So here we are, a little after 1 in the afternoon, all dressed up in our cute green shirts, walking into the “Running of the Brides.” Yes – when you go at 1pm instead of when the doors open at 8, you can actually walk in the door. We saw racks and racks of dresses ready for our pulling. We had our game plan “simple, lace, nothing super fancy, size 12-18, GO, meet here when you have some dresses.” 15-20 mins of searching the racks amounted to 3 dresses for me to try on. SO disappointing…
The first one was exciting, not for the design or its potential for being "the one", but mostly because it was the FIRST EVER wedding dress I had ever tried on. It was a simple satin a-line with lace at the bodice and along the hem of the dress. Plus it made my waist look SUPER skinny. Nice! I tried to get into a couple more – but they were wayyy too small to even get over my head. Bummer. Back out to the racks for another 20 mins to search for more. I tried on a couple more, one with sleeves (a definite no-no), and a really big ballgown that we knew wouldn’t be in the running, but it was in my size, so why not…
While I was taking off the mega-huge ballgown, I spotted a girl across the way trying on a simple a-line dress, lace on top, ribbon at the bodice – Paloma Blanca look-a-like, aka my dream gown. However – this girl was like 5 sizes too big for this dress, she couldn’t even get the zipper to start in the back. Not that she was a big girl or anything, but sometimes dresses just don’t fit – and probably will never fit quite right. You get the picture here. My MOH on duty for the day ran over and asked her if she was going to buy the dress (just being polite – even though it was SO obvious it was never going to fit her) and she said “nah, I don’t think so.” GREAT!!!! We waited for her to take the dress off so I could try it, but she just dilly-dallied along with the dress still on – trying on tops to other dresses with it. Seriously!? While we waited, we decided to go find some other dresses for me to try, but kept an eye on her to snag that dress if she ever decided to peel it off.
Well, she finally did take the dress off – but decided to carry it around with her while she kept looking – as if the dress was actually in the running for her to purchase. UGH. We were just about to give up for the day after being there for about 2 hours and me only finding about 5 dresses that I could actually fit into to try when helper friend J came over with a taffeta gown with lace on top – in a size 14. JACKPOT.
As I’m standing there in my underwear, (yes underwear – there are no dressing rooms in this joint) waiting for the dress to be pulled out of the bag and prepared for me to jump in, there is another girl standing very, VERY, close to me, watching the whole process. There are other women running around, looking at dresses on the racks next to us, walking through, but this one is standing 3 feet from me, watching me get dressed. I awkwardly said, “Hi,” (in a tone that was more like, Um, Hi – I see you there watching me get dressed, and you’re starting to freak me out.) She took it that way too so she replied, “I had that dress 3 hours ago and I absolutely love it – but some girl stole it from me. I’ve been searching for it all afternoon. If you’re not going to buy it, I will.” Wow – thanks – no pressure there.
So, I am getting tied into this dress’s corset back, and I’m really liking the way it looks. But now I feel guilty – this girl’s dream dress is dependent on my decision – and she’s going to stand there until I make up my mind… I’m really liking it, the tighter the corset gets, and I say this out loud “wow, I really love this dress.” It doesn’t scare this girl, at this point I think she is going to follow me to the register. All of my friends love the dress, and I really do love the way the dress looks on me in the tiny 1’x4’ mirror. At this point, I’m actually thinking “this could be it!” AND it has a $250 price tag. Without any further hesitation, I decide to buy the dress – and I tell this to my onlooker. She hangs her head and says, “OK, I’m really happy for you, it looks really great,” and walks away… Me and my little group of green shirts are all big smiles, and we have our “YAY – we found the dress” moment, and people next to us clap, and give us their congratulations, and we go to the register to buy the dress after crushing that dear girl’s dreams – for a second time today. I really did feel bad, for like a minute….
As we’re walking home – we’re all SO excited. High fives, smiles, congratulations from other groups leaving the convention center. The dress is done. One of the most important pieces of the wedding puzzle is taken care of. Or so we thought…
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