Mothers ~ Daughters ~ Sisters

We settle into the car for the drive to Reno, Mike's Mom Jan and Shelley in the front seat, me in the back...we were on our way to a big day in the life of the future Mrs. Shelley Ferguson-Kelly. It is lightly snowing as we head out of town, but the sun is peaking through the clouds. We arrived at the rendezvous location for lunch with everyone, Dandelion Cafe', and saw the "Closed on Sat/Sun" sign posted on the door. So we waited for everyone else to arrive and then headed a few blocks over to PJ's instead. By the time we were seated we are now 8. Shelley, her Mom Wendy, sister Amanda, future sister-in-law Lauren, future sister-in-law Toby, her daughter 8year old Kayla and myself. We had a great lunch, with incredible carrot cake, thanks to Amanda who thought to ask "do you guys have any dessert?", and fueled up and satisfied we headed off for Shelley's scheduled appointment at David's Bridal.

We walked in the door and the fairy tale feelings start to take hold. The dresses in the window have everyone ohhhh and ahhhhhing, and we settle in while Shelley and Wendy go over to the desk to check in. They look through the choices that she had made online and also their large catalog to see if there are others that she would like to start with, and then they assign us a 'Bridal Consultant'. We head for the shoe department, first stop before dresses, so that she can pick out the heel height of what she will be wearing. All of us have our comments to assist her........'remember it is going to be in grass', ' you don't want a spiky heel do you', 'those don't look very comfortable' , 'are you sure you don't just want flip flops' and Shelley takes it all in stride, she has already made up her mind, but let's us all join in......and manages to keep a smile the whole time.

Into the dressing room she goes, Wendy assisting her, while the rest of us settle into the most incredibly comfortable seats and ottomans that they have for you. No need to worry about us having so many people, seems like the other two women trying on dresses have as many people with them, if not more.

And then ..................out she steps from the dressing room, up onto the platform....and a princess is born. Wow...........most of us have either had the amazingly wonderful feeling of either being with someone who is wedding dress shopping, or actually being the Mother of the Bride. It still does not prepare you for when someone you love with all your heart walks out from behind the door and steps up onto the platform with a dress that holds all the promise of the future. I gaze at her and see the same young woman that walked through 8th grade graduation arm and arm with my Sara, the same young woman that kept me calm without even knowing it, when storms surrounded me at different times in my life, the same young woman that giggled half the night away down the hall, the same young woman that accompanied me to the most incredible concert I think I have ever been too, and yes, the same young woman that will now marry the young man that I have had the pleasure of watching mature also. She is BEAUTIFUL!!!!! But this is just the first dress...............we all agree that she looks absolutely beautiful, but the dress is to large, they didn't have it in her size, and off she goes behind door # 32 to try on another. The second one is also amazing, but it is not right in her eyes, and she goes back in for the third............this is where the WOW moment happened. Out she steps, and all 7 of us in unison "Oh My!!! That's IT" "Do you love it?", "It makes your skin look like you are a porcelain doll", "I can't believe how beautiful you are" (well, yes we can, but the words have to be spoken so she realizes it with all her heart), "What do you call that color?" we ask Sierra, our consultant, and the color is Champagne! Bubbly filled with enthusiasm and just the right amount of elegance and spark ~ Just like Shelley! The dress is covered in beads of silver and taupe and a silky bow gathers it all in the back. Next comes the veil and tiara, and we all prance around her like the fairy maiden assistants we are, she is overwhelmingly beautiful. Everyone agrees, this is the dress..........we all love it, but that is only a very small part of what is important as you all know.............Shelley loves it........and that is the key. She is glowing. Shelley, our slightly shy and reserved on the outside, incredibly vivacious ~ funny ~ loving ~ intelligent ~ sparkly~ sincere ~ women on the inside, has found her dress. She places the shoes she has chosen on to see how the heel works, and then we all just stand in awe. Camera's snapping, total strangers commenting how beautiful she looks, we are comparing the color swatches that Amanda has been creatively designing her invitations with alongside to see if they match well, yes..........it is another ahhhhh moment. Looking back now I see us as the birds that swirl around the princess in the Disney movies, tying the bow, fixing her hair, primping ~ primping ~ primping.

But it is back to the room..................We all want her to be absolutely sure that this is the right dress. Or, I guess you could also say that we are having such a good time that we don't want her to stop. She tries on a couple more, we are now only going for the champagne or gold colors, but only one has the honor of a possible "2nd Choice". So we all pipe up, ok, let's see the favorite again now. Amanda and Wendy are both in the room by this point, and out she steps in the "1st Choice" again. Yep, we are sure, are you sure Shelley? and she agrees. It feels wonderful, it just feels right............................the phone rings.........I am looking all around thinking "who's phone is that". It is Shelley's hanging in her coat on the back of the chair I am sitting in. We don't get it in time, and the message reads, Missed Mike, then the other phone rings, Jan answers, by now I am up taking more pics, and Jan says, "It is Mike, and he says he has something really important to tell you" She takes the phone from Jan, and withing seconds her face lights up, slight tears in her eyes.........."I've been accepted" to grad school...the letter that is supposed to arrive in mid-April is in Mike's hands. More pics, more hugs, more congratulations all around.......

It was a magical day. The dress is now tucked away in Amanda's closet ~ far from any prying eyes. I won't be posting pics of the actual dress here, don't really know who might be peaking. But I will forward them to Sara to post on the girls blog.

It was a day filled with Mother's ~ Sister's & Daughters. It was a day of magic. And I thank you Shelley, with all my heart, for letting me be a part of it. luvyasu.