Mother of: Celeste
Wedding locale: City Hall in Geneva, Switzerland; outdoor dinner reception on the shores of Lake Geneva in Yvoire, France
Vibe: Small and simple
Dress: Alex Evenings
Yvette’s top criterion in selecting a dress for her daughter Celeste’s July 14, 2022 wedding? Wrinkle resistant. The dress had to make the trip from Lansing, Michigan to Geneva, Switzerland, where Celeste originally moved to study fashion and accessory design at the HEAD, the Geneva School of Art & Design. During a year of teaching in France, she fell in love with a local, Kévin, and together, they settled in Switzerland.
“The dress fit easily in my carry-on and didn't require ironing,” says the ever-so-practical mother of the bride. “It was a very comfortable dress with a flattering waistline and a nice brooch attached to it.”
Yvette shopped local at Grace Boutique of Old Town in Lansing. “Shopping at Grace’s is like shopping with family,” she says. “There are so many options, a wide variety of sizes and just a welcoming supportive atmosphere."
A knee-length, sleeveless dress was the right choice for the summer day—"It was hot!” Yvette says. The ceremony took place at city hall, which is standard in Switzerland. Afterwards, a few dozen friends joined the newlyweds and their immediate family at a public park. The celebration continued with dinner for a smaller group friends and family on the shores of Lake Geneva in Yvoire, France.
“They had to rely on the timeline of immigration paperwork, and Geneva’s city hall to determine a date. It was a wedding pulled together in a few short months, but they were able to pull it off remarkably well,” Yvette says. “It was a wild but absolutely unique blend of Swiss-Mich style, and French-English communication that represented both families and the newlyweds' adopted home. The fact that their actual wedding was on Bastille Day provided an extra treat as we benefited from a fireworks display over the Lake Geneva shore in Yvoire, France during our evening reception. It was idyllic.”
Good thing she packed her dress in a carry on—Yvette’s husband and son lost their luggage and had to do some last minute shopping before the wedding. Better them than the mother of the bride!
| Photography by Audrey Teillier