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Kayla Keller Duffy went viral on TikTok for thrifting a wedding gown and altering it herself to create her dream reception dress
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Two months before her wedding, the bride “spontaneously” found a vintage Jessica McClintock wedding dress. She then spent roughly 25 hours altering the thrift-find into a stylish minidress
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“I felt like I floated everywhere I went. It was more than I even dreamed,” Duffy tells PEOPLE
A bride has gone viral for her upcycled wedding reception dress.
Kayla Keller Duffy, 31, got married on March 21 at the Sydonie Mansion in Mount Dora, Florida. Duffy “put a lot of energy” into each one of her bridal looks, but social media users were most captivated by her thrifted gown turned stylish minidress.
“Couldn’t find a 2nd look I liked… so I made one,” Duffy wrote in a text overlay of a TikTok video compilation showcasing her reception dress’ before and after. She added in the caption, “The vintage Jessica McClintock wedding gown called to me from the Goodwill racks and I picked up ✨🤍.”
Since being posted on April 14, the post has amassed 1.1 million views and more than 127,000 likes.
Duffy never intended to revamp an old dress for her second wedding outfit. Two months before her nuptials, she picked up her wedding ceremony dress from alterations and “bopped into a thrift store spontaneously.”
“There it was, solo, no other wedding gowns in sight,” she tells PEOPLE. “It was by complete fate to find! My fiancé was quite confused when I came home with two wedding dresses that day.”
The $50 vintage dress, designed by Jessica McClintick, featured a halter neckline, an embroidered and beaded bodice, and a satin skirt with pleats. The delicate beading and lace appliques “caught [her] eye right from the start.”
“I stared at it, looking at the detailing and evaluating it for 10 minutes before I was like, ‘Okay, I should just try it on right?!’ ” Duffy recalls.
The dress didn’t fit. In fact, it was “four sizes too big.” But, Duffy knew the dress “had potential” and couldn’t bear to leave it on the hanger.
“The bones were SO divine. It being cream (whether that was from aging or intentional) gave it that vintage feel that I was super drawn too!” she says. “I knew it had potential — I wasn’t sure if it would be for our welcome party or the reception dress — but I knew she was coming home with me!”
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Because the dress was dated and the incorrect size, it needed serious work.
Although Duffy works in software implementation, she’s crafty and knows how to sew, so she figured she’d take a stab at doing the alterations by herself — something she’d never done before.
Carolyn Rowe Photography
Kayla Keller Duffy wearing her reception dress
“The dress was completely taken apart,” she explains. “All the applique and beading was removed, cleaned, and put back on. The dress was turned into two pieces, the corset top and the skirt. Many late nights and fittings!”
Although the alteration process was lengthy, taking at least “25 hours,” it was also “beautiful.”
“The dress had many forms before it got to the final vision,” Duffy says.
Doing the alterations herself also saved her money.
Carolyn Rowe Photography
Kayla Keller Duffy at her wedding reception
“Alterations were free since they just cost me time,” she says. “I replaced the lining, zipper and beading so I spent maybe $20 on supplies.”
While the initial dress try-on wasn’t a perfect match, the final version fit like a glove.
“I felt like I floated everywhere I went,” Duffy gushes. “It was more than I even dreamed. I truly couldn’t find a second dress that fit the vision in my head, so I simply had to make it for myself. It was very couture, very one-of-a-kind and that pretty much sums up me as a person. I love being unique and one of one.”
Carolyn Rowe Photography
Kayla Keller Duffy at her wedding reception
Her wedding guests were also awestruck by the dress transformation when they saw the reveal on the big day.
Related: Bride’s Nieces Steal Spotlight on Wedding Dance Floor: See Them Do Synchronized Splits! (Exclusive)
“I’m pretty sure everyone’s jaw hit the floor when I walked out in it,” Duffy remembers. “My friends were like, ‘UM are you real?’ Everyone was highly impressed and multiple people told my husband that I need to quit my job and feed into this creative outlet.”
But that wasn’t the only dress she made for her wedding week.
Carolyn Rowe Photography
Kayla Keller Duffy dances at her wedding reception
Her bachelorette party and rehearsal dinner dress took the longest to create, as it involved years of thrifting.
“I have been thrifting doilies for the past two years. I finally had collected enough to make the dress I was envisioning,” Duffy says. “I made a high-neck halter maxi dress by stitching them all together. The variation in texture and color makes me happy just to look at.”
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For her welcome soirée, she wore a vintage light blue Jovani two-piece set.
“I found it on Poshmark a year ago and impulse ordered,” she says. “I altered it to be ankle length, and added some boning to the top. To accessorize, I randomly wrapped a scrap piece of the fabric around my neck and arms and found perfectly matching gloves. Everyone wore white, and my husband and I were the ‘something blue’ for the event!”
For Duffy, making her bridal looks was so meaningful.
“Creating and curating each look was my favorite part of being a bride,” she wrote in another TikTok video. “Being able to express myself through my clothes has always been special to me. As a vintage lover, and a girlie who loves fashion, this was my Super Bowl 🤍.”
Read the original article on People
