A bride-to-be left her mom in shock when she arrived at her rehearsal dinner in a repurposed version of her mother’s 27-year-old wedding dress.
Mom Jesika Hartwell has always talked about how much she loved the dress she wore for her big day – telling friends and family it was her “princess dress.”
Jesika’s daughter Allyson and her then-fiancé, Joshua, have been together since they were 16, so the couple had heard Jesika speak about her beloved dress on many occasions.
For that reason, Allyson, 23, from Phoenix, New York, knew she wanted to incorporate her mother’s dress into her own celebrations in some way.
Having sourced the dress from her grandma, who had kept the dress in a box for 27 years, Allyson asked Joshua’s aunt to repurpose it into a perfect rehearsal dinner dress.
Then, on March 3, Jesika and her family waited in the lobby of the Hilton Playa del Carmen hotel in Mexico ahead of Allyson and Joshua’s rehearsal dinner.
Allyson then received a text from her cousin, Bailey, her maid of honor, prompting her to head downstairs.
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As Allyson entered, guests clapped and cheered, while a seated Jesika joined in.
But then, when the moment hit and she realized what her daughter was wearing, she rose from her chair and let out a scream in shock, shouting an expletive while asking a question along the lines of, “Is that my wedding dress?!”
Having brought her hands to her mouth in shock, Jesika then headed to her daughter for a loving hug.
Allyson said: “My mom always talked about how much she loved her wedding dress and had called it her princess dress.
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“My now husband and I have been together since we were 16 and have been talking about this day forever.
“When the trend originally started a few years ago, I had always said I wanted to do something with my mom’s dress.
“My grandma had my mom’s dress, so it was easy to get, as it’s been in a box for 27 years.
“During that moment, I was filled with so much excitement.
“My mom and I show love in very different ways.
“I was so happy to see the smile on her face when she realized I had her dress.”