NEED TO KNOW
- A 25-year-old bride surprised her family by wearing her mother’s wedding dress to her rehearsal dinner
- Olivia Turi captured her grandmother’s reaction to the dress, which went viral on TikTok
- Turi tells PEOPLE that it “was such a powerful moment for all of us”
When one bride-to-be stepped out at her rehearsal dinner, she wasn’t wearing just any dress, but a piece of family history.
Choosing to surprise her grandmother, Olivia Turi donned a slightly altered version of her mother’s original wedding gown, preserving its most delicate details.
The emotional reveal in front of St. Vincent Ferrer Church in New York City left her grandmother stunned and deeply touched.
“My grandmother recognized it instantly,” Turi, 25, tells PEOPLE exclusively. “She was completely blown away and hasn’t stopped crying since. It was such a powerful moment for all of us.”
Her grandmother stood in stunned silence on the church steps, momentarily overcome with emotion. As she took in her granddaughter’s beauty, tears filled her eyes, moved by the sight of the beloved dress that held decades of cherished memories.
Turi’s mother got married in July 1996, at Russo’s on the Bay in Queens, N.Y. Nearly 30 years later, her dress was brought back to life after a thoughtful reconstruction by Lauren Holovka at Le Laurier Bridal.
Rather than hemming the dress, Holovka designed a structured bustle that maintained its original silhouette while giving it some flair. The transformation left both Turi’s grandmother and mother in awe.
“[Our mother] was emotional in all the best ways,” Turi’s younger sister, Gabrielle Martinelli, reveals. “It had always been her dream that one of us would wear her gown, so seeing Olivia in it brought everything full circle.”
The New Jersey native plans to carry the tradition forward, passing it down to Martinelli and, eventually, down to her future children. “It’s officially a generational heirloom now,” Martinelli says.
Turi tied the knot on May 17, 2025, at The Pierre, A Taj Hotel in N.Y.C. Although she wore two different dresses on her wedding day, she was grateful to have had the opportunity to incorporate her mother’s dress into her special moments.
Wearing the cherished family gown, even briefly, created a powerful memory across three generations.
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