So You Want to Repurpose Your Mom’s Wedding Dress? Here’s What You Need to Know

Turn your mother’s wedding dress into the perfect “something borrowed” for your big day.
Bride wearing pantsuit made from her mother's repurposed wedding dress
Photos: Courtesy of MaryKate Callahan,Design: Tiana Crispino
carli brennan headshot
by
Carli Brennan
carli brennan headshot
Carli Brennan
The Knot Fashion Contributor
  • Carli writes freelance fashion articles for The Knot.
  • Prior to The Knot, she was the style section editor at Her Campus Media and launched the Fashion Institute of Technology chapter of Her Campus.
  • Carli’s passion for the wedding industry stems from her time as a bridal consultant and her previous internship in a bridal showroom.
Updated Jan 24, 2025

The journey to your wedding day comes with plenty of bridal white dresses and outfits as you lead up to the big day. While there are plenty of new little white dresses on the market, many brides today choose to repurpose their mom's wedding dress into a rehearsal dinner, bridal shower or second reception dress or accessory. This nostalgic element is the perfect way to honor tradition and family while putting your own modern spin on an heirloom. We spoke with Lovell Cox, owner and designer of Lovellfaye, who specializes in remaking brides' mothers' wedding dresses into totally custom creations, to walk you through everything you need to know about repurposing a wedding dress. Plus, one of her brides, MaryKate Callahan, director of content strategy at The Knot, tells us about her own experience redesigning her mom's wedding dress.

In this article:

Custom Design Beginnings

Cox has always dreamed of being a fashion designer, but her passion for redesigning heirloom wedding dresses came entirely by chance. After working in the bridal industry, notably under designer Hayley Paige, Cox began a custom bridal design business out of her apartment in Dallas. In addition to her custom creations, she began getting requests from brides to remake their mother's wedding dress.

"It really came by chance," Cox says. "I had just started my business custom designing dresses and I had two family friends come to me and say 'I have my mom's dress, I want to redo it some way'—one of the girls wanted to do a pantsuit—and at the time I was taking on every type of project. I posted them on social media and they went viral and that's how I really got into it. Brides just keep reaching out to me from across the country wanting me to redesign their moms' dresses."

Today, Cox works out of her design studio in New York City's Garment District. She has worked with brides from all over the country, including Callahan—more on that later! As her website says, "Every dress has a story to tell."

The Redesign Process

Cox's redesign process begins when you fill out the inquiry form on her website and tell her a bit about yourself and your vision. This process takes around three to four months, so she recommends scheduling with her as soon as possible so that the dress will be ready for your wear date. While many brides come with an idea in mind for how they'd like to repurpose their mom's wedding dress, Cox is happy to guide the design process if you're not sure where to start.

"I will schedule a 30-minute virtual design consultation, and that's where we go over all of the ideas and whatnot, and then off of what we talked about, I will make three sketches so they can get a visual representation of what the dress could look like," Cox shares.

In order to work with Cox, she requires three in-person fittings in her studio in New York. "You have to see it on to really understand what it looks like and how you want to redesign it," she explains. Cox aims to have your dress or accessory ready about a month before your wear date, so this timeline means you will have one fitting per month leading up to the day.

Cox emphasizes that her design process is always evolving, and she is happy to work through different ideas with her brides until they land on the one. For brides having trouble visualizing the dress off of the sketches, Cox has sample sleeves, skirts and more that brides can try on during fittings to get a better idea of how the finished dress will look. During the second fitting, she really works with her brides to fine-tune their vision and bring it to life. This is when she locks down the final design idea with her client before the physical redesign starts. "I tell them I don't cut into the dress until you know exactly what you want to do," Cox emphasizes.

"First when we are initially talking and before they sign as a client, we go over the ideas of what they're thinking and that's where we get the sketches and have a base to go off of, but once you bring the dress for the first fitting we can still discuss different ideas," she shares. "For instance, if a bride is still deciding between wanting to keep the sleeve long and short or waiting to keep the drop waist versus bringing it up to the natural waist, that's when during the second fitting we discuss more and I can give them a visual."

In addition to repurposing mom's wedding dress into a dress for your rehearsal dinner, bridal shower or engagement party, Cox also offers brides the option to turn their heirloom wedding dress into bridal accessories for themselves or family members. From custom veils, headbands, clutches, headbands and more, Cox has an accessory list of what is possible, but she is also open to your own creative ideas.

After the redesign, Cox saves any excess fabric for you so that it can be used again in the future. "I deal with a lot of sisters as far as redesigning the dress for one sister and making sure we have the extra fabric for the other sister," she shares.

The nostalgic element of using your mom's repurposed wedding dress is an extra special way of wearing "something borrowed" for your wedding. Whether you want to maintain the original integrity of the dress or simply want to incorporate bits and pieces of the fabric or applique into something totally new, Cox will work with you to bring your vision to life. She describes the redesign process as "a way to incorporate new memories that can be passed down."

"If you're a sentimental person I feel like during the wedding process this is a time when families are becoming one and you get to bring out all of the family heirlooms," she tells us. "This is a great time to use your mother's wedding dress if this is something you're wanting to do."

Remaking Mom's Wedding Dress

Callahan (see her wedding here) was Cox's first New York City client, and she worked with her to turn her mother's wedding dress into an amazing bridal pantsuit for her rehearsal dinner.

"The summer before my wedding, my mom found her old wedding dress in the basement and showed it to me when I was home visiting," Callahan shares."We took it out of the hermetically sealed box so that I could try it on, just for fun. We laughed and took some pictures as she told me all about how she found her wedding dress and why she decided to preserve it (her mother-in-law took care of it for her!). It was a fun afternoon and sparked the idea: What if I wore her dress for real? I'd already ordered my ceremony dress but I loved the idea of wearing it to my rehearsal dinner. That afternoon, I asked my mom's permission to 'use her dress in a creative way' and she was on board. I didn't tell her what I had in mind so it could be a surprise!"

Callahan stumbled upon Cox's viral TikTok of one of her redesigns and immediately reached out to her to redesign her mother's dress "I ended up choosing Cox because she was experienced in bridal design, super responsive and enthusiastic to help transform my mom's dress into something unique," she says.

While Callahan wasn't 100% sure how she wanted to redesign her mother's dress, she knew for certain that she wanted a two-piece set. During her initial video consultation with Cox, she shared her ideas for the redesign and from there they collaborated on the design details.

"Cox was an excellent sounding board, listening to my ideas and offering thoughtful suggestions," Callahan shares. "She even created a mood board filled with inspiration photos and design concepts to ensure we shared the same vision for the overall look."

At the time Cox was living in Dallas, so she flew to New York City to meet Callahan for her in-person fittings. During the early days of her business, she often flew back and forth from New York to build her clientele there before moving back and launching her own design studio.

"MaryKate was actually my first New York City client, which is so special to me," Cox shares. "Along my business entrepreneurial journey, it was my dream to be a bridal designer in New York and the fact that what I specialize in now is redesigning heirloom wedding dresses and she was the first is really fun."

Callahan's redesign process culminated in a stylish two-piece pantsuit made from her mother's wedding dress that she wore to her rehearsal dinner. From the initial inquiry to the completed redesign, her process took about two months in total. Throughout the redesign, she and Cox communicated closely and made changes where necessary until they perfected the pantsuit of Callahan's dreams to surprise her mom.

"If you are looking for a special way to incorporate your mom into your wedding day, I couldn't recommend this more," Callahan tells us. "That said, make sure your mom is on board with you redesigning her dress before you make these plans—people have varying opinions about altering their wedding dress!"

How to Repurpose Mom's Wedding Dress

If you're not sure where to start with the heirloom wedding dress redesign process, allow us to help! Below, we've compiled a few ideas for repurposing mom's wedding dress to get your creative juices flowing. You can find local vendors offering wedding dress alteration services near you using The Knot Vendor Marketplace and filtering to alterations under the fashion services tab.

  • Bridal gloves: What if your mom's wedding dress became your favorite wedding day accessory? Wedding gloves are the perfect answer to a beautiful lace gown or satin wedding dress.
  • Rehearsal dinner outfit: There are countless ways to have your mom's wedding dress remade into a modern rehearsal dinner outfit. Whether you go for a flirty mini silhouette or a chic pantsuit, the options are endless.
  • Bridal clutch: Excess fabric, beading or lace from your heirloom wedding dress can be reattached to a bridal clutch for a totally bespoke piece. Plus, you can break out the clutch for anniversary date nights for years to come.
  • Veil: Include a nod to your mother's wedding dress by incorporating the lace, beading or applique into your veil. We can't think of a better "something borrowed" to wear as you walk down the aisle.
  • Robe: Get ready for your big day in a dreamy bridal robe made of remnants of your mother's dress. This clever redesign will make for gorgeous photos with your bridesmaids as you get glammed together.
  • Headband: An easy way to reuse excess fabric from your heirloom wedding dress is to incorporate it into a headband that's perfect for your bridal shower or rehearsal dinner.
Up Next
  • what to do with wedding dress
    Creative Things to Do With Your Dress After the Wedding