Serena Stoneberg's wedding continued a family tradition that spanned seven previous brides across multiple Chicago neighborhoods and suburbs.
Stoneberg became the eighth bride to say her vows in a gown that her grandmother, great aunt, aunt and cousins wore on their weddings. She was the first bride to wear it in 1950 and it was purchased by her late grandmother.
All but one of the weddings taking place in and around Chicago have been made better by the family heirloom. The brides gathered in the River North Hotel room the day before the wedding to socialize.
The youngest of the first generation of brides to wear the dress was Sharon Frank, and she said it wasn't a big deal to be married in the same gown.
We never said that you would wear the dress. It just sort of got better.
The garment has become a connection to one another and to Chicago over time.
Julie Frank Mackey, who was the last person to wear the dress before this month, said she never considered marrying someone else.
You were going to get it done. Even when it wasn't right for me. Being a part of that tradition was important. I knew from a young age that I would wear that dress.
The dress is long and has a collar.
Serena Stoneberg made a few changes for her ceremony. She wore her own shoes, her own jewelry, and a veil from her great aunt, the third woman to marry in the dress.
Stoneberg is excited to fit into the tradition as it is.
Over the last 72 years, the family has made some small changes to the dress.
A back panel and eight-inch wide ribbon were added to the hem of the dress by her mother.
The sixth woman to wear it added a crinoline to give it a boost.
They tried to stay true to the original design of the dress, which was described as a classic by the oldest living bride.
Eight brides are willing to wear it because it doesn't scream 1950 or 1970
The smart buy was credited to her older sister. One of the women who did not attend the eighth wedding is the one who passed away in 1988.
The sisters said that her choice to buy the dress at Marshall Field's was obvious. When the time came in 1950 to pick out a wedding dress, they didn't think she'd go anywhere else.
Sharon Frank said that her mother liked Marshall Field's. She wouldn't have been able to go to any other store. They would have liked the dress to be beautiful.
The Marshall Field's truck would deliver the goods to the house the next day after Sharon's mother traveled on the "L" train to do her shopping downtown.
The family would gather in the Walnut Room at Marshall Field to see the Christmas tree and celebrate with a meal.
"None of these women drove, so we would take public transportation."
The store was an important part of the family's daily life.
Marshall Field's became a place where the girls could meet their grandma, Anna, for tea.
Jean was fond of meeting her grandmother in Glenview.
She said that grandma used to say, "hey, tomorrow, let's meet at Marshall Field's on State Street." I would meet her at the old third floor waiting room and have a field's sandwich and Frango Mint pie.
She said she got packages of Frango Mints when she left the region for school.
Anna would go to Clark Street to shop with her husband on Saturdays.
Even though she lived in Lincolnwood she still lived in that area. She wanted to eat the cake. We used to have coffee cake and limpa, a dark Swedish bread, and lutefisk, a traditional Swedish dish.
The Swedish heritage of the family dictated where their marriages took place.
Serena Stoneberg will have her ceremony at the same church where the first three weddings were held.
Serena Stoneberg is related to two people who were members of the church and friends with the ministers. Their daughters were christened and confirmed there.
She said that being married in the church was familiar to her. All of us went to Sunday school there. We worshiped there a lot. Our first home was the Lutheran church.
They had urns of coffee and a cake from a bakery on Foster Avenue, but the women couldn't remember which one.
Many people celebrate weddings today, but the older brides said it was different.
Sharon and her husband went to the Sunday school room after getting married. There was no music or dancing.
Elly said that it could be booze.
There were many weddings in the northern suburbs.
Sue Stoneberg McCarthy was the first person to wear the dress in a church that wasn't a church. She was married at the church.
The family used to gather at Sue Stoneberg McCarthy's house on Delphia Avenue. One of the best memories of visiting there was how the house was directly in the path of airplanes as they flew to O'Hare International Airport.
She wore the dress after her sister Carol Zmuda and cousin Sue Stoneberg McCarthy got married.
After a specialized cleaning, the dress has been in Pittsburgh for the last 10 years.
No one who wore the dress at the family weddings has ever gotten divorced.
The marriages have all lasted long. Marriages are long and healthy.
It is a lucky object, according to Julie Frank.
She wished the best to Serena and Chris because it was a lucky dress, and all of the happy marriages that started after that dress walked down the aisle.
Serena Stoneberg said wearing the dress for her own wedding would connect her to all the brides while she is at the altar, as well as to the one bride not at the wedding: her grandmother.
Serena Stoneberg wore her original dress to the wedding. It will probably feel like she is present.
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