Lookin' Swell, Dolly

Two Saturdays ago I woke up, and like a little kid on Christmas, couldn't go back to sleep.  I peeked out the window, and saw the mail lady at the bottom of our complex, filling up all the mail boxes with bills, letters, and magazines.  I watched the process intently, waiting for her to close the boxes and get on her way.  Finally she was done; she climbed in her mail truck and started driving up the hill towards our house. I sprang out of bed, threw on a sweatshirt, and bolted for the door. The doorbell rang, and I gave it a solid three seconds before I ripped the door open, hoping not to seem too eager.  The mail carrier, dressed in her standard mail blues, handed me the box, and I clutched at it. On the inside, I was thinking "MY PRECIOOOOUUUS," but on the outside, I was all smiles. 

"Do you have a really cool doll in there?" she asked me. 

"Uh," I said, wondering why she thought my package would have a doll (of all things) in it.  Then I realized: the package had a Dolly Couture label on it.

I laughed.  "No, it's actually my wedding dress," I told her as I resisted the urge to run inside, slam the door and tear the box open (which is exactly what I did about ten seconds after she walked away).

Once inside, I kicked Mr. Goodlaff out of the bedroom and began to open the box.

But here, we must pause.

Much better.   Onward we go...



 Open, open, open, I thought to myself.  (But instead I was a good blogger and I grabbed my camera to document the process.)



I couldn't believe that my wedding dress was buried under all the packing peanuts.  I wondered if half of it was missing because the box was so small. 

But it was all there!  Stuffed in an impossibly small garment bag, opening the zipper sent out an explosion of the tulle of my skirt.  I pulled it out and hung it up to get the full view of it.  Finally, when I could stand it no more, I pulled it on.

It felt amazing, and was so comfortable!  I danced around a bit, tried on my shoes, and after a half-hour of dress-up time, managed to stuff it back in the protective garment bag and leave the dress until later, when Mama Goodlaff would be able to lace me into the dress and we could see how it really fit.

Six hours later, at Casa Goodlaff:

First with heels,

Then with flats (and a little surprise!)

I really am quite pleased with how my custom-made Dolly Couture dress came out.  The skirt is a little too poofy at the top--so much so that I can't even fit through a doorway without smooshing the dress--but a visit to the seamstress will take care of that, and will allow Mr. Goodlaff and I to dance like adults and not like middle-schoolers on our wedding day.  Other than that, the dress is a done deal.

When I was a little girl, I wanted to be a ballerina (still haven't totally given up on that, yet).  If nothing else, I have a ballerina dress to wear on my wedding day!  The short dress was 100% the right way to go.  So, to you brides out there considering a short dress, I say, go for it!

I am so relieved to have my dress already.  My custom-made dress that was supposed to take 8-10 weeks got here in six, which is massively impressive.  Another thing crossed off the list. 

Time to accessorize!

What did you feel like the first time you had your wedding dress in-hand?