The Kleinfeld Experience--Royal Style

Tonight, the girls and I were watching one of my favorite shows: "Say Yes to the Dress." I'm still not sure why I like it--shopping for my own wedding dress was not the fairy tale experience I thought it would be (not to mention that some of those brides REALLY annoy me).

The first time I shopped was on Mockingbird in a little bitty studio that was so stinking crowded! It was hot and I felt claustrophobic. The next time, I went with my mother-in-law and was really not in the mood to go, but did anyway. The shop was bigger, and I narrowed it down to buying a white dress and not ivory, but it, too, was a beat-down.

They say 3rd time's a charm and it truly was in my case. I was having dinner with Brian and his family and Audra, my now-sister-in-law, wanted to go. So we talked her hubby into putting their baby to bed on his own and we ran to David's Bridal. I was hesitant, but she started pulling dresses and insisting I try on veils, too. I had a saleslady who made it fun, as well. I can't remember who found my dress, but I DO remember waiting to try it on last because I just KNEW it was the one. Crazy, huh?

Anyway, as we were watching the show tonight, the girls started asking me questions about my dress. Caroline has asked to see it before, but I've put her off and showed her the wedding album instead. As we were talking tonight, I started to wonder why I hadn't ever gotten it out for them. (I have a confession--I was a cheap bride and didn't pay to have my dress cleaned after the wedding, so it's just been hanging in a bag in the back of my closet.)

So, I paused the show, told them to wait a minute and ran back to my room to grab the dress and give them their own Kleinfeld experience--Royal style. As soon as they saw the white bag, they both started jumping up and down. So, I laid it over the chair and opened it up.

It was not a fancy-schmancy one, but touching it again made me remember how perfect it was for me. The top had beading, but the skirt was organza and tulle with a beaded border at the bottom. It has a few small rips in the top layer close to where the bustle buttons are, but it still looked beautiful. As I unbustled it, dried rose petals fell out--which reminded me how glad I was that I insisted we have rose petals thrown at us instead of birdseed on our wedding day (I'll have to write another post about the adventures of finding rose petals for a wedding that was happening the day before Mother's Day).

Back to the dress. Hope liked it, but told me that it would have been prettier with no sleeves. Caroline asked if she could wear it for her wedding because it was her style. I think they were shocked when I asked them if they wanted to try it on. Why not? It's not like it's pressed or clean. Even though Caroline asked to wear it, I think both girls will want a dress of their own when/if they get married. As frivolous as it is to keep it, I just can't give it away, so why not let them pretend to be princess brides?

So they put it on and had to hold the top with one hand and the veil with the other so it didn't fall off of them. They took turns holding the train and pretending to be princesses. They even let me take their pictures (although I had to promise not to put them on facebook--I know, I know, this is kinda the same, but they didn't say I couldn't blog about it).

I've always found it a fine balance between the excitement of a wedding and making it all about that ONE day. Maybe that's why I've hesitated to bring out the dress before now. Who knows why I decided to let them play in it tonight, but it was definitely one of those moments that I hope they remember when they are sitting in therapy years from now. "Mom may have been crazy half the time, but remember that one time when she let us put on her wedding dress and prance around the living room?"

Definitely a good ending to the week (especially after the tooth fairy incident).