Yesterday, MT and I got up after only 4 hours of sleep to head to Vera's House of Bridals. I have never to a bridal gown store before, neither to help a friend, or for myself. The experience was rather surreal.
First, you have to have an appointment. I hate making appointments, and had seriously considered just going and seeing what would happen. It's a good thing that Friday morning I changed my mine. I made appointments for two different places, each one telling me I had gotten the last opening for the day. There must be a lot of brides in Madison!
Secondly, when you get there, you have your own dress consultant. Not to mention your own dressing room. My helper, we shall call her N for short, met us at 9:00 AM, and took us upstairs to this little room. There was a bench along one side, a box to stand on, and a long mirror. She started by asking when the wedding date was, and if I had an idea for what kind of dresses I would like. She asked if I needed a strapless bra for trying things on. Crap! I always forget something.
She came back with one, which was too big. Why are your boobs always the first thing to disappear when you lose a few lbs? So she comes back with a smaller size (bye boobs *sniff*) and tells me I have to strip down right there, in front of both of them. What! The surprises just kept coming...
There was no time for shyness, as she quickly left again and came back with two dresses for me to try on. All I had to do was lift my arms up, and she slipped one over my head. Many of them had a corset back, and she'd tie me up as I stood on the box in front of the mirror. I felt very much as if I were being transported back into the 18th or 19th centuries, when servants were required just to get dressed everyday.
Once a dress was on, if I didn't hate it right away, we walked out into the main hall for the natural light and multiple mirrors. Here, the dresses came alive, with all of the crystals catching the light and sparkling in a million colors. In this public space, even the prom dress shoppers can see you, and everyone gives you "that look." The look that says, "oohh." The one where younger girls are dreaming of their wedding day, when the older are remembering theres. What is it about a girl in a wedding dress that makes people stop what they're doing and stare, even in a building that sees many everyday?
For about two hours, dresses were put on me, analyzed, and taken off again. MT and I narrowed it down to three choices, each one different than the next. The last gown I tried was one of these three choices, and therefore the first one to move into stage 2: trying on a veil.
This moment, when N brought out a veil to match this dress and put it on my head, this is a moment I will never forget. The dress was no longer just a pretty dress, and I was no longer playing dress up. Suddenly, I was a bride. I had goosebumps on my arms. MT was starting to cry. And I found that it is true what they say. When you put on the right dress, you just know. Until that moment, I had not really felt as if I were truly getting married. Sure, I've started calling DS my fiance. I wear a ring on my left hand and spend time making plans everyday for the wedding. But until that veil went on my head, it felt make-believe, like I was rehearsing for a play. I can understand that moment brides have on their wedding day when they look in the mirror in disbelief and say, "I'm getting married."
It is a strange thing, when dreams come true. It takes the brain a while to catch up to reality; to stop fantasizing and start living. The realization of that moment is perhaps the best part of all.
