Mother Spends 31 Years Sewing Dresses for Her Daughter — Including Her Wedding Gown

ILLINOIS — For most brides, the search for the perfect wedding gown starts with designer catalogs or boutique fittings. But for Eloise Glover, it began — and ended — with a phone call to her mother, Jennifer Shepherd, who has been sewing her clothes since birth.

When Glover walked down the aisle under soft backyard lights, her gown wasn’t from a bridal shop — it was the final masterpiece in a 31-year collaboration between mother and daughter.

A Lifetime of Love, Sewn One Dress at a Time

In a now-viral TikTok video, Glover shared a montage of every dress her mother had ever made her — from her first baby bonnet to her wedding gown. “My mum has been making me dresses for 31 years,” the caption read. “And then she made my wedding dress.”

That emotional clip struck a chord online, earning millions of views and thousands of comments celebrating the pair’s creative bond.

“My mum has been making dresses for me since I was born,” Glover told PEOPLE. “So naturally, we’d spoken about my wedding dress before — but as anyone who’s been married knows, you never go with what you imagined at 14.”

Designing the Wedding Gown Across Continents

When Glover and her fiancé decided to hold their ceremony in their backyard, she immediately called her mom — even before finalizing the date. The two began designing across time zones, with Glover in Los Angeles and Shepherd in Western Australia.

“I was in LA trying on designer gowns, but nothing felt like me,” Glover said. “I knew I didn’t want pure white — I wanted an organic texture.”

Her mother, a lifelong dressmaker, understood instinctively. She sourced silk, tested dye washes, and spent 48 hours hand-stitching the bodice to achieve the right look.

“By the end, we barely had to talk — we’d just look at each other and understand,” Glover recalled.

A Creative Bond Forged Over Decades

Shepherd began sewing when Eloise was a baby. “When she was about two, I enrolled in a technical dressmaking school,” Shepherd said. “My final collection even included a wedding gown. I never imagined I’d make one for my own daughter decades later.”

Over the years, Shepherd created everything from playful toddler outfits to bold teenage gowns. “Each one represents how our relationship evolved,” Glover said. “As a baby, it was all her. By sixteen, I wanted gothic and dramatic. By the wedding, it became a real collaboration — the most harmonious version of us.”

‘The Privilege of My Life’

For Shepherd, creating the wedding dress was deeply personal. “Having a little girl gave me the opportunity to create to my heart’s content,” she said. “But watching her wear those creations — that’s been the privilege of my life.”

Glover didn’t see the finished gown until six days before the wedding. “When I tried it on, Mum’s face said everything,” she said. “We both cried — it wasn’t just a dress, it was everything we’d built together.”

A Viral Celebration of Family and Craftsmanship

The video showing her mother’s creations — from her childhood bonnets to the silk gown she married in — quickly spread across TikTok and Instagram, inspiring thousands to share memories of their own mothers and handmade traditions.

“Growing up with Mum’s craftsmanship taught me to value the emotion behind clothes,” Glover said. “Personal style isn’t about trends — it’s about intention.”

Shepherd, who raised Eloise as a single parent while studying dressmaking, says the attention has been humbling. “I wasn’t sure she’d want me to make her wedding dress,” she admitted. “When she asked, I was overjoyed — and terrified. I just wanted her to be happy.”

When the moment came, she succeeded. As Glover walked down the aisle, her mother watched in tears — every stitch a piece of their shared story.

“Every bit of effort was worth it,” Shepherd said softly. “That day, I saw my life’s work come full circle.”

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