Bride Transforms Her Mother's '80s Wedding Dress Into a Modern Pants Set for Her Welcome Party (Exclusive)
"I really wanted to pick out my own wedding dress for our big day, so we agreed that I would wear it for the welcome party," Devon Lambur shares
Bride Devon Lambur transformed her something old into something new for her wedding welcome party.
When Devon, 30, got engaged to her future husband, Dylan Lambur, in June 2023, her mom, Beth Murray, gifted her the dress she wore on her own wedding day in 1984. At the time, the registered dietician never planned to wear the 40-year-old dress to walk down the aisle. Instead, she wanted to pick out a dress of her own for her special day.
But after she received the memorable gift she came up with an inspired idea – turn the dress into a pantsuit for her welcome party.
"I took a few weeks to think about what I could do with it, and I really wanted to pick out my own wedding dress for our big day, so we agreed that I would wear it for the welcome party," Devon tells PEOPLE.
"I immediately knew I wanted to make the bottoms into a palazzo pant because as many brides know, you wear A LOT of white dresses leading up to the big day (bridal shower, bachelorette party, wedding day dress) so I just really wanted a pant set," she continues. "The pant set really just fit the vibe of our welcome party."
According to Devon, it took around nine months to transform the dress into the new look. She worked with Elisa Pritchett, a seamstress at Cozynest Custom Apparel & Alterations in St. Louis, Missouri to reconstruct and repurpose her mom's dress.
“When the bride wants to transform mom’s old wedding gown, and really wants wants pants! " Pritchett captioned an Instagram post about the redesign process. "This redesign included deconstruction of the original gown, modification of the bodice into a top and design and fabrication of palazzo pants from the limited fabric of the skirt. I love a good challenge and I had such fun bringing Devon’s vision to life."
Devon posted a now viral TikTok of the pant set on her wedding weekend in October 2023. In the video, she shared that the outfit was one of her favorite parts of the weekend. "It was so special," she said.
Aside from her meaningful welcome party ensemble, Devon had two additional looks for her wedding. For the ceremony and cocktail hour, she wore a Madeline Gardner dress with detachable sleeves. Then, once the speeches and dancing started, she changed into a shorter party dress with white silk gloves.
Related: A Bride's Decision to Ask Her Mother to Walk Her Down the Aisle Instead of Her Stepfather Goes Viral
The newlywed adds that she and her mom have always been close. Over the past few years she says, they've gotten even close.
"My mom helped me plan every single detail of the day," Devon shares. "She even made a 75ft aisle runner for our ceremony, custom gold table runners for our reception space and hand-made my veil."
To show her appreciation to her mom, Devon dedicated her bridal bouquet to her mother instead of having a traditional bouquet toss.
"She supported me every step of the way," Devon says. "During my speech, I began by mentioning everything she helped with and custom-made for me... This was my way of showing my love for her and she was totally surprised."
In addition to repurposing her mother's '80s gown into a modern pants set and honoring her mom with her bridal bouquet, the bride also surprised her husband with a special voice note that played while she walked down the aisle.
"I travel a lot for work in my car," Devon says. "To practice my vows, I would use the voice memo app to practice and listen back to them. Dylan was hell bent on not crying when I walked down the aisle so once we booked our DJ I asked him if he could play a part of my vows over the speaker, and he mocked up a version for me and we ran with it. It was a memory I’ll never forget."
Since her wedding, Devon has posted numerous wedding videos on her TikTok, @devlambur, sharing tips for couples looking for ways to put their own unique stamp on their special day. She tells PEOPLE she hopes she can help inspire other brides to do their big day their way.
"TikTok helped me so much in planning my own wedding, so I just want to give back and share ideas for other brides," she says. "Your wedding day is so special, and there’s so much to know about planning. I want other brides to be able to come to my page and feel inspired to make their own day exactly how they want it."
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