Everyone Has Seen This Bride's 120-Year-Old Wedding Dress, Except One Person

Everyone Has Seen This Bride's 120-Year-Old Dress, Except One Person
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Tradition has it that a groom is not supposed to see the bride in her dress before the wedding day.

But if the Internet is exploding with pictures of your fiancée's wedding dress, what do you do? Start using grandma's flip phone?

Abby Kingston's 120-year-old heirloom wedding dress became a sensation last week after she gave an interview with a local Pennsylvania newspaper.

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Within days, international publications began contacting her for interview requests, and people as far as China and Taiwan reached out to her on social media.

But for all the attention, there's still one person who hasn't seen it - her fiancé.

"He hasn't looked at anything or read anything. He still wants to be surprised!" Kingston told The Huffington Post.

The groom, 32-year-old Jason Curtis, was returning from a business trip in South Africa last Thursday when the story was shared across the web.

"I called him and said, 'Delete your Facebook, don't answer any text messages, things are happening!'" she said.

This has not been easy for Curtis, who will be wearing social media blinders until 17 October. He had to leave the room when the story aired on the Today Show and quickly closed his browser whenever he noticed she was featured on a website.

"He called me and was like, 'Okay, you're literally on the front page of Yahoo News. How am I supposed to get work done when people keep texting me and calling me?" Kingston told HuffPost.

Kingston never thought that her story would become so popular, or that a simple local news interview would spark global interest.

"I think a lot of people are intrigued by the story because having a daughter wear a mothers wedding dress is something very special, but it's pretty unheard of to have a dress be worn by 10 other brides in the same family," she said.

The 30-year-old bride-to-be will be the 11th person in her family to wear the historic dress, which was handmade for her great-great-grandmother Mary Lowry in 1895.

When Kingston first received the dress after it had last been worn in 1991, it was torn and discolored from exposure during storage. Designer Deborah LoPresti spent more than 200 hours repairing the dress so Kingston could wear it on her wedding day.

"When I put it on after the restorations, that's when I could actually feel the sentiment," Kingston said. "That's what I value and hold dear to my heart, and that's what makes it so much more special to wear."

Check out photos of Kingston's family members wearing the dress through the years in the gallery below.

Abby Kingston's 120-year-old Heirloom Wedding Dress
Bride #1: Mary Lowry, 1895(01 of11)
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The dress was made for Kingston's great-great grandmother Mary Lowry for her marriage to John Warren in 1895. Kingston said the dress was originally tailored to fit Lowry's tiny 18-inch waist, so many of the brides that followed have altered the dress to fit their own waistlines. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #2: Jane Woodruff(02 of11)
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The next bride to wear the dress was Mary Lowry's granddaughter Jane Woodruff in her marriage to John Kearns in February 1946. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #3: Virginia Woodruff, 1948(03 of11)
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Virginia Woodruff was the next to wear the dress, in her wedding to Douglas MacConnell in 1948. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #4: Sara Seiler, 1960(04 of11)
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Sara Seiler, another one of Mary Lowry's grand daughters, wore the dress for her marriage to Duncan Odgen on June 15, 1960. Seiler shortened the original cathedral length train for her ceremony. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #5: Laird MacConnell, 1976(05 of11)
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Laird MacConnell wore the dress in her October 1976 wedding to Timothy Hensler. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #6: Leslie Kingston, 1977(06 of11)
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Abby's mother Leslie wore the dress for her wedding to Richard T. Kingston Jr. in August of 1977. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #7: Janet Kearns, 1982(07 of11)
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Janet Kearns wore the dress when she wed Mark Daigle in 1982. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #8: Jane Ogden, 1986(08 of11)
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Jane Ogden wore the dress for her 1986 wedding to James Houston. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #9: Virginia Kearns, 1989(09 of11)
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Virginia Kearns added a lace trim to the bottom of the dress for her August 1989 wedding to Charles Stinnett. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #10: Ann Ogden, 1991(10 of11)
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Ann Ogden was the most recent bride to wear the dress prior to Abby. She married Robert Hausslien on July 4th, 1991. (credit:Abigail Kingston)
Bride #11: Abigail Kingston, 2015(11 of11)
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Abby will wear the dress for her October 17th, 2015 wedding to Jason Curtis. Because the dress is still quite delicate, she will be donning a different ensemble for the ceremony and reception that she purchased at Klienfeld's in New York City. (credit:Abigail Kingston)