Personality
Mary Rita Nommensen in her Riverlakes area home.
Sew amazing Seamstress Mary Rita Nommensen stitching brides’ fantasies into reality By Lisa Kimble
Photos by Jessica Frey
T
he only thing missing from Mary Rita Nommensen’s house is some pixie dust. Inside of her Riverlakes Ranch area home is a veritable bridal candy store. Willie Wonka meets Cinderella. This enchanted forest of Tulle, lace and baubles, is where, she says, the magic begins — as if wav62
Bakersfield Life Magazine
January 2013
ing an imaginary wand over her dining room. A bride-to-be’s first visit leaves her and her entourage feeling like little girls again playing dress up, she said. “People come here and they don’t want to leave,” Nommensen said. “I like when girls come in, they have a vision and say they don’t know if it can be done. I say 90 percent of what they envision can be done. There pretty much isn’t anything I can’t do.”
‘Surgery without blood’ That kind of vow explains why her time and talent are in such demand. This past year, she worked with 60 brides, and has stitched probably hundreds of gowns and veils over the years. Some brides-to-be have driven in from as far away as San Diego and Arizona for the material girl’s magic