Be careful what you wish for. Bridesmaid dress shopping was next on the agenda.
Emily has 6 Bridesmaids. She had a color picked out, and a style in mind. She even created a Pinterest board.
She was prepared. At least… that’s what she thought.
Saturday morning, Emily, Jessica, Sarah, Amanda, Rachel, Lauren, and Megan met at the bridal shop.
Dave was smart enough to stay home, because he had learned a few things during the wedding planning process. When a group of women are shopping for dresses, there is absolutely nothing a man can contribute to improve the situation.
Dave had volunteered to come.
Emily had politely declined.
“Are you sure you don’t want my opinion?”
“Yes, I am sure.”
“Because I have excellent fashion sense, you know.”
Emily snorted. “You wore tan Birkenstocks, blue cargo shorts, and a bright orange polo shirt on our first date.”
“I was comfortable. And you said you liked football, so I was representing my team, the mighty Broncos!”
“When you start playing for the Broncos, then that will be fine to wear in public.”
So, Dave happily stayed home. No way he wanted to waste his Saturday with a bunch of women looking at dresses anyway. 👍
Emily and the bridesmaids entered the bridal shop.
The salesperson greeted them with a smile. “Congratulations! What are you looking for?”
Emily smiled. “6 bridesmaid dresses. Something elegant, classy, flattering, and comfortable.”
The sales associate nodded. She had heard all this before, hundreds of times.
“Any particular color?”
Emily pronounced, “Dusty Rose.”
Sarah and Jessica looked at each other quizzically. Rachel looked at Megan with a shocked look and shrugged.
Amanda finally spoke. “What exactly is dusty rose?”
Emily pulled out her phone and pointed to a picture, while the women gathered around.
“That is dusty rose.”
Sarah squinted, “That looks pink.”
“It’s dusty rose.”
Emily scrolled to the next picture of a different dress.
“That one looks pink too.”
Rachel picked up a swatch. “So… we’re buying pink?”
Emily sighed. “No. Dusty rose.”
The sales associate quickly stepped in. “Ladies, I think we can find something everyone will love.”
Five minutes later, the first dress came out. Sarah tried it on, and as she stepped out of the dressing room, everyone stared.
Sarah looked in the mirror. “I hate it.”
Emily blinked. “You haven’t even looked at the back.”
“I don’t need to.”
The second dress came out, and Jessica tried it on.
“I love this one!”
Emily smiled. “Me too.”
Amanda shook her head. “I don’t know.”
Megan added, “I think it makes her shoulders look weird.”
Emily closed her eyes…this wasn’t going well.
Then came the issue of length….
“I want mine floor length.
“I want mine tea length.”
“What’s tea length?”
“Somewhere between your knees and your cankles…oops…I meant ankles.”
Emily knew she had to step in before they made the local news that evening, “6 local women arrested at Bridal Shop brawl.”
Just then, Rachel declared, “I need pockets.”
“Why do you need pockets?”
Rachel looked offended. “Where am I supposed to put my phone?”
“You’ll have a purse.”
“I don’t want to carry a purse.”
“You’re wearing a dress.”
“Yeah…one with no pockets apparently.”
Meanwhile…Dave was at home enjoying a peaceful morning, talking with his dog, Rocky, about what a football team should do when it’s 4th and 2 from the 40-yard line. Both Rocky and Dave really enjoyed these talks. 🏈
He received a text from Emily.
“How’s your day going?”
Dave responded: “Great. How’s dress shopping?”
Emily stared at the message. She typed “I hate you.” Then deleted it. She typed “Fine.” Deleted that one also. Finally, “We’re still deciding.”
Dave responded: “Need my opinion?”
“NO.”
Dave smiled. He knew when to be quiet.
Three hours later, after tears had been shed, fast food and ice cream sworn off forever, and friends who were on the brink of becoming enemies, remaining besties…all was well.
They found a dress everyone could agree on!
The color and style worked, the price was reasonable, and on one of them a minor alteration would be made to include a pocket!
Emily thanked them for taking time out of their Saturday to get this done, and for the expense she knew each woman was incurring. She also mentioned, “What’s nice about the dresses we chose is that even after the wedding, you will be able to wear this dress to a lot of different functions.”
The women paused, looked at each other with slight grins, as if to say, “How many times have we heard that line before?” 🤣
Everyone seemed satisfied, and as they were walking out to their cars, Megan asked, “What kind of shoes are we wearing?
Jessica asked, “What about jewelry?”
Amanda asked, “What about hair…and makeup?”
Lauren asked, “Does anyone know where we are staying the night before the wedding?”
Emily leaned against her car. “Ladies, let me show you something.”
She opened her phone to LinkMy.Wedding.
Within minutes, she could share the wedding schedule, hotel information, directions, important details, and answers to all the questions everyone was already asking.
Instead of answering 6 people separately, then answering 6 more questions, then forwarding the same information to 6 more people, she could simply say, “Check LinkMy.Wedding.”
Emily finally felt a small sense of relief…some wedding stuff had finally been accomplished.
The bridesmaids had dresses. The groomsmen had been selected. The guest list was only slightly terrifying.
And then it dawned on her…there was still one tiny problem.
“Ladies, we need to order these dresses this week. I’ll need to get your sizes to the sales associate.”
Sarah suddenly looked at the ground. Amanda started fiddling in her purse. Jessica became very interested in her phone.
Nobody spoke.
Jessica finally spoke. “Can we…maybe…talk about sizes privately?”
Emily sighed and thought, “Oh boy. Here comes more drama…and tears.”
Next week on The Ring, The Stress, and The Dress…
The dresses are ordered.
The guest list is growing. Linda has another “small suggestion.”
And Dave discovers that wedding invitations cost more than football season tickets.
Will Dave finally accept that weddings are expensive?
Will Emily survive invitation shopping?
Stay tuned.
Because the wedding drama continues…