Mother of: Peyton
Venue: The Loveless Barn, Nashville, Tenn.
Vibe: Southern garden party with a hint of comfort
Dress: Sachin & Babi “Brooke” gown
Her first time as mother of the bride, Christy Conder wore a knee length dress that kept shifting.
“My best friend kept adjusting me all night and lets just say there’s a reason she’s my best friend,” Christy recounts. “She would take me into the bathroom and hike up my dress, shift it back like I was trying to get into a sausage casing and then send me back out to the dance floor.”
And, repeat.
“I was not comfortable to say the least,” Christy says.
So when Peyton and Tucker got engaged, Christy said comfort was a priority.
“This was my last daughter to get married and I wanted to feel fabulous. I knew what would look good and give me freedom to move.”
The mission: a floor length, A-line, v-neck, either sleeveless or short sleeve. “I am endlessly hot so nothing too heavy.”
Living in Nashville, the bride and groom prioritized “great food and great music” for their spring wedding, Christy said. The Loveless Barn provided a rustic chic frame for the festivities. Peyton’s taste runs tailored and classic so she picked a wedding gown with clean lines and a few feminine flowers on the bodice. Bridesmaids wore light greens and pinks, some solid; some floral. The groomsmen wore navy. The mother of the groom picked a dress in navy as well.
“I was nervous that it would look more like a gender reveal party than a wedding, but we kept moving forward,” deadpans Christy, a comedian who tours the country, speaking at churches and corporate events.
Peyton’s wedding dress was strapless so the only request she made of her mom: don’t wear the same style.
“No problem,” Christy said. “I don’t want to be tugging at my cleavage like I did in college.”
When Christy stepped into Sachin & Babi’s “Brooke” dress - a popular A-line sleeveless V-neck silhouette with box pleats, “I was so happy," she says. "It was the perfect fit – comfortable and classy with pockets!” The Brooke comes in several colors and prints. When Christy saw the “freesia," a light blue floral with deeper blues and hints of green, she knew it was meant to be. “They looked like bluebonnets, and being from Texas, I’m not gonna lie – I shed a happy tear.”
Christy dialed up her BFF on FaceTime and had her own “this is the dress!” moment, there in the fitting room at Bella Bridesmaids. “She was just happy she wasn’t going to have to spend half the night wrestling me and my dress.”
Further evidence that this dress was meant to be: the perfect heels were already in Christy's closet. "I have a large foot, so I often buy nice shoes when I can find them and hope someday to have an outfit to match," she said. She saved the Badgley Mischka blue satin shoes with rhinestones for four years. "I gasped at how perfectly they matched my dress."
But they were "one hour shoes." Christy found rhinestone sneakers that she changed into for the reception.
Her light blue textured bag was a bargain at Macy's Last Call. Her splurge was another Macy's find. "While buying a pearl necklace for my daughter, I saw the most gorgeous London blue topaz ring. I love big rings. I said 'happy birthday, Mother's Day, anniversary and Merry Christmas to me. My husband was thrilled he was off the hook for presents for the rest of the year."
Peyton had offered to go dress shopping with her mom, but Christy declined. “I decided it was my battle and my confidence and I needed to go alone. I knew what I wanted and was not going to compromise on feeling spectacular.
"My advice for moms: be comfortable, but feel fabulous."
| Photography by Gabrielle Culpepper