The Most Fateful Day

Hunt for the Dress

*Courtney's POV*

"Don't you think it's time you try on what you have already?" asks the woman following us around in an angry tone. Her name is Randi. My mom, Aunt Rebekah, Heather, Bridgette, and I all have like a hundred dresses each. They all throw the dresses at me and Randi shoves me into a dressing room. I almost collapse under the weight of all the gowns. I manage to hang them all on the dressing room hooks and reach for the first one to try on. It's a sleeveless, sleek, silk white gown that's floor length and has fabric flowers sticking out from the waist down. Heather must've picked this one out. I slide it on and barely am able to zip it up. As I walk out to reveal it to the girls, I can feel it compressing my breasts down and squeezing my stomach. It feels like wearing a corset... Randi sucks in her breath once she sees me and shakes her head. The rest of them are smiling shyly.

"Too tight?" I say in a raspy voice. They nod and I head back in. Once I close the door behind me, I unzip the dress and breathe out in relief. It was pretty, but it doesn't work for my body shape. The next one is a wispy lavender gown. The sleeves are off the shoulder and it's in layers that make it puff out. I zip it up and think, At least I can breathe in it! I step out and they gasp.

"It's so gorgeous!" breathes Aunt Rebekah. "Definitely my favorite."

"Well, it is the one you picked out," I reply, putting my hands on my hip.

"Court, you look amazing!" says Heather, clapping.

"More than amazing," exclaims Mom. "Absolutely beautiful as always."

"Thank you! I'll put it to the side as a maybe..." I say, turning back towards the dressing room.

"It's pretty, but what are you wedding colors?" asks Randi, giving me a speculative look.

"Off white cream, olive green, and deep lilac."

     "Hmm..." contemplates Randi, tapping her index finger on her chin as she looks me over.  I walk back into the dressing room to try on the next one. 

     After trying on literally one hundred ninety nine dresses, I've begun to sweat.  I never realized how much of a work out trying on dresses was!  You'd think out of all those, one would work perfectly, but no!  There's only like a handful of maybes off to the side.  I really want the dress I wear on my wedding day to make me feel good.  Also, I could really go for some food right now.  Oh, and coffee!  I wipe my face with my hands and get ready to try on yet another dress.  I reach my hand over to the next one and I realize it's the last one.  I take it off the hanger and slip it on.  It's off white cream, just like one of my wedding colors!  The sleeves are off the shoulder and they're sort of puffed out like the sleeves on the dresses worn by Disney princesses. It hugs my torso in a way that's enough to accentuate my curves and be able to breathe easily. The dress flairs out at the waist and it drapes down to the floor. In the main silky cream fabric, there's a swirly gold pattern that starts at the waist and ends with the dress at the bottom. Over that, there's another layer that flairs at the waist that is a sheer gold fabric and ends halfway to the bottom of the dress. It feels right. I take a deep breath and step out. Each of the girls let out a gasp, even Randi.

"OH MY GOD!" exclaims Heather. Her face is frozen in shock, along with the others.

"Oh, Courtney!" Mom exclaims. She jumps up and examines me in the dress closer. "You look absolutely, positively stunning."

"That is the prettiest dress I've seen today, by far!" adds Bridgette, giving me two big thumbs up.

"That's definitely better than any of the other ones you tried on, but of course it's your decision," says Randi, smiling as she admires me in the dress.

"Darling, if that isn't the one, I don't know if there'd be one." says Aunt Rebekah.

I stand in front of the line of mirrors and twirl. My face lights up and a smile appears. I turn to the group again. "I think this is the one." I breathe. "No, I know that this is the one for me!" They all clap and cheer. All their comments are making me blush! I'm sure Duncan will love this dress just as much as I do.

After admiring myself in the mirror for many more minutes, I head back into the dressing room. I very carefully take off the dress and hang it back up. Happily, I put my own outfit back on, jeans, cream blouse, and converse. Randi takes the rejects to a separate rack to be sorted through and put back on the original shelves. Mom, Aunt Rebekah, Heather, Bridgette, and I all excitedly talk about the wedding and the dress until Randi comes back to help me checkout the dress and find a veil to go with it. We go through many veils, but I decide on a simple one that's sheer cream with gold sparkles paired with a small matching tiara hair piece.

"Thank you for choosing the Bridal Shop and I'll have the ensemble here for your pick up in a week from today!" says Randi, handing me a receipt. "Hope you have a wonderful wedding day!"

"Thank you so much, Randi!" I say. We wave and walk out the door.

"Remember Courtney," says my mom. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything else!"

"I won't," I reply. "See you soon!"

Heather, Bridgette, and I give out hugs to my mother and Aunt Rebekah and say our goodbyes before parting. As I get in the car, I glance at the receipt. Wow, that was expensive. Hopefully it'll all be worth it! I'm sure it will though!