Dress Solidifies Special Bond
By Jessica Wald
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 & Palmer McDurfee, Napoleon), wear the dress for her first confirmation/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 Catholic Church’s confirmation/first communion on May 3, 2025, but Preché also asked her Grandma Barb to be her. . .