Cindy L.: Boy Mom in Blue

Mother of: Chris
Venue: St. Bartholomew and Wayzata Country Club
Vibe: Formal country club
Dress: Sachin & Babi

After trying on around 10 gowns all shapes and sizes, mother of the groom Cindy narrowed her search to column dresses. At 5 foot 3, she says she didn’t want her petite frame overwhelmed by big ball gowns, ruffles, or bows.

"You really need to try a bunch on to figure out what works best for your size," Cindy says.

The bride, Claire, made no color demands. “She was very gracious in saying I could wear whatever I wanted,” says Cindy. But with her entire family in blue—the groom, Chris, her husband, Peter, and their two other sons, who served as co-best men—she decided to continue the theme.

She zeroed in on a navy strapless column gown by Sachin & Babi. “It’s classic with beautiful details that add the right amount of interest—the jacquard fabric and cute belt.”

The wedding took place in July—a traditional church ceremony followed by a reception at Wayzata Country Club, just west of Minneapolis. Chris and Claire have known each other since pre-school “where we were dressing up as a cowboy and cheerleader and doing arts and crafts together,” Chris wrote on the couple’s wedding page. They attended the same middle and high schools, but it was in college at neighboring Saint John's University and College of St. Benedict that Chris knew: “During our senior year I realized she was the woman who I was going to marry one day.”

As the mother of three boys, Cindy says “Claire was so kind in including me in everything, from looking at venues to all three of her dress shopping days….It was the most I could ask for. I was so appreciative that Claire and her mom included me in all of this!”

Seeing the country club ball room transformed into the vision Claire and her mom Barb had put together, “it was al so magical,” Cindy says. “Bringing both sides of our family and friends together, seeing everyone have so much fun—we all wanted to do it again!”

| Photography by MJ Denny