Wedding dress a gran way to celebrate in style
When Princess Beatrice walked down the aisle in a gown that belonged to the Queen, her choice of dress met with approval from style experts. But she’s not the only bride to have borrowed a dress from her gran. Wedding and family photographer Janine Kirkwood tells Jenny Morrison how after marrying husband Karl, she surprised her gran Ella by changing into the dress she had worn 57 years before to marry Janine’s grandad Robert
JANINE, who is originally from Perth but now lives in Glasgow, said: “I have always been overly sentimental.
“I seem to have inherited this trait from my gran. She keeps everything – just like I do now.
“I adore the photo albums filled with black and white pictures, boxes of sugared almonds that she’s kept from weddings two decades ago, the old tin rocking horse and the suitcases neatly packed with vintage outfits.
“Among these outfits was my gran’s 1963 wedding dress with its perfect 1950s silhouette.
“I don’t know how old I was when I first saw the dress but it’s always held a really special place in my heart and I always had in the back of my head that I would like to wear it one day.
“It’s so timeless and elegant. I loved the story of how she fell in love with it in a boutique called Lucy’s in the Argyle Arcade, in Glasgow, and my grandad bought it for her.
“It’s in remarkable condition for being 57 years old. I love its boat neck and long sleeves. It has an air of the Duchess of Sussex about it.
“I love that my granny could never have known that it would come back into fashion as her eldest grandchild was planning her own wedding.
“My granny has four children – my dad and his three brothers. She never had a daughter, yet I love that she still kept her dress.
“When Karl and I got engaged, I thought it might be special for my gran if she got to see someone she loved wearing her dress, having kept it in such remarkable condition.
“As a wedding photographer I get to see so many beautiful wedding dresses. I liked the idea of wearing my gran’s dress for our whole day but I also longed to wear a romantic, tulle ballgown.
“In the end, I decided to have two dresses on my wedding day.
“I chose a backless ballgown with a train and metres of tulle to walk down the aisle.
“But it’s heavy skirt was going to be impractical for dancing and you can’t have a Scottish wedding without Strip the Willow.
The solution was to change into my granny’s wedding dress.
I didn’t tell my granny my plans but let my grandad know and he loved the idea.
“So on my wedding day my gran saw me get married in what she thought would be my only dress for the day.
“Then to her shock, when Karl and I appeared to have a wedding photo taken with our guests showering us in confetti – I was wearing her gown.
“I thought she might not realise it was her actual dress – that she might think I was wearing a dress that was similar – but she recognised it right away and was so pleased. We had a lovely emotional hug.
“My grandmother and I had two very different wedding days. They had an intimate day with only eight guests.
“Karl and I got married at Errol Park, just outside Perth, and had a reception surrounded by 70 of our family and friends.
“There’s something a little bit magical about stepping into a piece of clothing that has a whole other history of its own. “I loved the dress that it was and the dress it became – the only change I made to it was removing two bows at the front.
“A wedding dress symbolises so much about marriage, and I couldn’t imagine anything more special than carrying on the legacy of love that my grand parents have for each other.
“Now my gran’s wedding dress holds two memories – maybe one day it will hold a third.”
I loved the dress that it was and the dress that it became