Yesterday was the very first time I went wedding gown shopping. I really had mixed feelings about it. I was half excited and half objective about it. I guess I'm all about balance and it showed. I will say though, it was very special to me. It was wonderful to have my mother, Brenda-Mom and Cassandra there with me. It was wonderful.
"You have to show some emotion!" Cassandra informed me last Friday. Well, I did, but it's sort of like Christmas for me. I get gifts and I'm grateful, but I don't show an over exuberant amount of excitement. Sorry! But I don't.
I did have lots of fun yesterday. Although, it was really hard work getting into those dresses. My consultant was awesome. By the second dress, we had a rhythm down - Glasses off while she unzips, straps off, dress off, new dress on, glasses on while I get zipped up again - all of this times 5 or 6 dresses. It was pretty cool.
I will also say that getting used to the trains and the petticoat was interesting. The first time I had to go back into the dressing room, I misjudged the distance behind me to close the door. The train was long and I found my hand flailing out for the door handle while saying, "Ohhhh...right - forgot about that." After the 3rd time or so I started to get used to having so much yardage behind me. At one point, I just had to sit down, but I couldn't find the chair with so much fabric. So Cassandra started to "help" me. She stuffed fabric before I sat down, but I ended up sitting on her hand. At that point, we just started cracking up because previously she had looked down the front of the dress because the fit wasn't right on this one dress. Oh the adventures!!!!!
When I found the dress, Cassandra did her hair magic on me and I looked up to find my mom tearing up. She didn't cry, but she did start to. That was an awesome feeling, but I knew what was going through her head as it was going through my head, too - I'm grown up. I'm just glad dad wasn't there!!! If he was, he would have been crying and then I would have seriously cried.
We found the perfect dress. I will not divulge details here on this blog though. Sorry, ya'll! I'm very proud to say that it was #1 on my list of 4 dresses I came in with. I've got skilz.
It was kind of embarrassing though because at the shop, if you find your dress, you have to ring this bell that looks like a schoolmaster's bell BUT only AFTER you made a wish.
"And you can't wish to not ring the bell," Cassandra orders with her finger shaking in the negative. Talk about having to respond, "Yes, ma'am!!"
Truth me told, I didn't wish - I really just blessed the people around me and blessed my impending marriage. Then, I rang it. Apparently, I did an awesome job at ringing the bell. I sort of had to - music education will do that to you over the years. Afterwords, I paid for half of the dress. It was right between my minimum and maximum budget - it was also on sale. That allowed me to snag an awesome deal to buy an outrageously expensive preservation box. Pretty awesome how God's perfect timing is :)
I will say though, Cassandra bought me the gown bag...that's when I felt like I was going to cry. I had to put my head on the desk for a while. "It's just a bag!" She laughed and snuggled me. It was amazing. Thankfully, I recovered!
SO! In a couple of months the gown will be mine! I'll pay the other half next month and then it will go in for a quality check. I'll get to take it home and then get it altered in December. Praise, God! I made it through probably one of the most girly days in my entire life!
I first asked Lil' Bro (Shaun). We had been friends of the dark days in Emo-hood. We spent many hours in summer driving around, blasting Linkin Park, and drowning ourselves in cream soda and chocolate syrup. As we grew up though, we both balanced out and started to actually become "adults." He is my partner in make-believe-crime and though I shall not mention the horribly written super hero story we wrote - too late - he has been a stand-in Little Brother; one of my dearest friends. Though it's not constant contact, we still call each other up every so often and relive our Emo-hood, make-believe-crime-fighting moments. However, I'll always feel secure in the fact that if I was in trouble, he would be one of the ones in line to take up for his Pyro-Sibling older sister. I'm beyond happy that he will be standing on my side of the isle. Will he be teased - heck yes. He is the Lil' Bro and it's inevitable. However, it actually brings tears to my eyes that he'll be a part of my wedding other than just a guest.
Thank you two for always being there for me when I needed it. You two are the best. I am excited and truly touched that you would humbly put yourself in front of a bunch of people to be Bridesmen. I speak blessings over your lives. That the Lord would bless your lives as you have blessed mine with your strength and ever enduring loyalty in our friendships.
