Courtesy ofMadison Ressler
NEED TO KNOW
Bride-to-be Madison Ressler surprised her mother, Brooke Ressler, by trying on her wedding dress at her bridal appointment
"Seeing my mom get so confused over how similar her dress looked to the one I was wearing melted my heart, as I knew that the surprise was a success," Madison tells PEOPLE
Brooke wed in 2003, and Madison will tie the knot this summer
A bride brought her mother to tears at her bridal appointment.
BeforeMadison Ressler's appointment atBrick Street Bridal Co.in Nacogdoches, Texas, on Jan. 17, the 20-year-old bride-to-be had never tried on a wedding dress. Wanting her mother Brooke Ressler's wedding gown to be the first she wore, Madison decided to secretly surprise her by stepping out in the dress during her shopping session.
"I really wanted to do something special for my mom," Madison tells PEOPLE. "I am often told that her and I look similar, and I thought it would be really fun to surprise her by trying on her dress."
Everyone was in on the surprise except for Brooke, 46. She and Madison's entourage — who included the bride's soon-to-be mother-in-law Michelle Sims, maid of honor and sister Kenzie Ressler, and friends Sophia McAndrew and Kerri Henry — eagerly waited for Madison to step out from her dressing room and show them the first wedding dress. Once she did so, Brooke reacted with a mixture of enthusiasm and confusion.
As seen in a video of the big reveal, which has gone viral onTikTokwith 3.2 million views and nearly 680,000 likes, Brooke waved her hands in excitement before stopping and saying, "That looks just like my wedding dress. Like, just like my wedding dress."
Courtesy ofMadison Ressler
The mother of the bride, who wed Robert Ressler in 2003, whipped out her phone to find a photo of her wedding dress to show everyone its shocking resemblance to what she thought was one of Brick Street Bridal Co.'s gowns.
"You think it could be your wedding dress?" Madison hinted to her mother, helping her put two and two together.
Once everything clicked, Brooke burst into tears and exclaimed, "Did you try on my wedding dress? Oh, my God! How did you get it? You look beautiful in it. I haven't seen that in 20-something years. You look beautiful in it."
Madison tells PEOPLE that it was "a really special moment for everyone in the room."
"It was so special to me to have that memory with my mom," she shares. "I was so excited! My mom's dress fit me like a glove, and it was absolutely beautiful. I've seen pictures of my mom in the dress, but I bet she looked absolutely stunning in person. Seeing my mom get so confused over how similar her dress looked to the one I was wearing melted my heart, as I knew that the surprise was a success. Once she realized I was wearing her dress, it was waterworks! I was so, so happy and grateful to be able to surprise someone who means so much to me!"
Courtesy ofMadison Ressler
Madison got the idea before she was even engaged. One day, she saw another woman online surprise her mother by wearing her wedding dress, and she decided then and there that she would do that too.
"I wanted to surprise her because I am very close with my mom, and I wanted to create a really sweet memory together," Madison says.
Courtesy ofMadison Ressler
The week before the bridal appointment, Madison called her maternal grandmother, "Grammi" Sharleen Bullion, for help because she was the one who had been storing the wedding dress. The two met up for lunch, where they exchanged the dress.
From there, Lisa Cannon, the owner of Brick Street Bridal Co., helped sneak in the dress.
"Lisa was the sweetest! She was so excited for us!" Madison remembers. "She told us to arrive early to our bridal appointment. Sophia, Lisa, and I quickly smuggled my mom's dress into the dressing room, and we all prayed that my mom wouldn't want to see how cute the dressing room was!"
Madison posted her video two days later, and it quickly went viral.
"It was truly so amazing to be able to see such an influx of comments on the TikTok that I posted. People that are complete strangers to me were uploading pictures, stories, and other sweet, sweet words that meant so much to me!" Madison says. "A few even brought me to tears."
Courtesy ofMadison Ressler
She adds, "Throughout the day of the video blowing up, my mom, sister, Grammi, and I were all texting as the numbers were climbing and we were calling each other celebrities!"
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After surprising her mother, Madison continued to try on wedding dresses and eventually found the one. She notes that her mother's two-piece dress was a strong contender, and she plans to wear its corset top to her rehearsal dinner to honor Brooke.
Madison will marry her fiancé, Colin, 22, on June 14 in Tyler, Texas.
Read the original article onPeople
