The one with all the wedding dresses

A friend at work (Tina) got married this past December and in the weeks leading up to her wedding there was naturally a lot of discussion about her upcoming nuptials (in between all the work we were managing to achieve of course). On one of these occasions we were in the office with Tina chatting about ' the dress' when Alison and I began reminiscing about our our own wedding dresses.  You know the drill if you've been there... the colour and style, was it bought or hand-made, oh yes, and does it still fit. We also got to to talking about how it's kind of sad that the most gorgeous and important dress we will ever wear only gets to be worn once, twice if the bride has her wedding and reception on a different day.

Alison and I who have been married for quite some time now (Andy and I are in our 10th year of marriage) began discussing what we had done with our wedding dresses.  Like many other responsible brides, Alison had hers dry cleaned and boxed up; she was fairly certain, but a little doubtful that it would still fit.  Me?  Well I had left mine at my mother's in Nova Scotia but had plans to bring it back when Andy and I travelled home after New Year.  I knew mine still fit me because I've had it on more than once since 2004.  No, I haven't exactly worn it, its just almost every time sometimes when I've been home I've taken it from its protective bag and put it on.  Trying it on is not the same as wearing it though. It's not.  I won't apologise for loving my dress.  And I wasn't even a bridezilla; my sister had to coax me a little bit to get a proper wedding dress.  But I'm digressing as usual.

When I mentioned that I was bringing the dress back to the UK and would likely have it cleaned and boxed up, not to be tried on again for possibly years, Tina suggested we should have a wedding dress party.  Well to cut a long story short Alison and I loved the idea. Shake your head if you will.  I completely understand if I've now lost you forever because you think I'm certifiably nuts and I'm sorry to see you go.   What I'm not sorry for?  That my friends and I decided to have a party to wear the one dress that has made us feel more beautiful than any other dress we own, the dress that we chose for the most important day of our lives. The one dress that made it all about us.  A few other girls at work jumped on board with the idea (some quicker than others) however a few who wanted to partake couldn't (for a variety of reasons).  Either way, we have been asked to do this again.  Maybe we will, maybe we won't.  Either way we had a grand old time parading around like a bunch of deluded brides. But we looked good and we felt great (especially for the two of us who have been married for years and can still fit into the dress, and yes it matters, if only a little bit).

Were we sadder than a particular trio of single girls who sat around in rented wedding dresses?  I don't think so but you can be your own judge of that.

I personally think it was a brilliant idea for an entertaining evening with my girlfriends, from the moment we all got dressed together; even Em, whose wedding dress was long gone yet she still looked lovely in her black maxi-dress.

Because as a great friend of mine commented when she saw the photos: 'What girl doesn't want to wear that dress again?