Veiled

Every decision we've had to make about our wedding so far has had two outstanding characteristics: fast and easy.

We've had things go quickly and decisively for us in almost every respect except finding a church building - and even that, in the end, turned out way easier than we thought it was going to be.  It took some time, but it was never a case of long searching with no results.  When we've asked, we've received.

Which is why I was a little startled yesterday when we went out to a bridal store that was having a sale so I could by a veil...and I couldn't find anything.

Well, I could find SOMETHING, but even on sale the veils I found cost as much or more than my dress did.  I brought along a veil a friend of mine had lent me to try on, since when I tried it with my dress I really like it.  I showed it to the sales lady and she said, "Hm.  I don't know if we have anything like that."

And they didn't.  Not even close.  And the ones they did have were just not the right kind.  The problem is that I'm leaving my hair down, so all their normal length veils look funny with it.  I needed something about knee length; but right now the style is pretty much very short, fingertip length, or cathedral.  In passing, I have to say cathedral veils are really strange.  Who wants a veil with a train ten feet long?  I bet it gets caught in all kinds of stuff!

So Ben and I went on to another store.  It was a much smaller one in the same shopping mall as our reception is going to be held, ironically enough.  That store didn't have any of the right kind of veil either, but the nice lady helping me made a suggestion.  "What if you try one of the cathedral type," she said, "and I'll ask our seamstress if she can cut it to the right length."

I was open to ideas, so I agreed.  "I'd really just like to know two things," I told her.  "If it can be done; and how much it's going to cost."

"How much were thinking of spending?" she asked me.  I thought for a second and named a price much lower than I actually expected to have to pay.  Ben's influence is beginning to rub off, I think.  She looked a little dubiously at me.

"I know," I said.  "It's low.  But if I would really like to spend that much if possible."

"I'll see what we can do," she said.  She went into the back of the shop and was gone quite a while.  Ben and I sat and watched the activity in the store.  Ben does not like bridal stores.  He says there is something strange about a whole store catering to brides and besides, he picked up a bridal magazine and got an eyeful.  He says somehow he expected brides to be general more...demure or modest, not look like they belonged in a lingerie ad.  I should've warned him, but I forgot about it since I haven't looked at many bridal magazines myself.

At any rate, after a while the lady came back out and said, "You know what, we'll just make you a veil for that price rather than cutting this one down."

I was astounded.  I said, "Really?!"

She smiled and said, "Yes, really."

"Could you make it the same shape as the one I brought in?" I asked.

"Yes we can," she said.  "It's no problem."

So the seamstress came out and measured my friend's veil and smiled at me and said, "It'll be ready on Wednesday."

I said, "You have just been my blessing of the day."

And she was.  Decisions are so much easier to make when they are made that simple for me!