Dress solidifies special bond

After 61 years a wedding dress made its second debut, but for a different celebration. Barb Braun, Napoleon, was honored to let her granddaughter, Preché McDurfee (daughter of Danielle and Palmer McDurfee, Napoleon), wear the dress for her Confirmation and First Communion.  

Braun said a while ago she and her daughter Danielle McDurfee were chatting about finding a dress for Preché’s confirmation and that’s when Danielle questioned what her mom was going to do with her wedding dress. After Preché tried on the dress, Barb said her daughter chimed in, “Oh my gosh it’s beautiful, Mom.” 

The trio felt it needed to be altered just a bit, along with being hemmed, to fit perfectly and found a neighbor to help them. Braun reassured her daughter it was ok to alter the dress, and she’d rather it be put to good use, rather than be stored away.  

After alterations and trying the dress on several times, “Preché would put it on and dance around the kitchen. It was so, so, so special,” she emotionally said about seeing her granddaughter in her dress.  

Preché, who is 9, said, “I was really happy that I got to wear my grandma’s dress.” Not only did she wear her grandma’s wedding dress for the St. Philip Neri Church’s Confirmation/First Communion on May 3, but Preché also asked her grandma Barb to be her sponsor.  

“She is special to me,” Preché said of her grandma. “She bakes and we do stuff together. We bake treats and she’s special.” 

Danielle said not only was Preché able to wear the dress, but also how, on her own, Preché chose her grandma to be her sponsor. McDurfee also noted that Preché chose Barb’s mom’s name, Clara, as her saint name for the Confirmation. 

“It’s such a blessing; I’m grateful she can make these memories with her grandma,” noted Danielle of the duo’s special bond and time together.  

Barbara (Weigel), who married her husband Tony on Aug. 29, 1964, said she went with both her parents to buy her wedding dress. “My dad had great taste for clothes and I told him I wanted a flowing princess dress,” added Barb. She said she found a dress she loved at Penney’s. “I loved it and I remember twirling around in it.” 

They decided to look at one more place for a dress and her dad urged her to try on the latest style. “It had handkerchief sleeves,” Barb explained of the new style dress in the early 60s. As she tried on the second dress at Morey Allen’s shop, she said they all knew it was perfect. Although it was $10 more than the other dress, Barb and her parents loved it and she said it would be the first of its kind to be worn in the area.  

Danielle said it was such an honor that her mom allowed Preché to wear the dress 61 years later. “Preché and my mom have a very, very unique, close relationship; they are super close and it was super special.”