A while back, a lady from church named Gail asked if I'd be willing to model my wedding dress at the upcoming ladies tea. At first I said no because my dress was sealed and I didn't want to take it out of the box. Then I saw my friend Christina have her kids try on her wedding dress and it just kind of hit me. Why am I just letting that thing stay in a box? Do I really honestly think that Ella will actually wear it? Also if she does it's going to need to be cleaned anyway so why not!
It happened to be family night when Ella asked about my dress and I said...let's go get it! It still looked all pretty in the box except some the sequins had yellowed over time.
Here's my sweet girl in my dress!
I remember I was her age when I tried on my grandma's wedding dress. She almost filled it out except she's a little bit smaller in the chest area.
Then it was my turn to try on my dress....with the help of my mom of course!
I could not believe that I could actually fit into my wedding dress after almost 23 years. That's crazy to me. I've had 4 kids!!!!
I remember being in the Renton Bridal Boutique looking for a dress when my Dad asked me to try this one on. It honestly look hideous on the hanger. I hated it! But....I knew I had to appease him so I tried it on. I came out of that dressing room with tears in my eyes....this was THE dress. My father picked out my wedding dress. How special is that!
The detailing is so beautiful and I actually like that the sequins yellowed a bit. they stand out better and give the dress a more antique look.
After trying on that one I tried on my Mom's wedding dress. My grandma made it for her. It used to be floor length, but after Mom and Dad had been married for a few years she altered it to be a maternity dress. All I think about when I look at this picture is the camel with the wrinkly knees from Raggedy Ann and Andy!
Fast forward to the Women's Tea at church on Saturday May 7th.
Miss Ellen just happened to be in town for so many fun things....the Choir Performance, the Ladies Tea and Mother's Day. It was so fun having her here!
Nancy played the harp like she usually does for Christmas. She's so talented!
The theme for the event was The Bride being ready....the church being the bride of Christ. Gail had asked quite a few ladies if they'd wear their wedding dresses. There ended up being 5 of us. 3 wore our wedding dresses, 1 wore someone else's dress because she couldn't fit in it anymore and the last lady wore a dress that she bought that looks like a wedding dress.
Katie who is such a beautiful women got all of us brides these bouquets. The flowers are actually made out of wood. It's amazing....and we got to keep them!
As we were coming down the aisle and getting up on the stage Gail was reading a little bit about our dress. I figured it was only fitting if my Dad wrote something instead of me. Here's what he wrote!
EARLY in 1999, Lyndsay was shopping for: A Wedding Dress, and a little concerned about the COST.. SHE and Michael had been engaged for more than 8 months, some money had already been spent on Invitations and other things.. BUT, the time had come to get: A Dress!! At The Renton Bridal Boutique, Lyndsay, with Her Mom looking on, checked out a few: “PLANE JANE Dresses”, as Gail described them to Duke.. DUKE decided to show UP, there at The Renton Bridal Boutique, at the very next opportunity..
While Lyndsay continued to look at, and contemplate, a few modestly priced dresses.. Duke looked at slightly more expensive ones.. All At ONCE, HE Found ONE, HE LIKED!! And he quietly told Gail: “IF I recommend this dress to Lyndsay, SHE won’t like it, BUT, it’s TOO NICE, to NOT Mention it..”
Sure ENOUGH, Lyndsay’s First Reaction was: “OH!! NO!! I don’t like that dress..” Both Duke & Gail said: “PLEASE, just try it on..” THEN: THIS LYNDSAY, THIS BEAUTIFUL DAUGHTER, Walked out of the Dressing Room, In THAT Dress, LOOKING LIKE: A PRINCESS!! AND THREE PEOPLE, Had TEARS In Their EYES!! Unashamedly!!
Because: T H E W E D D I N G D R E S S , had been FOUND!!
I wish someone had gotten a picture of my Dad and Al who were both at the bottom of the stage. They were helping the lady's get on the stage without tripping on their dress. It was so fun to see my Dad's face as I walked down the aisle for the second time. The crazy thing was it was exact 23 years after I had walked down the aisle the first time. We were married on May 8th...the day before Mother's Day. Of course this year the date of our anniversary landed on Mother's Day, but this was the actual day of the year when we were married.
All of us ladies in our beautiful dresses!
They called the younger girls to come up and join us ladies and they each were given a flower of their own. It was so precious!
And maybe just maybe one day this beautiful girl will wear that dress down the aisle as well. It's totally okay if she doesn't though. We'll have blast find her very own dress if that's what she wants!
Since I was going up on stage and needed to squeeze into my dress I did not want to risk it and eat too much. So after the fashion show portion was over I was finally able to enjoy the food.
Love this picture of 3 generations of ladies!
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