Wedding Dress Fiasco

So...I felt the need to reflect on something other than potty training, since we are celebrating four years of marriage today.  (But really, potty training does more accurately reflect our marriage at this point).

And I realized that I have never written about the near disaster caused by a wedding dress that just wouldn't cooperate.

Soon after Scott and I got engaged (which I never told the story, oh well, maybe next year), I started thinking about wedding dresses.  Okay, I had already been thinking about wedding dresses for a very long time, but I started thinking specifically about what wedding dress I wanted to actually wear, on my actual wedding day.  I had three specific things I was looking for--a big skirt, box pleats, and a dropped waist.  Oh, and I was fairly certain that I wanted strapless.  Well, it dawned on me that Ann's wedding dress had a big skirt, with box pleats, and a dropped waist.  Perfect, right? 

So we took the dress to a local Scottsboro shop to see if they could change it from an off the shoulder to a strapless dress, and they said, sure, no problem.

In the mean time, I began to diet and work out, you know to get in shape for the big day.  What girl doesn't do this?  I mean if there is ever a time to look your best, this is it.

Well, I was going to fittings, and of course I noticed that the dress was rather heavy, and I noticed that they were having to take it up quite a bit in the bodice, but no big deal, right?

Wrong.

On the day of my wedding, when I finally had the dress on, and I began to walk around, I realized we had a problem.  The dress would not stay up.  This dress was not meant to be a strapless dress, and it was just too heavy.  Plus, I had lost some weight between the final fitting and the wedding day.  Combine these two things, and I was in a bit of a panic.  Luckily, I had 13 bridesmaids to help me out:)

We tried duct tape.  We tried holding my arms very tight against the dress as I walked.  I tried panicking and crying and racking my brain for an alternate plan.  Guess what?  I had no back up wedding dress, which is what I announced to the room.  "This is my only dress option,"  I announced.  You think?  And we went back to holding my arms against my side in an attempt to hold the dress up.

Well, we hoped this would work, and I went on with the day.  And soon it was the big moment.  Time to walk down the aisle. 

I am so very happy, eyes on my groom, believing that everything is going just as it should, and I reach the end of the aisle.

And then I feel my mother walk up behind me, and give a big jerk on my dress--as in she pulled it up.  As in, this was not done in the rehearsal.  And I had no idea how low my dress had been as I walked down the aisle.  In horror, I imagined that I had walked down the aisle flashing the world.  Oh the horror. 

My back was to the crowd at this point, and every one of my bridesmaids could see the terror on my face.  The guests were singing the hymn that I had picked, and I was silently pleading with Ann to reassure me that I had not, in fact, flashed the entire sanctuary.  on my wedding day!!!  She, along with the other 12 bridesmaids, kept huge smiles on their faces, as they were facing the crowd, and she kept mouthing, "it's okay, it's okay." 

I managed to get through the ceremony, and actually pay attention to the vows I was making--the covenant I was entering into--but in the back of my mind, all I could think about was my mother pulling my wedding dress up. 

As soon as the ceremony was over, I did find out that it wasn't as bad as imagined.  The dress was coming down in the back, but my mom pulled it up in order to prevent anything worse happening. 

I loved my wedding, and I often wish I could relive the day.  But if I did, and I once again opted for a strapless dress, I would choose one that was made to be strapless.  Single girls, learn from my mistake.

p.s.  Ada has used the bathroom in the potty twice!!!  And on our anniversary, I have called Scott three times at work, not to tell him how much I love him and how happy I am that he married me, but to update him on the potty training progress.  Now that is what marriage really is, right?