When Nicole Lakovic walked into her bridal shower wearing a modernized version of her mother’s wedding gown, Connie Lakovic saw her transformed dress for the first time.

A friend captured the June 28 moment on video — the surprise, happy tears and recognition that a gown stored away for more than 30 years had become part of another generation’s wedding story.

For Nicole, 27, giving her mother’s wedding gown a second life was about more than finding something special to wear to one of her wedding events. It was a way to honor her mother and carry a piece of her family history into her own wedding celebrations.

When she began planning her wedding, Nicole — who works for the Pittsburgh Penguins in membership, services and events — came across social media posts about brides repurposing their mothers’ wedding gowns. She was immediately drawn to the idea.

She shared it with her mother, grandmother and sister, who loved the idea. The gown had its own family history: Connie Lakovic wore it for her June 1991 wedding to John Lakovic, and nine months later, Connie’s sister borrowed it for her own ceremony.

After locating the dress in her aunt’s attic, Nicole, her mom, grandmother and sister spent an evening trying on the gown and agreed it would be perfect transformed for Nicole’s bridal shower. Still, Nicole wanted to be sure her mother was comfortable with having the dress cut and redesigned.

“It’s been in a box for 30 years — of course I want you to do something with it!” Nicole recalled her mother saying.

“That’s something I wanted to do — honor my mom through this process,” she said.

The gown was already close to Nicole’s size, and she loved much of its original design. But she knew she wanted to turn the floor-length gown into a short dress — and that the shoulder pads had to go. The dress’s long lace sleeves were also removed. Using fabric from the gown’s train, Nicole’s longtime family seamstress, Cindy Graham, created new sleeves inspired by the originals.

“I wanted the finished dress to remain recognizable as my mother’s gown, while looking more modern,” Nicole said.

Connie accompanied Nicole for the initial consultation but didn’t see the completed dress again until her daughter’s bridal shower, when Nicole walked in wearing her surprise.

“When she walked in that door, my heart just melted. She looked so beautiful,” Connie said.

“She was just overwhelmed,” Nicole said. “It was a really cool moment. I don’t think I fully realized how sentimental it was and how big an impact it would have on everybody.”

One of Nicole’s co-workers had a more playful reaction.

“‘Oh, my gosh, all the other moms are going to be so jealous that their daughters didn’t do that with their dress,’” Nicole recalled her co-worker saying.

Nicole married her high school sweetheart, Shawn Dean, on Aug. 27, and the gown’s story will not end with her. Her sister, who is getting married next year, has said she would love to wear the redesigned dress to one of her bridal events too.

For brides like Nicole, the sentimental value of an older wedding gown is priceless. But transforming one can take creativity, careful planning and special skills.

Eva Dixon, owner of I Do Designs by Eva in Mars, has worked with brides for 25 years and said more women are bringing in their mothers’ wedding gowns to be redesigned.

“That trend has picked up a lot over the last, I’d say, five, six years, even more,” Dixon said.

Dixon said interest began to grow during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, when many brides were rethinking traditional wedding plans and shopping. Rising wedding costs have helped keep it going, along with the idea of a special shared connection with their mothers.

TikTok, Instagram and Pinterest have introduced brides to ideas for turning older gowns into rehearsal dresses, reception dresses or completely redesigned wedding gowns.

“Brides can create something that feels current, while still paying homage to their mother,” Dixon said.

“The majority of it is a redesign of their mother’s wedding gown for them to wear for a reception, bridal shower or sometimes the wedding itself,” Dixon said.

The work can be extensive. Dixon may remove high collars or puffy sleeves, change necklines and reshape skirts to give an older gown a more contemporary look.

Some brides want to keep the design close to their mother’s original dress. Others want something completely different. Last year, Dixon worked with a bride who wanted a new design created using only the material from the original gown. There was enough fabric left to make a dress for the flower girl, too.

“It’s like building a puzzle,” Dixon said, adding that costs can range from a few hundred dollars to about $1,500, depending on how extensive the work is.

Most older gowns can still be used if the fabric has held up. In 25 years, Dixon said she has refused only two dresses — because they were too deteriorated to safely reconstruct. Even then, she was able to salvage lace from one and incorporate it into a veil.

For Dixon, that is part of what makes the finished pieces so special.

“You can’t buy it off a rack,” she said.

Sometimes, giving an older gown a new life requires only a few carefully chosen changes.

Rachel Rodgers, 32, who grew up in Wexford, wore her mother’s wedding gown when she and her husband, Michael, were legally married in August 2025 at the Grotto Chapel of Saints John and Paul Church in Wexford. About 40 relatives and friends attended. The couple held another wedding ceremony in Italy the following month.

Rather than buy a second wedding dress for the local ceremony, Rachel asked to try on the gown her mother, Diane Gliozzi, wore when she married Dominic Gliozzi in 1987.

The satin gown, accented with lace and beading, fit Rachel almost perfectly. It did not need to be taken in or even hemmed. The only part that did not suit her was its long sleeves with puffy shoulders, characteristic of the late 1980s.

Rachel’s mother’s friend, Robin Geisler, removed the sleeves and used lace and beading from the cuffs to create delicate cap sleeves. The changes updated the gown while preserving much of its original appearance.

“She was really honored that I had asked to try on her dress,” Rachel said of her mother. “It was just a special thing that we got to do together.”

Like Nicole, Rachel wanted the updated dress to remain recognizable as her mother’s original gown.

For both brides, the redesigned gowns connected two generations — and left open the possibility that their stories may continue with another.