Alterations, Take 1

I know I said my wedding dress fit me better than I'd hoped, but there are still some alterations that need to be made. I was just happy to find one that wasn't completely outside the realm of help. My dress is mostly okay, though so I didn't expect much trouble when I went for my fitting.

Since I bought my dress at a store that's about an hour away from where I live, the lady that does their fittings is also located an hour away from where I live. That's kind of annoying, but one trip for a perfectly-fitting wedding dress was worth it. We did the fitting at the lady's house, which is not that unusual. But I was a little unpleasantly surprised that she did not have a dressing room or anything. It was just, "Here, stand in my sewing room in front of this giant window while I stand here and watch, and take off your clothes."

What I was also not expecting was that this woman did not have an air conditioner. It was like 100 degrees in her house when we walked in, but don't worry--to counteract that, she left her door open after we got there. So I got to change in front of her, my friend Betty Lemon who'd come with me, the giant window, AND the open door. It was all kinds of super.

So now I was in my wedding dress, with all of the layers and heaviness inherent to wedding dresses. I hoped the fitting would go quickly, because this woman had already managed to make me uncomfortable in every way possible. But when she asked me what I needed done to the dress, and I told her, she kept pointing out that it was going to be very difficult to do and asking if I was sure I wanted to do that. Did I want my wedding dress to fit me? Yes. I don't think I'm the first bride to have such an outlandish request, but she's only been doing this for 25 years, so maybe she's never heard that one.

She never said that she couldn't do it, or she shouldn't do it, or that she had a better idea; she just said over and over that was going to be hard. Considering that I would be paying this woman for her services, I didn't feel like this was information that she needed to share with me, especially as many times as she did. Meanwhile, I was sweating and melting, and when I began fanning myself with my hands she said, "Oh, you're going to have to get used to this! Wedding dresses are not cool."

That comment nearly drained me of my last bit of patience, and I wanted to scream, "Actually, I DON'T need to get used to this, because both my wedding AND reception are going to be air-conditioned!"

Oh, and remember how she had "solved" the problem of no AC by leaving her door open? The room was therefore infested with mosquitos, and I got bitten twice. The lady kept saying, "I don't know where these mosquitos are coming from." I bet they were coming from outside.

Suffice it to say, when she finally suggested that I find someone closer to where I live to alter my dress, I gladly took her advice and came home with my dress. I found another lady who has a dressing room AND air-conditioning, so clearly my dress is now in safe hands. And at my fitting with her, I didn't get bitten once.