By: Revanche

A dress, I have got one

March 21, 2011

The shape I might have picked (David’s Bridal),
minus the coked out look.
The J.Crew dress has long-since been packed up and returned, a deal though it was; design properly simple and easy to handle though it should have been.  (“Should have” because I still, as previously mentioned, had difficulty managing a basic zipper. User error, obviously.)

In its place, hangs a far far far fancier specimen.  A proper garment, if you please.  My “fittings, and tryings-ons,” were back in February, with all the grandiose moment of a new friend dropping in for twenty minutes followed by a handful of “whatcha think?” emails to a few good friends.  The interested actually replied. The busy or disengaged didn’t bother. And thus, I have my wedding dress.

The story is better than that, actually.

At a dinner of PiC’s friends/coworkers, the hostess quickly judged me and said, we’re about the same size. If you don’t really care, I’ve got a dress hanging in my closet …

Two weeks later, she and her spouse dropped by with a huge foofy dress for me to try on. Lo, it pretty much fits me.  It’s too long, as no four-inch heel wearer am I, but the owner is happy for me to have a seamstress take it up in length.

She also suggested taking in the sides for a more svelte look if desired if I was certain I wouldn’t put on any more weight before the wedding. But, breathing and eating are far higher on my list than looking more svelte or removing a rib to fit into a dress after alterations. I am not that bride.

It has a train.  It has sparkles and ruching. It has all this other stuff I never would have picked considering the budget I was willing to pay. It literally forced me to HAVE a maid of honor instead of no one at all because I literally cannot do up the dress by myself.  But it’s gorgeous in its own right, and came with the goodwill of a rather random friend of PiC’s and it was so unexpectedly pretty and lightweight to boot that I have no qualms at all about wearing this with every bit of good cheer and a bit of excitement as anything I might have picked for myself.

PLUS: That woman saved me from the jaws of dress shopping.  And saved me the price of a dress on top of alterations.  I could nominate her for a special kind of wedding sainthood. Instead, I think I’m going to have to dream up a wonderful thank you gift for her, starting with cooking them dinner.

So I was really happy back then.  And then I let it sink in a bit, and I’m still happy about it.  Not just the savings, either.  The time (now to be spent trying to pick a photographer) and the money (now to clothe my groom) saved are huge, but the lack of anxiety about a subject I really don’t like: what I’m going to wear – most excellent.

Collective karmic hugs for PiC’s friend, please?

17 Responses to “A dress, I have got one”

  1. The Quest says:

    The dress sounds very pretty. What a nice gesture on behalf of PiC’s friend 🙂

    As for not having to schlep around the shops looking for a garment ~ WINNING!!!! LOL

  2. Glad to hear that you found one that you like (and at the right price). Sounds like you’re keeping this wedding thing in good perspective.

  3. Fantastic! I’ve found the mindset you have about a lot of things in the beginning of wedding planning oftentimes does a 180. It’s always great to save money AND be happy with the result.

  4. awesome! I actually bought the first dress I tried on. I knew I wanted a short dress and there weren’t very many choices 😛 As fun as it sounds, shopping for wedding dresses is a pain in the rear! Glad you got it out of the way 🙂

  5. Good, you’ve fallen in love…with the dress. Now, let’s pray the rest of the wedding plans are such a breeze.

  6. Yay!

    I ended up going off the rack with the spring formals at Penny’s because bridal shops are awful. It’s nothing like in Muriel’s wedding (terrible movie, btw). Your friend saved you a lot of watching young brides and mothers crying/screaming etc., not to mention rude salespeople and so on.

  7. That’s so great! What a sweet lady 🙂

    Will you give us a peek your dress?

  8. That was super super nice of her.

  9. Daisy says:

    THat is so nice of her! It sounds so pretty!
    You should post a picture.

  10. You have a dress! Woo hoo. Half the battle is done, I think.

  11. cmeaton313 says:

    A most excellent bit of good karma. And not having to shop for a dress? Priceless. Pay it forward when you can.

  12. cmeaton313 says:

    This comment has been removed by the author.

  13. Dr. Faith says:

    Wow – very large karmic high fives to her for letting you use the dress! I’m sure you must be relieved! =D

  14. that is awesome. How very kind of her! and letting you do alterations too.

  15. That is such an awesome thing to do!

    Will we get to see a picture of you in it? 🙂

  16. Meant to comment on this earlier — how fantastic! Glad that it worked out so well for you!

    Also wishing for a photo… but maybe someday? post-wedding?

  17. Fabulous story! You got so lucky! Yay(!) to generous friends who are about the same size. 😉

    Will we be seeing pics of this wonderful dress when it’s all said and done?

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