Window into Two Weddings

VICTORY!  I am not going to look like a giant orange popsicle at the wedding.  Whew!  I shopped and shopped and shopped for an outfit to wear to Sarah's wedding.  This is how serious it became:  I went to the MALL.  I haven't been inside that clump of stores surrounded by a large parking lot with ridiculously priced items tastefully and in some cases beautifully displayed for years, literally years.  Here's a tip:  Nothing has changed.  The customers are still bored people filling their lives with overpriced shopping, or teenagers being given their first taste of being out from under the parental eye.

I looked and looked.  I didn't even find anything to try on.  The problem, of course, is my foot.  I can't wear heels; thus, I can't wear a dress to the wedding because nothing looks more stupid at a fancy event than flats and a dressy dress.  I couldn't find a pants suit, and I really looked.

Enter Judee Goff of Paradise Fabrics.  She's the special occasion fabric guru and seamstress in Phoenix.  She's been in this business for 40 years, and I decided to give her magic fingers and expertise a whirl.  On our first appointment, I picked out the shantung silk she is going to use to make my wedding outfit.  This is worse than picking out paint or carpet using those little sample rectangles.  Same deal with special order fabric.  There's a little book with 1x2 inch fabric samples.  There were 50 colors of silk to choose from.  Fortunately, she had a few yards of the type of material I wanted in the color of coral.  It was very, very orange.  I picked a color after seeing that tiny scrap in the book that was supposed to be a toned down version of the coral.  Well, the fabric arrived this week, and jackpot - it's perfect, and I won't be waltzing down the aisle the object of pity and mirth.  There won't be any smirks or comparisons to popsicles.  

This has been a real drama for me.  As I've aged, and as my foot has worsened, so I can't really wear any nice shoes, my clothing choices have been dictated by comfort and this vagabonding lifestyle we've adopted.  Now, we are on the cusp one of the seminal events of our family, and I've been obsessed with 'what am I going to wear'.  I swear, it would be easier to be the bride; at least she has a pretty tight parameter of clothing choices.  

I'm not the only one who is agonizing over clothing choices.   Drake also wants to look perfect, or as he puts it:  "I want to look really good next to Sarah on the aisle walk."  Kit (Jay's mom) has been gracious enough to let me pick my color first, and then she's going to coordinate.  Drake and Jeff (Jay's Dad) have worked out their complimentary clothing choices.  I'm telling you; this wedding is a big deal for all of us.  I do know it's very important for all us to feel wonderful on the big day, and what we're wearing has a lot to do with that feeling.  

I'm beginning to understand why tensions mount, bridezillas emerge, MOB's need tranquilizers, and FOB's fight losing battles over and over again trying to hold the budget line.  The 63 year part of me thinks all of this is ridiculous, but the 20 and 30 year old part of me remembers all too well crying at wedding after wedding mourning the loss of the wedding I never got to have.  My 'wedding' consisted of a $20 gold ring, a lunch at Dairy Queen, a 5 minute ceremony in the Gainesville, Texas Courthouse in front of an immensely fat Justice of the Peace.  The actual words were half over before I realized I was actually getting married.  I wouldn't wish that type of wedding on anyone.  However, if the current wedding I'm participating in results in the kind of marriage I have, well, my daughter will be very fortunate indeed.  This wedding in May is a gift of love, and it's already started flowing.