Hi there! It’s me, Peggy, popping in again. We’re now at Minus 4 months and counting ‘til the big day arrives… June 30th, the day our daughter Kelly and her fiancé James are being married here at Castle Farms in Charlevoix. I’m proud to be a member of the Castle Farms staff and I love my position as Gift Shop and Tour Director. And with so many weddings here at the Castle, I’m thrilled to finally be Mother-Of-The-Bride!
In my last blog, I told you about shopping for Kelly’s wedding dress. This time, I thought I’d share my experience about shopping for the dress I’ll be wearing when my husband Dennis walks our Kelly down the aisle. I knew I wanted something subtle yet sophisticated, and I’ve been looking for just the right dress ever since Kelly and James announced their engagement. I love shopping local, but unfortunately, I still hadn’t found the dress of my dreams by the time Dennis and I boarded our plane and headed out west for a family Christmas in Seattle. Big city, big stores! Surely I would find the perfect dress.
Kelly and I went to a large mall which featured a famous upscale department store. I headed immediately for the Nicer Dresses section. The saleswoman who worked with me was extremely helpful and encouraged me to try on a variety of different dresses. One of them was absolutely perfect but the store only had it in black, and I’m not about to wear black to my daughter’s wedding! No worries, the saleswoman assured me. The dress came in three other colors. She quickly wrote up the order for the same dress in my size in all three colors, which she promised they would ship to our house in Michigan. I could try them on in the comfort of my own home, decide which color worked best for me and my skin tone, then return the other two dresses… all with free shipping! Sold! I hauled out my credit card.
But naturally, there’s more to the story (you know how we women can be). The next day, Kelly and I just happened to be at a different mall (Seattle truly is a shopping mecca of the northwest!). Since we were already there, we decided to take advantage of the opportunity and ventured into another fashionable department store… where I discovered another dress which perfectly matched the color scheme of Kelly’s wedding. Unfortunately, the dress didn’t come in my size. No problem, the saleswoman said. They could ship the dress in two different sizes to my home address in Michigan where I could determine which one fit best. It was hard to resist. I loved the dress, and they’d offered me the same enticing offer which the other store had that clinched the deal: free shipping.
Dennis and I literally beat the five dresses home by mere days. After trying them all on and modeling them for Dennis, I eventually picked the one I’ll be wearing to Kelly’s wedding. Then I shipped the others back. If I had to do it all over again, I wouldn’t change a thing. The dresses were all very reasonably priced, and who can argue when it comes to free shipping? Certainly not me, and certainly not Dennis. I found a real beauty of a bargain while shopping in Seattle. A few of our area salons had gorgeous dresses, but they would have had to be ordered and couldn’t be returned. So in the end, my Seattle shopping excursion turned out to be the very best deal. Things are looking up! Kelly has her bridal gown and I have my Mother-of-The-Bride dress. And as for Dennis? Men have it easy. He’s wearing a tux.