Mother of: Jacqueline
Wedding venue: The Union League, Philadephia
Vibe: Black tie
Dress: Alex Perry
When the bridesmaids wear white, what’s the mother-of to do? Go blue. “I was concerned it was too bright a color,” Tracy says. “But Jacqueline loved it, and she’s the boss.”
The bride, Jacqueline, didn’t give her mom a preferred color. Instead, she pointed Tracy to dresses by Alex Perry, the Australian designer whose elegant-meets-edgy evening gowns have been worn by many a supermodel. The “Marnel” dress caught Tracy’s eye—asymmetrical neckline; one shoulder with a floor-length, pleated cape effect to amp up the drama. “It was unique, yet simple,” Tracy says. “I liked the clean lines of the dress.”
Tracy took a leap of faith ordering from an online retailer she’d never before shopped: District 5. It took nearly five months to arrive, she says, but was worth the wait. “I felt both elegant and comfortable in the dress.”
With the dress bringing all the drama, Tracy kept her jewelry simple–just a pair of sparkling hoop earrings and an equally dazzling ring. Guests might not have guessed it from the designer dress, but Tracy DIY’d her circular rhinestone trimmed bag. “When I purchased the bag, it was silver, but I didn’t like it with the dress. I took it to a few places to have it dyed to match the dress, but no one would take on the challenge, so, being a crafty and gutsy person, I decided to PAINT IT! I used acrylic paint and it took about 25 swatches for me to mix the color just right but it worked out perfectly.”
Speaking of dyed to match, Tracy initially went that route on shoes, but they came back stretched to the point that she couldn’t keep them on her feet. Plan B: she found a pair of rhinestone stilettos that looked great with the dress. But here’s a tip from Tracy to future mothers of the bride or groom: be sure to walk around in your dress and shoes before the big day. “I didn’t realize until an hour before the wedding that the rhinestones would snag the dress hem, tearing threads and restricting my gait. But I just plowed through and let it rip. By that point, I was in the moment and so happy, it didn’t matter!”
Two hundred friends and relatives gathered at the historic Union League social club in Philadelphia for Jacqueline and Walt’s wedding. “My favorite memory of the day was witnessing Walt’s reaction when he saw Jacqueline walking down the aisle. The emotion on his face expressed what words can not. When Jacqueline reached him, the tension visibly left her body. They have a special love, a deep respect and trust for one another.”
| Photography by Sarah DiCicco Photography