A stunned mom immediately started sobbing tears of joy when her bride daughter surprised her by walking down the aisle in her 1990s wedding dress.
Rachel Ous, 26, from Mankato, Minnesota, shares an extremely close bond with mom Christine Phinney 59, and knows about the special history behind her mom’s wedding dress.
The dress was made for Christine by Rachel’s godmother, and having initially looked into altering the garment for her welcome dinner or a reception dance, Rachel decided to take things one step further.
As not to raise her mom’s suspicions, she committed to a wedding dress of her own, which she planned to wear for welcome drinks before the ceremony.
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But as Christine stood near the altar waiting for her daughter to make her way towards groom Jake, she had no idea she’d secretly switched into her beloved dress.
When she then caught sight of Rachel at the top of the aisle, the 59-year-old immediately recognized the dress she wore for her March 1993 wedding to husband Mark Phinney.
She let out a loud “Oh my God!” and covering her face as she fought back tears, looking on with love for her daughter and her dress which had undergone the most minimal of adjustments by her godmother.
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Rachel had initially planned to change back into her other dress for the remainder of the day, but having seen how well her mom’s dress fit, she decided to stick with it.
The surprise moment was captured on video by Rachel’s wedding planner, Hanna, of Hanna Marie Events, who later shared the sweet video on social media.
Rachel said: “My mom and I are, and always have been, super close.
“She had no idea what I was doing with it, and so behind the scenes my godmother, who originally made the dress for my mom, switched the sleeves from long to short, and the underskirt from tea length to mini – but other than that the dress fit perfectly.
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“The original plan was to put my own dress back on after the ceremony, but mom’s fit so well and was so comfy and cute that it was meant to be to leave it on all night.
“The moment was perfect: my mom was so surprised and everyone was emotional – especially her, me, and my dad.
“There wasn’t a dry eye in the place.
“Everyone thinks it’s so cool and so special; those people that were there to witness it were amazed, and so happy to share in the moment and the tears.
“I hope people realize weddings are meant to be meaningful – you can spend all the money in the world but the things you’ll remember are spending time with your people, making memories, not the decorations or the food or the venue.”
