Wedding dress passed down through four generations

A wedding dress first worn in 1932 has been passed down through four generations of the same family.

The gown was made by the first bride to wear it, María de la Peña. Her granddaughter, Marta Prietto O'Hara, shared the story of the travelling wedding dress on the Love What Matters Facebook page.

She wrote:

“She [Maria] was a very accomplished seamstress from a very young age. She and a girlfriend went window-shopping in L.A. where they found a couture dress in one of the shops. They set out to make the dress, based on the expensive version they saw on a mannequin. The fabric is a crepe-backed satin silk and it is sown on the bias."

Maria on her wedding day

O’Hara went on to explain that she initially wanted to wear her mother’s dress for her own wedding in 1982, but when they opened the box it had been stored in, it was ruined. Her grandmother’s dress was suggested and, she said: “Upon trying it on for the first time, I knew I would wear it and did not consider for one moment the thought of shopping for a gown. 

“My teenaged sister, Elena, tried the dress on also at that time and vowed to wear it someday for her own wedding,” she added.

O'Hara pictured on her wedding day

Elena also got her wish when she wore the dress in 1997.

“In 2017, the dress emerged from the box again, as I wanted my daughter, Pilar, to consider it for her wedding,” O’Hara said. “Pilar tried it on, and, just as I had more than 30 years prior, she fell in love with the dress. The dress was not altered after 1983, except to change the buttons, which were ruined when it got dry-cleaned in 2017 before Pilar and Nick's wedding in September of 2017.”

She also explained that herself, her four sisters and her daughter all wore her grandmother’s pearl earrings on their wedding day. 

“My grandmother would be humbled and embarrassed—but very pleased—to know the attention her gorgeous, handmade wedding dress has gained over the years. She died in 2008 at the age of 98."