Bride gives grandmother’s 77-year-old satin wedding dress a modern twist for her rehearsal dinner

It’s a dream for many brides to wear their mother’s or grandmother’s wedding dress on their big day. With the help of skilled tailors or seamstresses, these precious family heirlooms can be custom-fitted for the next generation. When it came time for her big day, a woman from Chicago had a dream dress in mind—one that was almost 77 years old. Katie Klinefelter Bruder (@katieklinefelter on Instagram), documented the transformation of the vintage dress into her dream rehearsal dinner gown in a video before her November 2024 wedding to fiancé Jake.

In the now-viral video, the bride captured how she brought her grandma's wedding dress from 1948 back to life. In the caption of her video, Bruder shared the history of the vintage wedding dress. Her maternal grandparents married on June 13, 1948, and during the ceremony, her grandmother wore a "most beautiful ivory slipper satin gown with a basque waist." Bruder isn't the only bride in her family to wear the dress—her two aunts also wore it on their wedding days. The last time the dress was worn was in 1988, when her aunt had modified it by replacing the satin sleeves with mesh and adding lace details throughout the gown.

"When I got engaged in May 2023, my aunt graciously offered me this dress and I said ‘yes’ without hesitation. Not only do I love vintage but I’ve always cherished heirloom pieces. It felt like an absolute honor to have such a meaningful dress to wear for my rehearsal dinner," Bruder wrote, explaining how she immediately had ideas for modifying the dress to her liking. "Knowing how delicate the fabric was, I realized I could only make a few adjustments to preserve its integrity but that was just enough. Elegant. Timeless. Ethereal. The material, color and basque waist were my favorite elements of the dress," she added. To make it her dream rehearsal dinner attire, she removed the sleeves, lace work and the bow from the lower back of the dress.

She turned the neckline into a square cut and opened the back portion of the dress. The train was shortened, and the excess fabric was used to create a removable neck drape. Bruder credited the women at @clarissaboutiquepittsburgh from her hometown, who worked tirelessly over the past 12 months to make the dress look flawless before her wedding. "It’s something I’ll cherish for a lifetime. I looked forward to each and every appointment. I spoke of this dress to all of my loved ones and truly couldn’t wait to wear her. I prayed for my Gran to show up in the sunshine on my wedding weekend and that’s exactly what she did. She shined so much light down on me in this dress. I have never felt so beautiful," Bruder concluded.

However, the response from her viewers was polarizing. While some felt Bruder had ruined the dress by modifying it, others appreciated the new look. @cyatomic commented, "There is nothing like the liquid silk from the '40s. This is such a beautiful homage to your grandmother while making it your own!" @one_.fine._day added, "So many have missed that the dress was already modified in the '80s and the sleeves weren't the originals. It would be better for the dress to rot away to nothing or be reinvented for a new use and it still has the essence of the original dress and is just stunning."

You can follow Katie Klinefelter Bruder (@katieklinefelter) on Instagram for more lifestyle videos.