New Traditions

Many years ago before I found Mr. Right and before Pinterest made it acceptable for hopeful romantics to publicly plan their weddings, I was shamelessly brainstorming mine. In grocery lines I was more enticed by bridal magazines than the dramatic happenings of celebs. I later found myself expanding my bridal literature to include photography blogs and planning sites. During one of browsing expeditions I came across a photographer who shot a wedding where the family had preserved 6 generations of wedding dresses. I was blown away and for those of you who aren't sharing my excitement understand that these dresses date back to the 1800's and were in an array of colors since they predated the white standard. The bride's family had made it tradition to never share or speak of their collection to the bride until the morning of the wedding. When the bride entered her hotel suite she was was surprised to find her mom, grandma and a gallery of dresses waiting for her. I find this to be such a power, beautiful, and sentimental way to connect to the generations of the past. I have always been a sentimental person and treasure all the family heirlooms my grandma has given to me over years. After reading this story I immediately knew I wanted to start a tradition of my own. I began by asking my mom and grandma stories about their special day, looking through photos and pulling their dresses from storage. I could see the joy they got from seeing their dresses and sharing their memories with me. This lead me to come up with the idea of photographing our dresses side by side and with us standing next to them. 

Once we were done with the shoot we decided that all the dresses needed to be neatly packed away for future generations to enjoy. I hope to see this set of three turn into five in my lifetime.