By Elizabeth Butler
VALDOSTA — Twenty-three-year-old Meagan Yoder thought her mother’s wedding dress was “ugly and old-fashioned,” but a Valdosta physician transformed it into a thing of beauty for Meagan’s wedding.
“She absolutely loved it,” said Sherri Yoder, Meagan’s mom. “She was ecstatic.”
Dr. Ellen Courson, an OB/GYN, did the delicate and exquisite handwork at night and between delivering babies at Smith Northview Hospital.
“We weren’t ever nervous about the outcome because (Dr. Courson) is a perfectionist,” said Sherri, who works as a medical assistant in Dr. Courson’s office.
“Everything was by hand. She never touched the machine — all the bead work, embroidery by hand. Each of the pin-ups on the skirt were ovals from my wedding dress sleeves.”
When Meagan married Tye Kerr Nov. 10, 2007, at the Crescent, there was a large picture of Meagan in her wedding dress at the entrance along with a smaller picture of her mom in her wedding dress from 1985 tucked in a corner of the picture.
And the reaction of the guests to Meagan’s wedding dress?
“They thought it was gorgeous,” Sherri said.
Dr. Courson not only made Meagan’s dress, but also redesigned another mom’s wedding dress for her daughter as well made a wedding dress from scratch — all in 2007 — while working at her busy medical practice and teaching students from the Medical College of Georgia in Augusta.
“My father (the late William Eanes) taught me at a very young age that we are able to accomplish whatever we desire as long as we deem it important,” Dr. Courson said. “He would not ever allow us to say we did not have time to do something. He used to say, ‘We have all the time there is. They are not making any more time.’ So, when I find that time, I sew.
“I have loved to sew as long as I can remember. My mother (the late Dorothy Sentilles Eanes) used to sew much of our clothes. As a very young child, I remember sitting at her feet tying knots while she sewed. She taught all eight of her daughters to sew, but I think I am the only one with whom it stuck. I did sew much of my children’s clothing when they were small. I really enjoy handwork like quilting, smocking and French hand-sewing.”
The wedding dress project began when Dr. Courson’s niece, Sarah Lasseter (who married Brian Dean on March 17, 2007), decided she wanted to wear the wedding dress of her mother, Melanie Lasseter.
“My sister, Melanie, was married in January of 1976,” Dr. Courson said. “She wore a long-sleeved, high-collared, empire waist dress of a jersey knit: very 1976. Sarah, bless her heart, would have worn that dress just as it was, no changes made, because it was her mother’s. The problem was that it was out-of-style, out-of-season, and at least 3 inches too short in length and in the sleeves. My sister, Mel, asked if I thought I could ‘make it work.’
“I accepted the challenge with great excitement. Sarah and I looked at a lot of different styles, and she described to me what she thought she would like her dress to look like. We made ‘Sarah paper dolls’ with all of the possible designs, and worked from there. The final product was a gown that was in vogue, custom-fitted to the bride, and 100 percent made of her mother’s dress.
“It took two months to redo the gown, but of course, I only worked on it when I was not working at my regular job. Had I been able to devote my undivided attention to the dress, I could have finished it in two weeks.”
Not long after Sarah asked Dr. Courson to make her dress, her older sister, Mary Beth Lasseter, announced her engagement to be married in August 2007.
“When I got married in 1983, my niece, Mary Beth, who was 6 years old at the time, was a junior bridesmaid in my wedding,” Dr. Courson said. “I made the dress she wore in my wedding. On the day we made the final fitting, she asked me if I would make her wedding dress when she got married. Of course, I said I would. Well, 24 years later, when she called to tell me of her engagement to Ned Mitchell (wedding date Aug. 22, 2007), she reminded me of that promise. We spent many hours visiting bridal shops looking at styles and trying on gowns. She found three different gowns she liked, each for a different feature. So I combined the features of the three gowns and designed and sewed her dress from scratch. It took six months, mainly because of the extensive amount of embroidery on the train. But it was just what she wanted, and so it was worth it.
When Dr. Courson’s medical assistant, Sherri Yoder, learned of her wedding dress projects, she asked if Dr. Courson would be interested in redoing her gown for her daughter, Meagan.
“Meagan had already selected a designer gown she really wanted to wear, and was very skeptical of the idea of wearing her mother’s dress, which she told me she absolutely hated,” Dr. Courson said. “I can’t say I would blame her, for the very reason that it was very much outdated and entirely the wrong size. But I studied the design she wanted and looked at her mom’s dress, and knew that the transformation was entirely possible. So off we went. I think that in the end, she was much happier with the final project than she would have been with what she felt was her ideal dress to begin with.
“To me, remaking dresses is much more fun than making the gown from scratch, because it presents challenges that require a great deal of creativity to conquer. With both Melanie’s and Sherri’s dresses, I was able to reuse all of the original fabric and lace, while creating dresses that were entirely different from their original forms. And it is hard to think of anything more sentimental to a bride than wearing her mother’s dress.”
Dr. Courson is a Renaissance woman, her talents and interests running the full gamut from redesigning and fashioning wedding dresses from scratch to quilting, reading, photography, painting, calligraphy and tatting, the latter she was taught by her father.
“I have made a quilt for each of my four children from their baby and childhood clothes. I also like to make T-shirt quilts for my kids’ friends. I also made a (Valdosta High School) quilt that was raffled off and raised $2,200 for the VHS baseball team when my sons were playing. I also smock and do French hand-sewing. I cannot wait until I have grandchildren to sew for.”
When it comes to relaxing with a good book, she enjoys reading the classics and Christian apologetics, as well as biographies and some contemporary fiction. Her favorite author is C.S. Lewis.
Fashioning wedding dresses is in her future.
“My plan is that when I retire from medicine, I will open a business that will specialize in remaking mothers’ wedding gowns for daughters,” Dr. Courson said. “My business will be called ‘Her Mother’s Dress.’ I am currently working on a Web site.”
Just what is so enjoyable about sewing?
“It is the feeling of satisfaction in looking upon one’s creations and knowing that they are good. My mother’s mother (the late Dorothy Adams Sentilles) sewed out of necessity. My mother sewed out of necessity and because she enjoyed it. I sew because I am blessed to have inherited that sense of enjoyment, and because I feel like it not only gives me a sense of accomplishment, but it also honors her memory, and there is nothing I would rather do than honor my sweet mother’s memory.”
