AKA
The Sad Story of My Wedding-Day Attire!
To my ::GASP:: horror, dearest mother had failed to tell me that she weighed in at only 115 pounds when she wore this gown. The fact that she's shorter than I am, coupled with the fact that, well, lets just say I weigh a tad bit more than she did then, made it my wearing the dress a virtul impossibility. There was simply no way to alter it. Still, that ol' determination kicking in, I decided, one way or the other, I'd get some use from this dress! Once back home I headed to the local bridal shop (the only one in town), dress in tow, to find a dress that would work with the detachable train. All would then be well with the world, right?
With mom and sister in other states, I made my shopping trip alone. This left me sans a second opinion. What a mistake! Despite my clarity of what I needed with the saleslady, I found myself almost to tears as dress after dress that surpassed my budget was thrust my way. FINALLY a gown was found that I found attractive and could afford-but did it work with the train? Ms. Saleslady ooh-ed and ahh-ed at how wonderful it looked. She was "sure" I'd be pleased. I was uncertain. But, what did I know? After all, I was by then very frustrated. Maybe I wasn't being open to what would look nice. Surely, her business making brides beautiful rendered her comments true? I paid for my order, leaving the train behind to be altered to attach to the new dress.
Weeks later, I contacted the bridalshop to get an idea of when to expect the dress. "Oooh, it's been ready dear" I was told. No one bothered to call me? That didn't seem right! I go in, try the gown on, and step out of the fitting room to view the dress from the pedastal in front of the three way mirror. Gasping in horror at the colormatch, I could only silently berate myself for not going with my gut about this. I tried to console myself, saying perhaps in the dimmer light of the church, or the true light of the sun, it would look better?
Wrong again. I tried it on at home, with the drapes pulled but the sun filtering through. Yuck! Now, lets try opening the drapes for the full glow of the sunshine in. Double yuck Alterations that cost almost as much as the dress itself for nothing! Quietly I hung the dress up in the back of the closet, wanting to forget the whole experience. If I showed up in nothing would anyone mind?
By the end of the week, my resolve steeled, I took the train out of the closet. Armed with a seamripper I began to carefully remove beads from the train one by one. I would use a part of her dress one way or the other. Period! After I had a sufficient amount taken off, I then removed the dress from its home at the back of the closet. I sewed those beads onto the bodice of my dress. It wasn't at all what I'd originally set my heart on, but ya know what? It looked nice, and would have to do!
