Bride and Princesses

I have heard that shopping for wedding dresses can be a nightmare, but with Lindz and the gang, it was blessed fun. Jesse had been planning on going with the gang, but my invite came yesterday morning. I had to hustle to get ready and go, and I was not sure if I should go or not. I am so glad that I went. It was all worth it to see Lindz and the girls have such a great time. There were lots of giggles and lots of beautiful dresses. I think it was a real learning experience, too.

We took two cars – the older ladies (moms) and the younger ladies (bride and maids). We started out at David’s Bridal with a very nice lady to show us the dresses. She had Lindz look through one of their magazines and pick out dresses. Then the lady delivered them to be tried on and whisked away the ones that would not work. Of course, Lindz is beautiful and all of the dresses she tried on were gorgeous (or as GBN1 says, "Georges"), but we were all waiting for that special dress, that twinkle in the eye, that squeal of delight that says "this is THE dress." We took lots of silly photos to record the events. We heard lots of giggles when the bride and maids all got in the dressing room together – to help the Bride. David’s Bridal was very nice and Lindz picked out a couple of dresses to consider and we moved on.

Our next stop was at a shop called JJ Kelly Bridal. We were met at the door by a clerk and "we only meet with brides by appointment" but they "happen to have an available clerk" to meet with us (as if Mondays were a busy day). Why would you bother to say that? Why not just say, "Welcome, Sally will be with you in just a minute"? One of the other moms and I took a seat in the showroom area. I asked Jesse to pose for a picture in front of the mirrors while we waited for Lindz. Jes picked up a small veil that was lying in a chair, put it on, and struck a pose. Both SK and I took a couple of photos of Jesse being silly. One of the sales clerks came over and told us that they did not allow photos – their dresses were designer dresses and could not be photographed. That was fine, but then she came and stood behind us to make sure we deleted the photos. Then she told us to put our cameras away so that we "might not be tempted" to take another photo. In the meantime, another clerk was giving Lindz a hard time in the dressing room by not allowing even one girl in the dressing room to help Lindz with the dresses. They were worried that photos would be taken in the dressing rooms. Lindz did try on one Vera Wang dress that was very simple and on sale, but we left the store after that. The clerk may have been being condescending, but she sent us to a store called Serendipity – saying we might find something there.

Serendipity was a great store, but more in the fashion line of "My Big Fat Greek Wedding." Although the dresses were not what Lindz wanted for her wedding, the girls had a great time playing dress-up. Jesse chose a sea foam green dress. Kat chose peach. Reagan chose hot pink while Lindz tried on the traditional white. They all found dresse sthat looked like the dress that Kate Hudson wore in "How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days" and tried them on in different colors. This store was a delight after the snobby JJ Kelly store.


Throughout the shopping, Jesse and I kept mentioning a shop that we had been to with my DIL. We did not know the name of the wedding shop or where it was. Some how we managed to stumble upon it while driving to different bridal store. The store was having electrical problems – only a few of the lights were working and the air conditioning was off. It was a bit warm just sitting there, but Lindz was a trooper in trying on dresses – quite the quick-change artist. Here is where the real fun began. The B-maids went through the racks and brought Lindz dress after dress. The clerk was not overpowering or bothersome. She offered advice and put the dresses back on the racks if they were not favored. Lindz tried on a jillion dresses and set aside a few. As we were about to leave the store, I took Lindz to a rack of dresses that were designed and made by the owner of the store, Mo. He was a short dark man with a kind face and a heavy European accent. He came out and began showing his designer dresses to Lindz. Then he explained that he was putting the dresses on sale the first of August. Lindz agreed to try on a few more dresses "just to see…" They were absolutely gorgeous. Mo picked out a dress that he said would show Lindz’ figure off to perfection. The minute she put it on, her eyes lit up. There was a moment where we all held our breaths while mother and daughter conferred. Mo agreed to sell Lindz the dress at the sale price which was well within Lindz’ budget. Then cheering erupted, photos were snapped, and joy was abundant. Before we left the store, Mo gave Lindz a lacy garter and said something like this to her, "When I was growing up, I was always told that God blesses children who are good to their parents. You must be a really good kid."

Iwill not post a photo of Lindz in The Dress, but if I get permission, I may post a photo of her in another of my favorite dresses.