Upstaged by K’s first day of school, my wedding anniversary skulked quietly in the background this past Wednesday. M was way more on the ball than I was and presented me with a fragrant bouquet. Realizing my slacker ways, I struck a deal with some friends and scored a sleepover for K so that M and I could have a proper celebration involving a fancy dinner and entertaining movie at the cinema tonight.
I often wonder if I would have made my own wedding dress if I’d gotten into sewing earlier. It was an arduous process, the finding of my dress. M and I were pretty much eloping (only parents and a couple of siblings were in attendance), so I didn’t want to invest heavily in a garment that I would (hopefully) only wear once. I was, as ever, extremely picky, and knew that the dress couldn’t be pure white. Nor did I want it sweeping the floor. No ruffles or petticoats or lace for me, thankyouverymuch. Simple. Classic. That’s what I wanted.
After weeks of fruitless searching, I entered a boutique I’d never dared to browse before — too many temptations, too out of my price range. It’s the kind of place that has on display only one or two sizes of each item. And there it was:Â my dress. A creamy ivory silk number, the straps delicately filigreed with sapphire blue beads and minuscule pearls.
I eagerly slipped into the fitting room and shimmied myself into the whisper soft layers. Not bad, not bad, the waist hit at just the right spot. But oh, when I reached to zip up the side, the zipper teeth refused to meet. I tugged gently, afraid to tear the tissue thin lining. No. It was too small. I was heartbroken, but I convinced myself that it was a good thing since it was ridiculously expensive, though not in the astronomical range.
A few more weeks passed, and I still couldn’t find a dress I liked, much less loved. I couldn’t get that silk dress out of my head. I was running out of time, and I was desperate enough to consider a slightly weird polyester sheath from Marshall’s since I figured I might as well seriously downgrade if I couldn’t get the dress I wanted.
I’m a masochist and decided to look at the silk dress one more time. Just a look. Nothing more. But it wasn’t there and doubly crushed, I was about to leave, but something made me stop. “Do you still have the ivory silk dress with the beaded straps?” I asked the kindly looking staff. “Oh! We just put that on sale — here, let me get it for you.” My dress, with a beautiful red slash on the price tag — half off! I had been dieting as brides-to-be tend to do, and maybe, just maybe…the zipper slid right up. I mean really, it seemed too good to be true. Not one to kick a gift horse in the mouth, I snapped it up, and nine years later, I’m still certain that it was the perfect dress.
It’s a Wyeth by Todd Magill (from the Spring 05 collection), who is now a menswear designer. Too bad, his dresses were ethereal and so lovely. This is probably the only designer frock that I’ll ever own, and it was worth every penny (35,000 of them to be exact). Maybe next year, I’ll show you what it looked like on, and I might tell you the whole wedding story. It’s pretty hilarious. Spoiler: M wore jeans.
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Me: What kind of person do you want to marry, sweetie?
K: What? Why?
Me: Just wondering…I mean, you don’t HAVE to get married or anything (getting flustered that I’m imposing societal pressures on my 8-year-old)
K: [rolling her eyes] Someone like you and Daddy. Now can I please go back to reading Diary of a Wimpy Kid?
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Have a wonderful weekend, friends!
Nine years of marriage
It feels like just yesterday
when I said, “I do”
Happy anniversary, Sanae! As always, you have the best stories to accompany your celebration. Your dress looks stunning, and you HAVE to post a wedding picture . . . do we really have to wait a whole year? I had the same criteria as you: no lace, frills or poufs. Found a picture in a magazine and enlisted my talented mom to make it for me. 21 years later, I no longer fit it (just like you – that dang zipper!) but I love its simplicity and classic design.
Also, so glad you and M had an evening out to celebrate – yay for taking time for date night! In the busyness of your life right now, a mid-week respite was a probably much needed. So next year is the big milestone 10th anniversary . . . any plans for how to celebrate?:)
That’s wonderful that your mom made your wedding dress! I hope to do that for K one day (or maybe she’ll make her own!). I was afraid that I would end up with a hot pink gown with rows and rows of lace if I let my mom try her hand at it…;-) We haven’t been able to think that far in advance for our 10th wedding anniversary, but I’m sure we’ll do the exact same thing we do every year. 🙂
Happy anniversary! Hope you have a great night. What beautiful flowers with a dress-hunting story, but seriously you are leaving us hanging for one year for the wedding chapter?!
Thank you, Jing! Our night was very mellow since we were both pretty zonked from our busy schedules. And ha, you’ll have to wait for the full story!
Happy Anniversary Sanae. As usual, what a lovely story you have. I hope you had a good celebration
Thank you, Asmita! M and I had a very low key and fun night together!
Happy anniversary! It is a beautiful dress! I am sure you looked beautiful.
I think K.’s answer to your question is the most sensible one, just whoa… hold your horses! My daughter who is 8 went through a period when she was concerned about who she was going to marry, it was around the age of four, but now she seems to have forgotten about it. We had some funny discussions about it.
Aw, thanks Max!
And too true about K’s answer…she has practically a lifetime before she has to even think about that stuff!
Happy Anniversary to you and M!! That’s a gorgeous dress and even at the full price of 70,000 pennies would have been worth each one.
Have a fantastic weekend and I hope the first week of 3rd grade went smoothly.
I seriously considered that 70,000 pennies, Alana, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it. 3rd grade has been great so far (all three days of it!) 🙂
Beautiful choice and and even more wonderful story! Though I’ll admit I read it as 35,000 DOLLARS and almost stroked out. Enjoy celebrating!!
Ha!! That made me laugh – I can’t even imagine a $35,000 dress! Although I just finished reading Crazy Rich Asians, and in that world, that would be bargain basement 🙂 Thank you, Abby S.
Oh Sanae I love all of your posts but this one in particular was extra special. Dan and I also got married with only a few people in attendance! You really don’t hear that often. We still feel that it was such a great decision. I never got to be princess for a day and that was a-ok with me! ;). Your dress is/was amazing! I hope you do share photos of yourself in it someday. And whenever I ask my girls about marriage I get a similar response – and feeling just like you did! So funny! Enjoy your big night out! Happy anniversary!
Oh, I love that, Rachel! Around the time M proposed to me, a slew of my friends got married and shuttling from one big wedding after another (I was a bridesmaid in a few), and though the ceremonies were beautiful, I realized that I just wanted a simple event involving no fanfare. We don’t regret our decision at all either!
Oh! Happy aniversary! The dress is amazing! We had a very special wedding three years ago at the city hall with our children next to us. I love when we remember that day alltogether.
That sounds so lovely, Idoia! One of my closest friends got married when her son turned one, and he was the cutest ring bearer in the history of ring bearers.
Happy Anniversary! Thanks for sharing your beautiful dress. Mine had a full skirt with beautiful cutwork, and I had it cut off the bodice and made into a Christmas tree skirt so I get to enjoy it in the beautiful light of the tree every year. For such beautiful dresses they need to be enjoyed and appreciated. :o)
Your dress sounds gorgeous, Beccy, and how ingenious to make it into a Christmas tree skirt! I love it!!
haha add me to the short list of people that thought you were saying your dress was $35,000! woops! i’m glad it wasn’t, for your savings account’s sake. and to think i was a finance major…
happy happy anniversary! that dress is so beautiful, definitely worth every PENNY and i’m sure you looked gorgeous in it. we had a big 240 person wedding (which i loved – it was a party! lots of dancing!) but toward the end of planning it i had moments of wishing we’d just hopped on a plane to hawaii with immediate family and close friends. would’ve been so much easier. 😉
Oh, I thought the big weddings were tremendously fun, but I enjoyed being a guest and not having to plan one ;-). I just become too much of a stress case when planning big events and Bridezilla was in my DNA for sure. 🙂 Our “wedding” was so easy and perfect for us!
Happy belated anniversary, Sanae! Both the flowers and your dress are stunning! I had 650 people at my wedding dinner, in true Chinese style! I didn’t even know everyone at the dinner. But we had a lovely, much smaller church service which was very special.
Whoa, 650 people! That’s an epic wedding, Fiona! How amazing to have experienced both ends of the spectrum!
Happy Belated anniversary!
That dress is stunning! My husband & I eloped after three days of dating. We both wore jeans. One of the first few questions my mom asked me was, ” did you at least wear a dress?” In the whirlwind of events, it didn’t even cross my mind.
That’s awesome, Molly! Somehow your comment slipped past me, but I want to hear more! Marriage after three days of knowing each other has to be full of interesting tidbits ;-)!!