My older daughter, Lindsay, was married in September of 2016 and was 25 at that time. She is a modern, young career woman living in St. Louis with her husband and two cattle dogs. They are career minded, do a lot of travelling and enjoy what big cities have to offer. They especially love New York City and chose this as their interactive destination wedding location. We were thrilled when they announced their engagement, followed shortly by her telling me, “Mom, for my wedding, I don’t want anything Southern! No barns, no country clubs, no big ball gown, not a church… I want it to be unique and memorable with just our closest friends and immediate families, I want to get married at New York City City Hall and walk the streets of New York with our entire wedding party…” So this is what we did! I told her our budget and remained a very hands-off mother-of-the-bride. I wanted it to be what THEY wanted it to be. It is THEIR special day of memories and we wanted to enjoy the unique experience with them and their best friends.
What I Wore as Mother-of-the-Bride
We all wore full-length gowns for the wedding. Her colors were peachy mauve for the bridesmaids and gray for all of the men. So I also went with gray as mother-of-the-bride and left the theme color to the young bridesmaids. I fully believe that NO ONE should out-show the bride, especially the mother of the bride. Fabrics that are not too shiny or glittery are best. This should also be for guests – DO NOT show up in your brightest outfit or sexy tight cocktail dress encrusted with beading and rhinestones no matter what time of day for the wedding. The bride should shine, it is her special day. Wear an appropriate style, just pull back on making yourself stand out in any way, that is called being polite and respectful to the bride and groom on their special day.
I actually ordered this gown online from Stein Mart. I looked at multiple places and also tried on styles at Dillards and just could not find something comfortable and in gray. Gray is sometimes hard to find, but I didn’t want to order an expensive gown from a bridal store, just not necessary. I am almost embarrassed to say that this dress was actually on clearance for around $12.00, LOL. It is stretchy all over, even the lace, and is completely lined with a skin tone lining. There is a double row of beading sewn around the waist which is the accent that I used for my jewelry inspiration. 
It is hard to tell, but there is a small train on the back of the dress. I went with simple gray pearl jewelry. The triple bracelet is on elastic and the earrings are simple gray beads and gray faux pearls. The jewelry is Kim Rogers from Belk. I found a similar bracelet here at Amazon.
//Bracelet//
Lindsay wore Mary Jane style pumps that she said were very comfortable, so I decided to look for the same style since I THOUGHT they would be comfortable walking on all of that concrete through the streets of New York in our wedding outfits. Our hotel was a good 8 to 10 blocks from City Hall…… NOT COMFORTABLE! OMG, I do not know how these shoes, that felt so good in the house and were loaded with padding, could make ping pong ball sized blisters all over my feet! I am not kidding, the biggest blisters I have ever had in my life. Not on the back, but on the balls of the feet and on the sides. I was crazy! I should have worn some type of tiny heeled sandal and just cut another 6-inches off of the gown. Never again! They are lovely suede and cute, and were on clearance at Dillards, but I would have paid $100 for a pair of flip flops that day! Not one street vendor sold any type of shoe or flip flop, but plenty of other junk and touristy things. Then we had to walk all the way back to the hotel where I immediately changed to the simple black shoes you will see with my dinner reception dress.
Mother-of-the-Bride Dinner and Cocktail Attire
This classic black sheath dress is Ellen Tracy from Stein Mart. It is a mid-weight dense knit that is fully-lined with a split kick at the back hem. The pearl embellishment is the star of this dress, so all I wore was drop faux pearl earrings and a faux pearl stretch bracelet. The jewelry is Kim Rogers from Belk. The very comfortable strappy patent leather slide sandals are by East 5th. I found a similar option here at Amazon which I actually like better. I would have liked a strap around the back, but the patent leather made them dressy enough. These shoes are so comfortable and were instant relief from the Mary Jane torture chamber shoes, LOL!
//Black Sandal//
Please excuse my milky white legs, I need sunless tanning lotion! My arms are tan from working in my garden, I need to start wearing shorts when I am working out there. I promise I am not wearing white stockings, ha! I use this sunless tanner by Jergens that is also a firming formula (heck yes!), it is a 2-pack from Amazon.
//Sunless Tanner//
The pearl embellishment goes all the way around the neckline on the dress which is a nice design feature. Some have it just on the front.
Lindsay and Paul flew to New York two days before their chosen wedding day to apply for their marriage license. The day of the wedding, you show up and take a number for your ceremony, ha! The environment and assortment of people in the City Hall all waiting to be married made for an interesting, interactive experience. It was truly unique and enjoyable!
Lindsay and Paul love New York and wanted the architecture and historic buildings to be their backdrop, it was beautiful.
We were all inside and part of the actual ceremony, then went outside and waited for this great picture as they left the building behind all of us!
If you didn’t already know it, New York City is HOT in September. By the time this picture was taken, my hair had fallen flat and my makeup had melted off. But, most important of all, Lindsay still looked beautiful! Here photographer flew to New York as well, she did an excellent job with capturing the moment at all of the different places we were throughout the day.
Sisters!! On the left is my younger daughter, Sara, who was 23 at the time of the wedding and served as Lindsay’s maid of honor. I love this picture of them!
New Yorkers are very friendly! As we walked around we had people shouting, “Congratulations!” and blowing their horns. They do love to blow their horns in New York, LOL.
If you would like to see more of the non-traditional New York City wedding, you can view the entire wedding photo experience HERE.
Later in the day we changed our clothes for evening. We had a reserved Party Bus take all of us to a roof-top restaurant for a very nice wedding dinner. After the dinner, we continued on in the bus to a reserved event space for cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and some crazy dancing! The father- and mother-of-the-bride had to call it a night a few hours later while the young folks kept going until I don’t know when! Lindsay and Paul spent an extra day in New York then flew to Milan, Italy for their honeymoon.
You will notice that I had not started my beauty and fashion updates yet, by hair is shorter and really dark and my makeup much lighter, and I have lost a few pounds also. What do you think? Do you like my more current look?
If you would like to see more of the non-traditional New York City wedding, you can view the entire wedding photo experience HERE.
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16 Comments
I loved your mother of the bride post today!! My, what a great idea for a wedding, simple but so elegant in every way! Your daughter looked beautiful, and so did you! I loved your dress and especially the price…lol….I have a very similar story about my dress I wore to my daughters wedding, I bought mine on clearance rack for 15.00, it had been marked down 75% off on the tag, but when I got to the checkout it happened to be another 15% off that day…..win win win! I got it at JC Penny….love that store! Lol…… It just goes to show you don’t have to spend a crazy amount on a dress that most likely your not going to wear again…..your hair looked nice in the wedding, but I like the highlights you have now too! Great post today, enjoyed reading it! Have a great day!
Hey, Kathy! So glad you enjoyed it! Your comment was posted even before I sent out my social media notices and email, you were the first reader, yay! My daughter is a creative digital media branding designer for small start-up companies. She started her own company just about one year ago, they are both very talented and knew what they wanted. The entire experience was very original and tailored to both of their personalities. I updated the end of the post just now with where they went for their honeymoon, forgot that earlier. Isn’t it so much fun to be a bargain hunter and then stumble upon a super bargain, ha! Every now and then I do lay out full retail, but only if I feel really good about it. And thank you for the compliments! I like my hair lighter now, I think everyone gets to the point where too dark becomes garish and aging, lighter is good but I am not yet ready to embrace my transparent white hair, you can see my pink scalp, yikes! Talk soon, friend <3
Lori Jo
I loved seeing these photos, Lori Jo!!
And that dress was only $12….that’s like the deal of the century. I just shortened one like it for a friend so she could wear it for more casual events!! That color works all year round!!!
And what a bummer about the shoes…..I can totally feel your pain. There was one time in Savannah that we HAD to go shoe shopping in the middle of the day for the same reason!!
XOXO
Jodie
http://www.jtouchofstyle.com
Hey, Jodie! Your such a pal, already 😀 So glad you enjoyed the post, it is full of good memories for me, I could go on and on…. I am really not a big “cheapy”, but if there is a deep discount and it works for me, I’m in, with both feet! And, speaking of feet…. cool segue, right? ha! Gosh, when your feet hurt, your whole body hurts and it ruins your day, never again. I just couldn’t believe it, those are definitely inside shoes and not for hiking cities for sure. I look forward to your next visit, friend <3
Lori Jo
You look beautiful 🙂 as does the beautiful bride.
This was lovely to read. So simple yet so intricate and lovely. Thanks for sharing this.
Thank you! Aren’t you just so sweet <3 So glad you enjoyed the post, Lindsay and Paul are a lot of fun, a lovely couple! I hope you will visit again soon.
Lori Jo
I completely enjoyed your posts and seeing the gorgeous wedding photos! 50 looks good on you!!!
Hey, Jennifer! Thank you so much, so glad you enjoyed it! I actually wish I was closer to 50, I turn 58 in August, the Big 60 is peeking around the corner, ugh! But, hey, as long as you feel good and have positive energetic thoughts, what’s a number, right? Watch for today’s post about ways to wear a “…Long Black Dress…” Working on it right now — Thanks for visiting, talk soon! 🙂
Lori Jo
I am stunned by the bargain of your grey dress! It is gorgeous and you look beautiful in it. I thought it was definitely expensive.
Hey, Donna! Thank you, such a sweet comment! The retail was quite a bit more, I was shocked by the deep discount clearance price online. I remember it was only in that one size, maybe a discontinued style? I would have paid more but that low, low price helped ease the wedding wallet shock, ha! See you on the blog soon 🙂
Lori Jo
Just catching up with reading your posts Lori Jo – and I can’t resist a MOB post – especially if it includes pictures of the wedding party too! I loved both your dresses – but particularly thought the black evening choice suited you – you have an amazing figure (my Midlife midline isn’t quite as firm and flat as yours!) What I love the most about wedding posts is how happy everyone is – and yours was no exception – just gorgeous.
Hey, Leanne! Thank you for the very kind words, I truly appreciate that. I am quite short at 5’1″, so I try to be careful with my weight, even 5 pounds is obvious when there is not much canvas on which to spread that around, mine tends to accumulate as ‘junk in the trunk’, ha! I try to walk every day, some yoga and arm weights helps also. I cut out evening snacks and extra carbs since the wedding photos and lost 10 pounds around the time I launched the blog, it kept my hands busy! I had breast cancer 8 years ago this month and there is heart disease on both sides of my family, so more of a Mediterranean diet works well and I feel best with that (Always fighting the hormonal thing as well, I cannot take HRT since my tumor was estrogen dependent, a lot of science there!).
Talk soon!
Lori Jo
As a recent MOB (Mother of the Bride) I can relate so much to your post! I really enjoyed it and the photos are just gorgeous, you all look so happy, as you should! My daughter was married in Fiji with only 15 guests so it was a small intimate affair, which we all enjoyed immensely! Your dresses were beautiful and suited you, and a bargain too 🙂
Thank you, Debbie! They wanted small and unique, it was only those pictured. They wanted just their closest friends and family. I am sure yours was unforgettable and gorgeous as well. Thank you for sharing and visiting 🙂
Lori Jo
Love both of your dresses, great selections! And I also loved the gray pumps, but was bummed to read how awful they were on your feet, especially with that long walk! Oh well, you looked great anyway 🙂
Thank you, Candi! It was a great day, despite the jumbo blisters, ha! I know now to carry those little fold-up princess flats. Glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
Lori Jo