Three weddings and a vintage gown: Romantic bride gets married in 63-year-old dress worn by her mother AND grandmother

• .Lucy Popovic, 31, was the third member of her family to wear the dress
• .Dress was bought for six guineas in 1950 by her grandmother Mel Calder
• .Lucy's mother Penny Dafforn also wore the dress for her 1974 nuptials

By RUTH STYLES

Most women spend months hunting for the perfect wedding dress but for one romantic bride, the gown of her dreams was to be found a little closer to home.

Lucy Popovic, 31, was married wearing a stunning vintage dress that had already been up the aisle twice before - on her mother and grandmother.

First used by her grandmother Mel in 1950, the dress had its second outing in 1974 when Mel's daughter Peggy wore it for her big day before being used for a third time by Lucy.

Romantic: Lucy in the vintage dress on her wedding day, flanked by her husband Mark and her grandparents

Beautiful: Lucy posing for a picture after the nuptials (left) and being zipped into the dress by her mother (right)

The off-white dress was bought for six guineas - the equivalent of around £6.50 today - for grandmother Mel's marriage to Ian Calder in London's South Kensington.

 

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The dress was then worn by Mel’s daughter Penny in 1974 when she married Harry Dafforn at Hampton Court in Surrey.

Lucy, from Solva in Pembrokeshire, decided to continue the tradition and wore the dress when she married her Australian husband Mark Popovic, 35.

Lucy, who works in construction, revealed: 'It was a quite nerve racking time because we only got back to Wales a couple of weeks before the wedding and I hadn’t tried the dress on for about ten years, so we weren’t 100 per cent sure that it would fit.

Wedding number one: Lucy's grandmother Mel marrying Ian Calder in London's South Kensington in 1950

Wedding number two: Lucy's mother Penny at her marriage to Harry Dafforn at in Hampton Court in 1974 

'It was obviously meant to be because it fitted perfectly. It’s pretty amazing that the three of us were all the same size. The dress needed a new zip and some of the hems re-sewed.'

She added: 'I felt really lucky to be able to wear the same dress that both my mum and grandma had worn.

'The dress you get married in holds such special memories and it was really lovely to wear a dress with so much family history.

'I had always thought the dress was beautiful and hoped that one day I would get to wear it.'

Lucy, whose wedding date coincided with her grandparents 62nd wedding anniversary, added:

'It had extra significance to be able to share it with them [her grandparents] and it will be something we will always treasure.

Family affair: Lucy with her parents Penny and Harry Dafforn on her wedding day last month

Romantic: Lucy, who now lives in Australia, flew home to her native Wales for the nuptials

'My grandparents have had such a long and happy marriage and we hope we will be celebrating both wedding anniversaries for many years to come.'

Lucy moved to Australia seven years ago to live with her partner Mark but flew back to her home town for her seaside wedding in June.

Before she could wear the dress, it had to be cleaned with a homemade mixture of aspirin and white vinegar.

'I found the dress looking rather grubby,' said Lucy's mother Penny, 59. 'I researched stain removal for silk on the internet, and after several crushed aspirin and white vinegar stain removals, it looked perfect on Lucy.'