Letter to Shelby's Grandma Donna from Jennifer

One of the most exciting moments for a bride is shopping for the dress. The perfect dress gives the bride a chance to let her personality, style and taste shine. It can help her feel special, beautiful and confident on one of the most important days of her life. When you find that dress, most brides rarely think about what will become of the dress after the wedding. In most cases it sits in a sealed box turning yellow as the years pass. In some cultures, the dress is passed down through generations though for many the dress is in a closet or attic waiting for a possible rebirth. From time to time the bride will think about the dress and even may talk about it. Rarely though does it become a topic of interest as you move further and further from your wedding date.

One afternoon when Shelby was about a year old, I was having a conversation about my wedding dress with my mother-in-law, Donna. At the time many brides weren’t doing what they are doing now such as making robes from their mothers’ gowns or using the material to wrap the wedding flowers. Donna began tossing around ideas and remembered that she had a friend who would pull out her dress every year on her daughter’s birthday and take a photo of her daughter in the dress. I absolutely LOVED this idea and immediately set it in motion.

When Shelby was a toddler, the dress swallowed her tiny frame, making her look like a doll in a sea of white fabric. As she grew older, the dress still dwarfed her, but it was a delight to see how much she had grown compared to the previous year. Every November 27th, I would arrange a mini photo shoot, capturing Shelby in different poses, sometimes holding flowers or wearing my veil (which she thought was hideous). The photos were stored in a special album, each year marking a new chapter in Shelby's life.

As the years went by, Shelby's relationship with the dress evolved. When she was a child, it was a fun and slightly silly tradition. She would twirl around, making the dress flare out, and make her perfect Disney princess face. In her teenage years, she began to appreciate the significance of tradition. The dress started to fit her better, and she began to understand the love and memories it symbolized.

By her 18th birthday, Shelby had grown into a young woman. When she put on the dress that year, it fit her almost perfectly. It was a bittersweet moment for me. The tradition that Donna helped me create had become a beautiful time capsule of Shelby's life. These photos remain a cherished part of Shelby's childhood to me.

Never in a million years did I ever think Donna’s inspiration would be a beautiful way to capture the passage of time and the journey Shelby would take as she grew up. Every year, until Donna's death in September of 2012, Donna would remind me it was time to take the photo. Seeing this photo every year was her joy and became the legacy we never thought Donna would give us.

I hope you enjoy these photos as much as I have over the years. Maybe we will see the dress again.

Jennifer -Mother of the Bride