When Kyria Smith got engaged, she knew what she wanted her future to look like.
“It’s obvious and apparent that my grandma and grandpa are still very much in love with each other,” she said of her grandparents, Marlene and Edward “Ned “ Colloton of Rockford. “I’ve seen the best in a marriage when I look at them and I knew that I wanted that.”
To her, that marital bliss was symbolized by one dress. It was the dress her grandma had worn in 1959 on her wedding day. And the dress her mother, Lisa Smith, had worn in 1986 on her wedding day. And the dress her sister, Katelyn Leach, had worn in 2011 on hers.
So when Kyria walked down the aisle and exchanged vows with Adam Branaugh on Sept. 28, she became the fourth woman in her family to wear the wedding dress.
“I never considered not wearing it,” said Kyria, 22, who lives in Pewaukee, Wis.
As an excited bride-to-be in 1959, Marlene bought the dress from Owens Department Store on West State Street in Rockford. Over the years, the dress has become a symbol of faithful marriage and family tradition, both strong attributes to this close-knit clan.
“I’m a traditionalist. I like following family traditions,” said Marlene’s daughter and Kyria’s mother, Lisa, of Elkhorn, Wis. “Mom and Papa are wonderful role models and have had a very strong marriage all my life, and I wanted that, too. Dan and I have been married 27 years, so this dress is like a good luck charm for our family.”
For several decades the dress remained nearly unaltered, though Kyria removed the sleeves for her wedding. Naturally, Lisa turned the modification into another family heirloom. The two sleeves were cut in half, embroidered with the four wedding dates and framed.
Kyria’s sister, Katelyn, said she had a brief moment of hesitation when she saw her friends trying on new wedding gowns, but when she thought of the connection the handed-down gown created, those thoughts evaporated.
“I was a little bit jealous of the friends going to the bridal shops and getting the new dresses, but then I realized how special it was that I had this moment to share with my family,” said Katelyn, 25, who also lives in Elkhorn, Wis. “They’re hanging their dresses up and never doing anything else with them, but I get to wear this special dress that connects us all and I get to wear it while standing next to the man who is going to make me happy the rest of my life. We all felt that same way and still do.”
Page 2 of 2 - Marlene said she is proud to have this everlasting link with her daughter and granddaughters.
“I was real pleased to see the dress again. I was really shocked that the two young ones wanted to wear it,” Marlene said. “You only wear a wedding dress one day in your life — but I’ve had the chance to see it three more times.”
To Kyria, the dress symbolizes what’s truly important in her life.
“So many of the traditions get lost,” she said. “We have drive-thrus, text messages and Facebook that people focus on now, but life is about making lasting connections and not letting the small, important things get lost. It’s important to hand these family traditions down. Wearing this dress was definitely a privilege. I would love for my daughters to wear it when their time comes, but I would hope it would be their wish because they wanted to have the same kind of close relationship that I have with my grandma, mom and sister.”
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