Chapter 55 Pt. 1: All Dressed in Love

*ZOEY'S POV*

"This isn't outside, is it?" I ask Amy as we are driving closer to a location she is saying would be perfect for the wedding.

It's been about four months and time is running out, so we need to pick a venue.

"It's not outside, trust me.  I remember it from when I was looking at places with Bec." she assures me.

As we continue down the road, I start wondering.  All I see is beach.  I really don't want a beach wedding.

"I swear, I think it's right over here..." Amy starts pointing out the window.

"Just tell me when to stop." I say.

"THERE IT IS!" She yells and points across my face.  I look over and see a tiny wedding chapel.

As we get out of the car, I look over at a tiny brick wedding chapel...hmm, this definitely has potential.

"What do you think?" Amy asks as we walk inside.

"Awww, this is beautiful!" I can't help but gush.

There are chairs, an alter, simple candle lighting...this will definitely work.

The reception area is outdoors, which I could do without, but the only place in town that has an indoor reception area is huge and has a huge down payment - so that's a no.

"Oh wow!  They have tables already set up for everything!" I observe looking at the reception area.

"Yeah, they do all kinds of parties, but they specialize in weddings." Amy tells me, reading from a pamphlet.

We look around a little longer and the more I see, the more convinced I am that this is the perfect place to get married.

"You rock, bff!" I compliment Amy.

She shrugs it off, "Eh, it's cool...so we can check that off our list.  Now on to more important things..."

I look at her curiously, "What's that?"

"Your hair and dress." she answers.

I gulp.  I have been meaning to hit the gym so I can lose weight and fit into a wedding dress, but I haven't had the time, "I'm not ready...I still want to lose some weight..."

Amy gives me a look, "the dresses are all big anyway, they take them in and make adjustments all the time.  You can try one on that looks good now and then when you have your fittings they can take it in if you need them to."

I groan.  I really despise shopping and to be honest I haven't been able to decide what kind of dress I want.  I have been scouring bride magazines and all I can find are sleeveless, which I don't want because I freeze, and if they do have sleeves they are based on Victorian or Medieval times, which I certainly don't want.

"Come on," Amy coaxes me, "let's just go look, you don't have to try anything on."
"Uh-huh, sure..." I say, disbelieving her.  I know when we get in there, she's going to want me to try something on.

The first place we find is a pretentious bridal shop that advertises makeover consultations for brides-to-be.

We go in and I am overwhelmed by the scents of roses and musk and the sights of white taffeta.  Oh lordy.  A bubbly blonde woman walks up to us, "Can I help you?"

"We were wanting to look at wedding dresses," I tell her.

She squeals, "Oh!  Who is the lucky lady?"

Amy smiles and replies, "She is." gesturing to me as if she's Vanna White and I'm a vowel.

"Well, you are in luck," blonde woman tells me, "Kelley, our personal stylist is here and will help you out.  Have you thought about hair and makeup ideas?" 

I shake my head.  I typically run from makeup...and hairstyles...my hair is generally uncooperative, as has been previously discussed.

"Wonderful!  Let me go get him!" She scurries off and we are left to our own devices.

Eventually, I hear the sound of a much more masculine voice than I would expect to come out of a Kelley.

"Zoey?  Are you Zoey?" he calls out.

I timidly raise my hand.  New people freak me out and this new person is going to be helping me to pick out a dress.

He throws his hands up in the air and greets me, "Great!  I'm Kelley, I'm going to be your stylist.  Why don't you come this way, we'll go to my station and talk about what you're looking for."

"Wait, my best friend can come too, right?" I ask.  There's no way I'm picking out all this without her input.

"Of course!  Come on, sweetie!" He grabs her hand and mine and we damn near skip to his station.  Damn, I need some of what he's on.

"Hop up there, honey," he gestures to a pedestal in front of a mirror.  Yeah, this isn't unnerving at all.

"When are you getting married sweetie?" He asks.

"A few months," I tell him, "I want to get some weight off before then..."

"Perfect!  We'll find a dress that looks great on you now and you will be ecstatic come wedding time when you squeeze your smaller tush into your dress!" He tells me excitedly, "So, what were we thinking?"

"I'm not really sure," I tell him, "I want something preferably with sleeves, but I would like something a little more unique...maybe with a little color in it."

"What does best friend think?" he asks Amy.

"Anything she wants, honestly.  Sleeves, a touch of color..." she replies.

"Hmm," he puts one hand on his hip and taps his mouth with a finger from the other hand, "We might have some things that fit that description.  Why don't you give me a twirl honey."

I spin around a couple times as he watches, apparently taking notes in his head and making me slightly uncomfortable.

As I catch glimpses of myself in the mirror I worry how I am going to look in a wedding dress...

"What were you thinking about your hair?" He asks.

"I haven't a clue," I confess, "I don't have much to work with."

"Shoot honey, that's what extensions are for!  We'll put some temporary ones in for today...are you thinking an up-do? Or something long and luxurious?  We can do it all here!"

He must be good at what he does because I feel more comfortable talking to him.  

"I'm not really sure..." I tell him.

"Okay, let's try up first...I've got a hair piece you just clip in the back that would look great on you..."

The big bouffant hair piece feels like it weighs a ton and he poofs up my bangs and lays them straight across to give them a little different look...I don't know how I feel about it.

"Wow," I comment.

"You like?" He asks.

"Um...I don't know..." I reply.  I try to look at Amy but I have trouble moving my head.

She's twisting her face in deep though, "I don't think you need all that on your head.  It looks like a pet."

"Let's go with something a little simpler," he says as he takes off.

This look might be simpler, but it takes longer.  There are several pieces that clip all over my head and a huge hairpiece that looks like a big mess until he curls and pins it up.  I have to say it looks pretty, but damn these clips have major headache potential.

"What about this one?"

Just crinkling my forehead in thought is pulling at the clips making my scalp hurt.

"How many bobby pins did that take?" Amy asks him.

"Oh, only about fifty or so." he replies.

FIFTY?!

"Let's try something else..." I tell him.

Next he comes at me with a big ball of hair with a veil attached...wow, the illusion is lost!

He slicks my hair back and pins the bun in...yeah, this one is a no too.

Then he tries working with the hair I have, spiking it out and sticking big flowers in it...yeah, no.  I want something a bit more glamorous for my wedding.

He twists my hair up and amazingly makes it look like a big bun and that I have a lot more hair than I really do before putting a tiara on my head.

"Hmm..." I say.

He gets way too excited, "Do we like this one?" 

"What do you think, Amy?" I ask her.

"It's nice...I don't know about the twist, but I like the tiara.  How about you?" she replies.

"I like it more than I thought I would, but I think you're right about the bun.  Maybe we can try something longer?" I ask Kelley.

"Hmm, I have just the thing." he takes off and comes back with a wig.

"Now, this is just an example of what we would do for this.  We have some more permanent extensions we can put in for your actual wedding and then this hair piece goes over...with a little crown in the front...," he tells us as he works, and finally, "there!"

I see it and my heart skips a beat.  This is so pretty!

I can't help but beam.  I look over at Amy and using super psychic bff powers, I tell her I like it without saying a word.

She puts her hands to her face and gets misty, "Awwww, Z...this is it..."

"Yeah," I am getting damn near misty myself.

As we're having our moment, Kelley is having one of his own.  He does a few hand waves in front of his face to air his eyes out, "Perfect, this is perfect!"

Our happiness is short-lived though because we have to continue on with the dress.  Kelley comes with two sleeveless gowns with splashes of lilac and one with sleeves and no splash of color.

"This is what we have..." he says.

First I try on a flowy gown with a lilac sash, but it doesn't feel right...

Amy agrees, "It's really pretty...but...there's something..."

"Not right about it," I finish, "yeah, that's what I was thinking."

The next one is very unique with a huge collar and a plummeting neckline.

"How about this one ladies?" Kelley asks us.

"It just doesn't match the hair, I think that's what it is..." Amy says.

"Hmm, maybe..." I agree.

"Well, this next one I am sure will go perfectly with the hair..." Kelley says as he gets the next one.

It takes a little bit to get into it because I have to step in and be careful of the lace work...

But when I finally get to see myself in the mirror, I instantly love it.

"Now, this one doesn't have any color other than white...we can make it in an off-white...maybe eggshell..." Kelley rambles.

"No, it's perfect." I tell him.

The next thing he does is work on my makeup, which includes liquid eyeliner, fake eyelashes, a pound of skin makeup, threading my eyebrows (ouch!), and putting on a no-smudge lipstick with a shimmery gloss over the top.

Kelley stands back, admiring his work, "Girl, you definitely look like a bride now."

I have to admit I am amazed that Kelley could get me in my dress, hair, and makeup all in one afternoon, and damn, do I look good!

"Okay honey, take a walk around, work it for us..." Kelley instructs.

I step down off the pedestal praying I won't step on my dress and rip it.

I turn around and look at Amy.

She is looking at me, but she's not saying anything.

She puts her hand to her mouth and I think she might get misty again, "You look absolutely stunning."

"Really?" I ask her, unsure.

"Absolutely.  T is going to spaz when he sees you." She assures me.

I take a deep breath.

I've got the location, the dress, the groom...this wedding is really coming together.  It's exciting, but also terrifying.