Liverpool Hope University student graduates in nan's wedding dress

Jade Stephenson wanted to be reminded of her grandmother Nora on her graduation day

A university student paid tribute to her grandparents by graduating in her grandmother's wedding dress.

Jade Stephenson wore the 32-year-old dress under her cap and gown when she collected her primary school teaching degree from Liverpool Hope University.

Her grandfather James died in 2009 and her grandmother Nora, 80, was unable to travel from her home in Carlisle.

"I didn't want them to miss out on my graduation and in a way they didn't," said 22-year-old Jade.

She said her grandmother was thrilled when she asked whether she could wear the dress to her ceremony at Liverpool Metropolitan Cathedral of Christ the King.

"I showed her the pictures and she said how lovely I looked and she felt honoured I chose to wear it," said Jade, from Carlisle.

"I think she was a bit surprised when I asked her because it's so old but I love it."

'Big occasion'

Many of Jade's fellow graduates complimented her on the "heart-warming" fashion choice.

"I'd said to her for years I'd like to one day wear it for a big occasion and now I can always tell people about it when I talk about my graduation," she said.

Jade is set to start work in September as a teacher at St Basil's Catholic Primary School in Widnes.

Jade Stephenson's grandparents James and Nora Sutherland on their wedding day in 1987