What a historic day to begin our wedding planning adventure. Every bride and mother of the bride in the world has been watching the Royal Couple and their fairytale wedding. I watched Her Royal Highness' mother today, as I watched the coverage. What must have been going through her mind? Probably, the same things going through my mind. True, my future son in law is not the future King of England, but he is my daughter's Prince!
The moment that the entire world (especially the female sector) was waiting for was the moment Kate emerged and her wedding gown was revealed. Why was the world so concerned with what she would wear? The dress sets the tone, theme, and feel of the wedding. The very first thing we did, related to wedding planning, was to shop for a dress. That is actually the only thing we accomplished within the first three months of the engagement! Actually, we were just going to drop in at David's Bridal in Tallahassee and look around. She had seen some gowns in magazines she wanted to see in person so we slipped into the store. Well, we were in the neighborhood!
What was to be a 15 minute drop in, became a 2 hour dress-up session! The style of dress I would never have thought she would even look twice at was the one she fell in love with. Trying on 3 or 4, everyone in the store agreed the one she tried on first was made for her. I was not prepared for the overwhelming feeling when she tried on that dress....even in barefeet, the vision of her in that dress brought me to tears. When the wonderful attendant (I can't remember her name, but she was WONDERFUL) put a veil on her and a hairpiece, my heart was aching. I was glad Daddy was not there. He would not have been able to handle it.
Dress and all the necessary undergarments were purchased with an expected arrival date of mid-February. Surprise....the dress and undergarments came in a couple of weeks later. The hairpiece and veil took another few weeks. But, a constant reminder of the impending change in our family hangs on the back of the door in our guest room. Every time I walk in the room I pause for a few minutes and think of all the "let's play pretend, Mama" moments and the times I would find her in my shoes or gowns, with my makeup carefully smeared about her face. I am glad I didn't scold her those times. That would tarnish the precious memories I have when I peek at that white mass of lace and jewels. I remember when she was about 8 and she wanted a tiara...not a dollar store tiara. A real tiara. I wouldn't buy one. One day, while in a formal wear store shopping for my dress for some special occasion, she wandered around and found a tiara. It was $60. I would not buy it. She took out her money and convinced the store manager to let her put it on lay-away. She paid about $10 down and faithfully visited that store with her allowance every trip to Tallahassee. I think I finally paid about the last $20, but she proved a couple of things to me: she knew what she wanted and how to get it, and she was determined to be a princess no matter the cost! LOL
Kate was a beautiful bride and her dress was gorgeous, but Brandon's princess will be far more beautiful than William's. The crown jewels cost a lot more than that $60 tiara and her dress will cost less than Kate's undergarments, I would imagine, but the vision of my little girl as a grown-up bride will be priceless. She has her prince and she will live happily ever after!
