“We were all crying and just looking at each other, completely overwhelmed,” bride-to-be Gavriella Kaufmann tells PEOPLE
Credit: Alexa Negvesky Photography
NEED TO KNOW
- Dena Kaufmann surprised her three engaged daughters with custom bridal robes made from her 38-year-old wedding dress
- The robes were created by bridal seamstress Melissa Lennie using only fabric from Dena’s original gown
- A TikTok video of the emotional reveal has gone viral with over 2.6 million views
A mother has gone viral for repurposing her wedding dress for her three engaged daughters.
One of the first things bride-to-be Gavriella Kaufmann, 29, did after getting engaged in September 2025 was try on her mother Dena Kaufmann’s wedding dress. She tells PEOPLE she had “so much fun” trying on the vintage gown but “hadn’t really thought about it” since putting it back in its box. Fast-forward nearly a year later at her bridal shower on Aug. 2, and she saw the dress again in a way she never expected.
“It was a complete surprise,” Gavriella tells PEOPLE.
Credit: Alexa Negvesky Photography
By then, Gavriella’s two sisters, Moriah Kaufmann, 30, and Daniella Kaufmann, 26, had gotten engaged too. The pair were confused when their mother Dena, 63, brought them up to the front of the party next to Gavriella, wondering, “Why us? This isn’t our bridal shower.”
“My mom handed each of us a box, and at first we thought they might be something for the flower girls,” Gavriella remembers. “We were all looking at each other so confused, trying to figure out what was going on.”
To their surprise, Dena revealed that her original wedding dress had been transformed into custom getting-ready robes for each of them to wear at their own weddings.
@secretstangavi
Three daughters. Three engagements. All in under a year. 🤍 My mom went from planning one wedding to celebrating all three of her daughters getting engaged within the same year. Instead of just giving us a speech at my bridal shower, she surprised us with something we’ll cherish forever. She repurposed the wedding dress she wore when she married my dad into three meaningful gifts, one for each of us as we begin this next chapter. Thank you, Mom, for giving us a piece of your love story to carry into our own. 🥹✨ #BridalShower #motherdaughter
♬ What Was I Made For? (Epilogue) [Instrumental Version] – Mark Ronson & Andrew Wyatt
“When we finally realized what was inside and that our mom had turned her wedding dress into something for each of us, we all got incredibly emotional,” Gavriella says, adding, “We were all in complete shock.”
Footage of the big reveal was posted by Gavriella on TikTok, and has amassed more than 2.6 million views and 300,000 likes. In the video, Dena revealed to everyone that she “got their measurements secretly” and found someone to transform her “very big ball gown into three beautiful bridal robes,” noting that each one is different like each of her daughters.
“I realized it’s really not about the fabric, it’s not about the silk or the organza, or any of that. It’s about what it represents,” Dena said. “It represents basically 38 years of, obviously, love and laughter, and compromise, and perseverance, and friendship, and family. That’s really what you want to hand down to your children, not the dress. The dress is just symbolic.”
Credit: Sew Creative Bridal (3)
The trio were visibly moved by their mother’s thoughtful gesture.
Gavriella tells PEOPLE, “It was such a surreal moment. We were all crying and just looking at each other, completely overwhelmed. The fact that we each get to have a piece of our mom’s wedding dress and that we get to experience this together makes the gift even more special.”
Credit: Courtesy of Gavriella Kaufmann
Gavriella had always admired her mother’s gown, saying “nothing else ever compared to it.”
“She looked like a princess in that dress, and as a little girl, I would look at our giant photo of my parents on their wedding day hanging in our living room and imagine myself in that dress one day,” she shares. “It still takes my breath away every time I look at that photo.”
She continues, “So when my mom told me she had saved her dress, I remember being so excited just knowing that it was still there. I always hoped that one day I could look just as beautiful as she did in that photo. Now, to have a piece of that dress with me for my own wedding day is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. I get to carry a little piece of my parents’ love story with me as I begin this next chapter of my own.”
Credit: Alexa Negvesky Photography
Dena commissioned Indiana-based bridal seamstress Melissa Lennie to make the robes. Lennie has been a bridal seamstress for 27 years, and owns and operates the business and Etsy shop Sew Creative Bridal.
She tells PEOPLE that all three robes were made entirely from Dena’s gown and that there were no new fabrics used to supplement.
One of the most popular items for custom order in my shop is bridal getting-ready robes made from wedding gowns. I have made hundreds of robes over the past four years and the demand for robes is still high in my Etsy shop and in my alterations studio,” Lennie says.
One of Lennie’s customers was Dena, who gave her the secret measurements and shared her vision for three distinct robes.
Credit: Sew Creative Bridal
“Her gown was completely gorgeous and made with such exquisite silk and silk organza. The bodice and train had flowers and leaves sewn on along with crystals. Making three robes from one gown is a challenge but they turned out so well!” Lennie says. “The skirt of Dena’s gown was lined with silk organza, a lovely soft sheer fabric. I made the sleeves sheer along with the band that runs down the length of the robe. Dena wanted each robe unique so I would send her pictures of flower and leaf placement on the robes before I stitched on that detail. It was such a special project with deep meaning.”
Similar to what Dena said, Lennie argues that a “wedding gown is much more than fabric beautifully sewn together.” She says, “It represents love and commitment and the beginning of a new family.”
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When Gavriella tried on her robe, she “got chills.”
“Seeing all of the little details and knowing that every stitch came from my mom’s wedding dress made the moment so emotional,” she shares. “I had actually been struggling to find the perfect getting-ready outfit for my wedding, and the second I put this on, I knew it was meant for me.”
Credit: Alexa Negvesky Photography
She continues, “There was something so special about wearing a piece of the dress I had admired my entire life. I truly couldn’t have imagined a more meaningful or perfect getting-ready outfit, and I cannot wait to wear it on my wedding day.”
Gavriella will say “I do” in less than two months on Oct. 12. Her sisters’ weddings will both take place next year, with Daniella and Moriah marrying their partners in April and September, respectively.
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