This woman wore her late grandmother’s dress to her wedding—and looked stunning

Adel Schif Greene passed away in 1969, when her daughter was just 14 years old. Greene never got the chance to watch her daughter grow up, or to meet her future granddaughter, Madison Kantzer. But Kantzer found a way to make sure the grandmother she never knew had a starring role in her wedding: She wore a breathtaking vintage dress preserved from Greene’s closet.

Kantzer married her now-husband Adam Hoffman in a ceremony in Philadelphia on April 9 of this year. When it came to choosing a dress, Kantzer said there was no doubt in her mind. “My mom has had the dress for a long time and I’ve always loved it,” she told Huffington Post. “I was never someone who envisioned my ideal wedding, but this was something I’ve always known I would wear, especially because I didn’t think I would ever find a dress as amazing as this one in a store.”

This story would be sweet even if the dress in question was simple or generic, but once you see the photos, I’m sure you’ll agree: Kantzer’s grandmother’s dress is extraordinary.

The couple’s wedding photographer, Heidi Roland, posted a few snaps of the beautiful occasion and the stunning vintage dress on her Instagram account:

https://www.instagram.com/p/BXi6hojlXWt/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BU_sQG0lPYP/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BX1thJ2lR-w/?taken-by=heidiroland

Perfectly preserved and decorated with intricate floral beadwork, Kantzer’s grandmother’s dress is truly a showstopper.

Kantzer said that, amazingly, the dress needed no alterations or repairs aside from some very minor fixing of loose beads. She had a slip made to go under the dress but, beyond that, it went straight from her grandmother’s closet to her wedding. “That was one of the conditions from my mom,” she said. “No alterations.”

Seems like this dress was destined to be worn by the granddaughter Greene never knew.

“I know my mom really wishes her parents could have met us and seen the kind of people we have become,” Kantzer said. “So it was really meaningful that the memory of her mom was in the wedding.”