Yolanda Cellucci, the Waltham fashion entrepreneur and philanthropist whose bridal emporium on Waverley Oaks Road dressed generations of brides, prom queens and mothers of the bride, died Sept. 7 at her home in Watertown. She was 91. We asked readers to share their memories of her. Their tributes, lightly edited for length and clarity, follow.
‘Everything you dreamed of’
I was a Yolanda’s bride in 1990. Buying my wedding gown at Yolanda’s was such a special and memorable experience. Back then, you had to make an appointment, and just walking into Yolanda’s felt like an event. She truly made you feel like a queen.
Choosing my gown there was everything you dreamed wedding-dress shopping would be. I still remember the excitement of finding the dress and how special the entire experience felt. More than 35 years later, seeing this photo brings all those wonderful memories right back.
Michelle Gabrielian
A mother’s dress, worn again
My mom bought her mother-of-the-bride dress at Yolanda’s original boutique in Belmont. I remember so vividly the dressing rooms, and Yolanda being so sweet and helpful. I was married in 1975 at Holy Trinity Armenian Church in Cambridge, and our reception was at the Fantasia restaurant.
In 2002, I wore that same dress to my daughter’s wedding in Bermuda. My mother had passed away several years before, and I had kept the dress all those years. I put it on as a fluke, and my daughter insisted I wear it. The blue was perfect for a beach wedding, and the dress had so much meaning. It felt like she was right there with us.
Twenty-five years ago this Sept. 11, we bought my daughter’s wedding gown at Yolanda’s. She was so sweet and kind. It was the day of the World Trade Center attacks. I had been at work all day as a corporate travel agent for American Express, on site at Stride Rite Corp. in Lexington, so it was beyond stressful. My daughter was home alone feeding me information from the TV as I tried to manage all the clients who were traveling worldwide. When I asked her whether we should reschedule her appointment for that night, she begged me to still go, saying she wanted to do something happy with the rest of the day. So we did, and the joy of being at Yolanda’s on such a sad day gave us some good memories to hold onto.
I continued to love seeing Yolanda at different events. She was very special in the Armenian community.
Warmest thanks for hearing my stories.
Linda Mitchell
‘She made people feel important’
I’m a former Waltham resident, and my mother still lives in Waltham. In 2016, I had the honor of meeting Yolanda at one of her shows, and I have a photo of the two of us from that day.
What I remember most about Yolanda is her kindness. She was already so successful and well-knownn, but she was still warm, welcoming and gracious to everyone. She made people feel important.
At the time, I was building my own women’s fashion brand, VienneMilano. Yolanda encouraged me in a way I will never forget. She invited me onto her TV show, welcomed me into her home for photo shoots and made me feel that there was room for me, too.
That is what made Yolanda special. She had style, glamour and success, but she also had heart. She showed that you can build something big and still treat people with kindness.
Her legacy is not only the beautiful dresses, and the brides, prom queens and pageant contestants she helped. It is also the example she set for other women in fashion, business and life. Most of all, her legacy is how she made people feel — as if they were the most important person in the room.
Thank you for gathering these memories and honoring such a remarkable woman. Yolanda meant so much to so many people, and I’m grateful you are helping preserve her legacy.
Vienne Brown
From charity runways to ‘Lifestyles’
Hearing the news about Yolanda Cellucci brings back so many beautiful memories. I first met her in the early 1980s, while working at the Colonial in Lynnfield during her charity fashion shows.
When I got married in 1989, going to Yolanda’s in Waltham was a must. She made every bride feel like royalty. She even asked my mom and me to be extras for a “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” segment being filmed there.
Years later, I had the honor of being interviewed for her memoir, a memory I will always hold dear. She was a fashion powerhouse and a brilliant businesswoman, but above all, she was a gracious woman who loved her family fiercely.
Rest in peace, Yolanda. Your glamour and kindness will never be forgotten.
Gia Page
‘You can have anything you want’
“You can have anything you want, as long as you’re willing to pay for it.”
That was the unofficial mantra of Yolanda Cellucci, known throughout the bridal industry for her Ivana-like blonde bouffant, her all-white outfits and that white Rolls-Royce she would drive around town. Yolanda, and by extension her bridal boutique on Waverley Oaks Road in Waltham, was the epitome of generational glamour. She outfitted woman after woman for proms, formals and weddings, and as mothers of the bride — all the way through their lives, in some cases, if the numerous cards and letters she hung in her office and in the seamstresses’ room were to be believed.
Her “miniature throne” was an impossibly high-backed armchair at an equally opulent desk, which she told me to sit at when I began my journey from bridal salesperson to web designer. That made her oldest salesperson, Anita, very put out on several occasions, and she wasn’t afraid to tell me so. Still, Yolanda insisted.
The 1990s were less “Dynasty” and “Dallas” than she would have liked, so she had the forethought to jump on the internet bandwagon early, and she asked me to make her a website befitting her store. We won a VOWS bridal business award that very first year.
She was a fair boss and an excellent businesswoman, in a time when women were still being robbed of credit for their work, still being objectified, all of it. She listened. She didn’t always agree, but she listened. That unofficial mantra I mentioned earlier — I’d heard her say it to every person who came in expecting to haggle, expecting to get something for free, thinking they could pull a fast one. Not on Yolanda. She always delivered her decisions with a smile. Always.
I remember when her daughter Sondra started in the store, designing and selling formalwear for children, and how complimentary Yolanda was toward anyone who asked about it. I don’t pretend to know what their mother-daughter relationship was, but when I saw Sondra and her work on the TV show “My Big Fat American Gypsy Wedding,” I remembered her from all those years ago and marveled at how well she’d done. I’m sure Yolanda was very proud.
When Yolanda finally closed her shop, I called one last time to wish her well. She answered the phone and said, “Of course I remember you.” Then, after a beat, she asked to call me back in a moment. I’m sure as anything that she pulled my file from her records for a brief refresh, in order to be as well informed as she always looked. Good on you, as they say.
I know there will be local tributes that speak to her far more eloquently than I can, from people who knew her longer and better than I did. But this tribute is also for all the lives she touched, for the generations of mothers and daughters who sought out her store for a little bit of class and glamour for themselves. Yolanda worked hard to get that fancy office chair. And more.
“You can have anything you want, as long as you’re willing to pay for it.”
She did.
Rest in peace, “Miss Yolanda.” You will be missed.
Sharon Rodda, who worked at Yolanda’s as Sharon Lawley
A gown and a limousine
The dress with the pink sash
So happy to share this memory. Twenty years ago, I went to Yolanda’s store in Waltham — a year before we moved here — and she was helping a young stylist choose dresses for me to try on. The whole shop felt so glamorous and special. When I tried on this dress with the pink sash, I knew it was the one.
She was one of a kind, with her glamour and sophistication, and her care for her community was so genuine. She will be missed.
Colleen Bradley-MacArthur and Timothy MacArthur
Holding her ground for a tea-length dress
I attended a fashion show at a Boston bridal fair in the fall of 1984. I knew I wanted a tea-length dress, even though I was young and had never been married. A large Princess Diana ball gown was the trend, but not for me. I liked to dance, and I knew I needed something else.
Yolanda’s gorgeous daughter Linda came out in a 1920s-style lace dress in the fashion show, and I knew immediately it was my dress. I went with a friend later that week to Yolanda’s shop to try the dress on. The salespeople were trying to get me to try on big princess dresses, but I held my ground. When I came out in the dress I had seen in the show, they all understood. It was my dress, and the only one I tried on. I still love it to this day.
Thank you, Yolanda, for style, sophistication and your diverse offerings for your clientele.
Maureen Halligan
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