My dear friend, and seamstress, displays the dress. She's holding it near the flowers I sent to her to thank her for her work. The flowers matched my wedding bouquet. (click image for larger view)My back injury prevented me from spending a lot of time at this desk, and then, my husband came into town for a 4 day visit.
Back to the pre-wedding story.
So, P, my friend who ended up making the dress, did not set out to make the dress herself!
I had done some shopping on line, and had found that the dresses I liked were way outside of my budget, which was basically very, very small.
My income barely gets me by!! Much less provides any extra for something as extravagant as a wedding!!
P suggested I have a dress made, and she assured me that, as expensive as that idea SOUNDS, it would probably end up being less costly than a dress that was already made.
So, P helped me find a pattern, and she helped me find fabric....and she had a friend from church whose MOM was supposed to do the sewing for much less than I would spend for a pre-made dress of similar style.
I wanted something sort of vintage looking, since my engagement ring is from the 1920's.
Anyway, this friend of P's from her church, with the seamstress mom, left P's emails unanswered for too long.
As June 12th arrived (T-minus 30 days from the wedding!), we still had no confirmation! As far as we knew, there was no one to do the job.
In desperation, P said "I will make the dress myself!"
She said this, because I had counted on her friend to come through for me.
I had not ordered a dress on line. I had not found ANYTHING I liked in stores. I needed someone to make me something.
And, I needed someone to start NOW!
(aside: P FINALLY heard from her friend from church about 2 weeks AFTER she said she would just make the dress herself...which was then 2 weeks before the wedding. The response was "No, my mom doesn't have time." Gee, thanks for letting us know!!)
What a huge responsibility this was!
Not only was she going to make my dress, but she had also planned a henna party for the night before the wedding! She had sent out invitations, and had hired a henna artist, and was taking all of that on, in lieu of a "shower."
Her wedding gift to me was the henna party...so I assured her that I would pay her, if only with massage sessions, for making the dress.
My heart swelled with appreciation for all she was doing!
The dress process went along without a hitch after P took the job. I was SO relieved!
So, I had decided on what I wanted to carry for flowers when we selected the fabric for my dress.
The dark chocolate background was a faux "burn out" type of fabric, sheer in places, opaque in places. Upon the background, as mentioned in my last post, were colors.
The colors take the vague shape of flowers and ribbons. There is sage green, tiger lily orange, and royal purple. The orange is in the actual shape of tiger lilies, so that was what I had hoped to carry. Tiger lilies are a popular summertime flower in this part of the country.
Since I only needed one bouquet, one small nosegay to use as the "throw away," something for my hair, and a boutineer, I did not bother to make an appointment with a florist.
My logic was that they can make a bouquet on short notice when you call and order something for a friend in the hospital or whatever. This would not be an order much larger than that. Not very complicated!!!
I decided I would just walk in to the florist that is closest to home, and make arrangements a week or so before the wedding.
On July 5th, after work (T-minus 8 days), I went to said florist shop. I was greeted at the door by a very rude woman, who was outside sweeping.
She was not a clueless teenager, but she acted like one.
Without any smile, or sign of courtesy or even interest, she asked, in a very flat voice, "Can I help you?"
She instantly made me feel as if my presence was a SUPREME inconvenience.
I had, apparently, interrupted a critical sweeping mission....or something.
I wanted to say , "I don't know, CAN you help me?" but I refrained.
I stepped into the shop, and she followed me. I could see three other employees through a window to the back room. They were leaning on a counter, talking and laughing.
I said, with a smile, "I need to talk to someone about a small wedding."
She did not smile. She did not behave professionally.
She rolled her eyes, and said "Oh, you can't just come in here and talk to someone about a wedding. (she actually sneered at me here) You need an appointment."
She reached for a 3 ring binder and opened it. "When is good for you?"
I said, "Well, actually, NOW is good for me, because all I need to do is talk to someone. I have a question or two."
"NO, didn't you hear me? I said you can't talk to anyone without an appointment! When is good for you?" (she was almost, but not quite, raising her voice)
She was amazingly rude and unprofessional.
As I mentioned before, there were three employees in the back room, being paid to stand around talking. I could not understand why I could not just talk to someone about a wedding.
Maybe one of them needed something to DO...you know.... to actually earn what she was being paid to stand around gossiping!!
So, I responded: "Like I said, now is good for me. I'm here now, and I need to talk to someone. Do you mean to tell me that I can't even ask a question? All I need is one bouquet! It's a very small affair!"
"ONE? (another obvious and insulting sneer WITH a rolling of the eyes!) Well, why didn't you say so?" and before I could defend myself to the beeotch, she had shut the binder with a loud thud, had made a "tisk" sound with her tongue, and was storming toward the back room in disgust.
She slammed her way through the swinging door into the back room, where the other women were still chatting.
I saw her go in and talk to them, she pointed out to me, and everyone turned to look.
I smiled and waved, still trying to be friendly, happy, and courteous!
A different woman came out to greet me, through a different door. The first woman came through the door she had used, took up her broom again, and went back outside to continue her critical sweeping mission.
God save any OTHER customers who might interrupt her, I thought.
Well, the second woman was NO BETTER!
She did not smile.
She did not greet me.
She merely came out of the back, leaned her hands on the counter, and looked at me, head cocked.
I said. "Hi." She continued to just look at me.
I said ....finally with an edge to my voice...."OK then! If it's not too much trouble, I'd like to order a few flowers for a very small wedding on July 12th."
She took out and order form, and took my order, grudgingly.
Tiger lilies are not GROWN for FLORISTS (she presented this information as if I were the world's stupidest person). Would an orange lily do?
Yes, that's fine.
We chose ribbon.
I chose one single purple rose to represent my parents (the purple rose is called "silver" by floral enthusiasts, and the silver rose has meaning in my family).
We ironed out details.
Never did she smile.
Never did she suggest anything useful.
She took my money.
She handed me my order slip, and told me what time the flowers would be ready on the wedding day.
No smile. Ever. During our entire encounter.
No thank yous.
No courtesy.
She merely turned, swung back through her door, and went back to gossiping.
If I had not really needed the flowers to come from a place close to home, making it easy for me to go pick them up myself the morning of the wedding, I would never have proceeded after the first woman treated me like crap.
But, I felt like I was a bit trapped. I needed this place of business to help make my wedding day less stressful....but they sure were NOT very happy do to so!
NEVER, and I do mean NEVER.... will I do business with them again! Anyone googling Phillips flowers on Main St. in Lombard may read this and decide the same thing. I hope.
The end result was beautiful, because flowers are beautiful.... but I was treated like SHIT!!!
Ultimately, my sister offered to come over on the wedding day to help me get ready, which I had not even thought about asking her to do....and she went and did the flower pick up for me, bless her.
Anyway....I had planned to include in this post some stuff about the henna party, and the story of why I asked my ex father in law to walk me down the aisle, but this post is already long enough, I think.
I will save the rest for next time!
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