Martha Tucker, a 94-year-old woman who didn't get a chance to wear a wedding dress when she got married in 1952, just received an opportunity she never expected. According to AL, Tucker was recently watching Coming to America when she expressed her wish to her granddaughter, Angela Strozier, saying “I’ve always wanted to try on a wedding dress.’'
Two days later, Strozier and other family members took their loved one to David’s Bridal in Hoover, Alabama and allowed her to try some wedding dresses.
“You know, I can’t even express how special it was. It was too special,’' Tucker told AL on Wednesday. “I’ve been wanting to do that a long time, just put one on.”
The Alabama native was denied her wish in the 1950s because Black women were not allowed to enter bridal shops. Tucker's only option was to get married in a a navy blue “mermaid dress,” which she received from the family she worked for.
But the community in Hoover, including the staff at David’s Bridal, is thrilled to now see Tucker in a wedding dress.
“Everyone was so elated to help me do that for her,’' Strozier said. “Everyone was catering to her because I told them her story.”
Tucker was born in Alexander City, Alabama in 1927. She then moved to Birmingham when she was 15 and graduated from high school in 1948. Three years later, the Hoover resident married Lehman Tucker Sr., who died in 1975. The couple have four children, 11 grandchildren, 18 great-grandchildren and one great, great grandchild.
Tucker, who worked with Civil Rights leaders for voting rights in Alabama and became a registered voter and poll worker in 1963, retired as a chief poll worker last year.
“Being fantastic is just an understatement of who she is,’' Strozier said.
The beloved elderly woman tried on two bridal gowns at David’s Bridal and fell in love with the outfits.
“I didn’t want to take it off, but I knew I had to. I looked good in it though,” she said. “I wondered what I would look like walking down the aisle. I was like Coming to America. It was exciting to me.”
Tucker stole the spotlight in the store when she came out in the dress.
“When she walked out of the room and saw herself in the mirror, she said, ‘Oh, look at me,’’' Strozier said. “One of the other brides that was in there started crying.”
The 94-year-old also caught the attention of social media.
What? Not allowed in bridal shops wtf? How am I today years old learning this? It is amazing she got to do it now and she looks beautiful but my freaking parents and grandparents have a lot more explaining to do.
— RonToye (@Ronald_Toye_III) July 10, 2021
Many people said they didn't know that Black women weren't allowed in bridal shops at the time.
Black women weren't allowed in bridal shops?? To spend their OWN money?? Geez I find out more about the Jim Crow era everyday and I'm still dumbfounded…
— sansafierce (@RepressedDoll) July 10, 2021
Some found it difficult to imagine what it was like to be denied from shopping for a wedding dress.
She was 25 in 1952. Imagine, ladies, being in your twenties and knowing you cannot walk into a department store or bridal boutique. This is one of the reasons why so many of our ancestors were such talented designers, seamstresses, tailors, etc. Jacqueline Bouvier married JFK …
— The Lady from Carson (@O_C_Chef_Girl) July 10, 2021
One social media user shared the story of her own grandmother, who made her own dress because she wasn't allowed to enter the store.
My grandmother Ella Mae Williams-Roberts made her own wedding dress. She used to look in the window's of white Dept. stores she couldn't enter, and go home and sew what she saw (with improvements). pic.twitter.com/jQHJsYZtxG
— Denise Oliver-Velez ???? (@Deoliver47) July 11, 2021
Tucker visualized herself walking down the aisle as she tried on the dresses.
"I felt like I was getting married," she told Good Morning America. "I felt wonderful."
Strozier said the family loves spoiling their loved one.
"She’s always willing to entertain us in our shenanigans,’' the granddaughter said. “She has always told us to give her her flowers while she’s still here, not when she’s gone, so she can enjoy them.”
