A Florida mother found a way to incorporate the sacrament of her marriage into the baptism of her first child as a special way to “welcome into God’s family.”
Amateur seamstress Emily Walsh was able to turn the dress worn by her friend, Jupirter resident Shayna Sexton, wore on her 2010 wedding day.
“My husband and I got married on Nov. 27, 2010. It was our sacrament of marriage so I wanted a way to incorporate it with our first child on his special day,” Sexton told ABC News.
Walsh spend one month transforming the wedding dress into the baptism outfit.
“It’s his baptism welcoming him into God’s family and this was his sacrament, so I wanted a way to tie it all together,” Sexton said. “I couldn’t think of a better way to use it in the future.”
Walsh’s biggest concern was ensuring that she had enough fabric from the wedding dress to complete the outfit. She completed it with only inches of fabric to spare.
“I had to measure everything perfectly because I couldn’t get any more, obviously. If I messed up, she’d lose her wedding dress and there’d be no baptism outfit. The hardest part was taking it apart very gingerly and then cutting it just perfectly.
One of the most striking features of the wedding gown, its lace embellishments from the train, was repurposed into a tiny baptism vest. The baby bonnet also incorporated distinct features from the dress.
“It was a way to have him as an extension of our family and God’s family,” Sexton said. “…His birth was a humongous day for us, and his baptism was a humongous celebration for us, and so was our wedding, and it was like bringing our wedding back full circle for our baby.”
Sexton plans on recycling the outfit on her future children’s baptisms as well, describing her friend as “ridiculously talented.”
“I am blessed to have her as a friend,” the new mother said. “Having her make my dress into my son’s baptism outfit was so special because my dress was a representation of the love my husband and I share and a reminder of our wedding day six years ago.”
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