Heartwarming moment bride surprises dad in late mom's wedding dress

Grace Mixon, 24, got married this September in Texas and surprised her dad by wearing her late mom's wedding dress in a sweet video that has now gone viral on Instagram. 

Texas-based photo and videographer duo Ashlee and Dayne Maclin of Maclin Photo and Film captured the heartwarming moment. 

In the poignant video, Grace's dad Chad is seen facing away from his daughter, before he turns around and sees his daughter for the first time in the dress, quickly breaking down in tears.   

'I told you that you had nothing to worry about,' Grace said, while her dad responded, 'I love you so much. You look so gorgeous.' 

'Is that mom's dress?' her dad asked emotionally. 'You look just like her.' 

Grace's mom, who passed away in 2022, wore the exact same dress when she got married in 1997. 

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Maclin Photo and Film shared the Instagram Reel with the caption, 'Y’all already know we were bawling!!' 

Commenters shared their own sweet stories, with many saying they were 'instantly crying' and celebrating the 'beautiful moment.' 

'I wore my late mom's wedding dress as well, my dad got to see me in it at one of the alterations appointments (needed a new zipper and the puff sleeves removed) and he of course also cried,' one woman recalled. 

'The last time he hugged that dress, his late wife was in it,' another person wrote. 

'Honestly just impressed at the fact he remembered what her dress looked like,' another person said. 

'There should have been a tissue alert on this,' one commenter warned. 

One commenter shared the moving love story of Grace's parents, writing that they went to high school with her parents, who were high school sweethearts. 

'Her Mom and Dad were each others only and after dating all through high school got married. Her mom died very unexpectedly and her husband has been devastated ever since. She was his everything. The bride really does look just like her Momma. This is the sweetest testimony to how much they both loved her,' they wrote. 

Grace opened up to Good Morning America about the moving exchange and revealed she didn't originally plan to wear the gown but it felt like kismet. 

In fact, she originally bought another dress at David's Bridal that didn't quite feel right before trying her mom's gown at her grandparent's house - and luckily, she said it fit 'like an absolute glove.' 

'There was no alteration needed or anything like that,' Grace told GMA, adding that she took it as a sign that she was meant to honor her in that way. 

Only a few people knew she planned to pay homage to her mom through the gown, and she kept her husband and dad in the dark, saying she was even more nervous for her father's first look.  

'That moment will never top any other moment in my life, I don't think, especially with him,' Grace told GMA about the remarkable experience.