Musings
an Online Journal of Sorts

By Alyce Wilson

This weekend, The Gryphon and I had Saturday free. We used the time to get some things done. The Gryphon, for example, helped me figure out some questions I had about my new web host for AlyceWilson.com, HostOny.com. It's wonderful having an IT expert for a fiancé!

Also on Saturday, we ran a few errands and did online Christmas shopping for the family members who have online wish lists. We prepared all our Christmas cards, which took much of Saturday afternoon and were completed Sunday.

Then I set up The Gryphon's laptop next to our CD collection and made a list of songs and albums we might want played at our wedding reception. I made two sub-lists: one of spacy/loungey stuff for the dinner hour; and one of danceable hits for later in the evening. We'll add onto the list over the next several months, adding songs and artists we don't currently own but are hoping the DJ might have.

I started the list early Sunday and finished it in the evening while The Gryphon was at his meeting of PAGE (Philadelphia Area Gaming Enthusiasts).

The big accomplishment of the weekend, of course, was ordering the bridesmaids' dresses.

I had arranged to meet at noon with two of my bridesmaids. We were then going to go to lunch before our 1 p.m. appointment.

I got there about 10 minutes early and sat in the parking lot, listening to music until a lot of women started arriving, apparently with the intent of going inside as soon as it opened at noon. I got out then to wait for the others, since all the women milling around might make it hard to pick them out.

Soon, my College Roommate arrived, and I greeted her. She was wearing a skirt and stockings with a long sweater over top. I was a little worried about her, since it was bitter cold, and she'd been sick with a nasty cold a couple weeks ago. But I resisted my impulse to fuss, reminding myself she's a grown woman.

The other bridesmaid arrived a few minutes later. She is one of The Gryphon's best friends from college. Just as I have many close male friends, he's had many close female friends. That's probably one of the reasons we get along so well.

Since she works as a traveling tech expert, who is stationed all over the world for months at a time to work on projects for her company, I'll call her the Tech Guru.

I introduced the two of them, since they hadn't met before. Then we headed for a nearby Italian place for lunch. I ordered some pasta soup, and the other two had a lunch special, which was a panini with a bottomless salad, which we all shared. We got our fill of vegetables before heading back to the store.

While the other two were dropping their leftover food in their cars, I went inside and told the attendant at the front desk that we were there for our appointment. She introduced me to the sales person who would be helping us, who was immensely helpful. She responded to our requests quickly, gave us suggestions when asked, and had a lot of helpful knowledge about things like sizes and other issues.

Three tea-length dresses were available in the color I had selected with my sister, which is a beautiful aqua color called Oasis. We grabbed one of each in the proper sizes for the two bridesmaids to try.

Originally, I'd been open to the idea of each bridesmaid wearing a different dress, provided they were the same color and the same length. However, we soon discovered there was one dress that worked the best on both bridesmaids and would likely look best on my sister, as well.

The dress is a halter top with an organza top layer over an opaque, satiny material. Since my dress also has organza, they work well together. I know this because the attendant brought out a floor model of my dress so that I could try it on along with them to see how well it worked.

After we'd chosen the dress, we started talking about accessories. My sister had requested that we ordered some sort of a wrap or shrug for her, so we tried different versions on the two bridesmaids.

There were three available choices. The first was a regular wrap, but the problem was that it really doesn't stay in place very well. We tried tying it in the back as I'd done for my sister's wedding, but the material is a little stiffer and my College Roommate said it restricted her arm movements. Plus, it kept slipping off her shoulder anyway.

Then they tried bolero jackets, but the jackets made their shoulders look square, and it didn't go with the vest.

The final choice was a chiffon shrug, which is a light, wispy material that was very flattering with the dress. I liked them so much I ordered one for myself so that I can wear it at the reception, in case I get cold.

Since the shrug was only available in a limited number of colors, we ordered it in ivory, which should work nicely, especially considering that the flower arrangements will have a lot of white in them. So we opted not to order champagne-colored ribbons for their dresses but instead to stay with the silk ribbons that come with the dress, simply removing the detachable flower.

Since we'd changed our plans slightly, I made a quick call to my sister, who agreed with our decision.

I did order a wide champagne colored ribbon for my dress, however. It will be longer than I need it to be, so I can trim the end and give it to my florist in case he can use it with the bouquets.

Our sales attendant spoke to the clerk to place our order, and I handed over my sister's measurements so we could order one for her, as well. Then the clerk went to their storage room to bring out my dress and blusher veil, which had arrived earlier than predicted.

I asked the clerk if I could get a sample swatch of the color so I could share it with our florist, baker, event coordinator, family members, et cetera. The clerk looked through their box of swatches and couldn't find any in Oasis, but then she remembered that a store employee in the back was dying shoes. So she called back to her and told her to make two swatches in Oasis for me.

The Tech Guru had to be going to work, so I thanked her and told her I'd let her know when the dress was in. My College Roommate chatted with me at the front desk until the clerk brought out the swatches, wrapped up in a paper towel so that the dye wouldn't get on anything else. I asked her how much it would cost, and she said there would be no charge. She said that they were a little dark now but by tomorrow they'd be approximately the right color.

I was really excited about the dresses, so I called my sister to tell her more about them. She immediately began thinking of jewelry ideas and suggested that we consider making beaded necklaces for the bridesmaids, using interesting beads that could give us the retro style we hoped to achieve.

My sister has made some really great beaded jewelry in the past, including one of my favorite necklaces, and I've made some beaded items as well. Between the two of us, we could come up with something really cool. I wrote an e-mail to the other two bridesmaids to see what they think of the idea.

If they agree to it, that would be one last thing for them to get. I told them to look for metallic shoes, either gold or silver, since both colors will be represented in our colors. I told them to get whatever style they preferred, whether heels or flats, pumps or mules. The Tech Guru threw out the idea of boots, and I told her I'd be open to the idea. In fact, I've even considered doing that for myself, if I find the right pair.

I highly recommend that if you're shopping for bridal or formal attire, try to go at an off time, like early afternoon on a Sunday. You get a lot more personal attention. Plus, it helps to have three really smart woman as your bridal attendants. Between input from all three, I think we've come up with an ensemble that's going to both suits the feel of the wedding and will look flattering on everyone, as well.

In fact, the attendant asked me what the men were going to wear, and I told her that they were thinking of wearing a black fly front tuxedo with a banded color shirt, possibly in ivory. She said that will look really sharp.

Overall, it was a great experience, and now I get to cross one more big thing off my wedding planning list!

More on Alyce's wedding planning:

Musings on Alyce's Wedding

Copyright 2006 by Alyce Wilson

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