wearing my mom’s wedding dress, but she decided not to let the rugged setting dictate her dress code!”

Since Emma and Alec had their wedding outside among the sage, Emma decided to wear the family dress for the ceremony then changed into something shorter for a long night of dancing and celebrating. As Emma said, “when you're the seventh bride to wear a dress, you want to make sure that you don't damage the dress and become the last bride to wear it!”

After their ceremony in Idaho Emma and Alec went back to Chicago to celebrate with Emma’s family there. At that celebration five of the seven brides who have worn the dress – Emma, Emma’s grandmother, mom, aunt, and cousin were all in attendance! Getting to photograph such special moments in the lives of my clients is what makes me love my work. Thank you to Emma and her whole family for letting me be a part of and help capture your special day. Cheers to many happy years!

You can read the original story of the dress written by Emma’s uncle at Real Simple. Special thanks to the Emma, Beth, and Harry for helping me put this post together!