Wedding Dresses

A few years ago, I was at the Gap trying on dresses to wear to the wedding of my (at the time) boyfriend's friend. The zipper on a particular dress was stuck when my phone rang. Letting the dress hang on me, I answered the phone to find a good friend from Connecticut on the other end. We hadn't talked in a while and when she asked me what I was up to I replied, "Oh just trying on wedding dresses." There was a shrill squeal coming from Connecticut that I could almost hear without the help of my phone. "Who is he? Where did you meet him? How long have you been together because it couldn't have been too long..." 

"Connecticut! I'm not trying on wedding dresses, I'm trying on dresses to wear to a wedding."

"Oh, well, that's fun too."

The impossible search for the perfect dress to wear to a wedding is one I have endured many times. When you're lucky enough to be a bridesmaid, you have your dress, (usually) your shoes, and sometimes even your jewelry picked out for you. If you're really lucky, the bride even takes care of making sure your hair and/or make-up look pretty. These weddings are the easiest in the world to go to as a single friend. Not only are you there to support a very good friend on a very important day, but you usually look hot in a (again, if you're lucky) pretty dress and have jobs to keep you busy during the slow songs. At Last comes on and suddenly you notice the bride needs some water. Let's Stay Together starts playing and candles need to be lit. The DJ decides What a Wonderful World now needs to be heard and the bride's mother needs help putting gifts in the honeymoon suite. There's always a job to be done!

When you are getting ready to go to a wedding that requires nothing more of you than showing up, looking presentable, and with a gift in hand, the dress shopping becomes more difficult. Perhaps it is a maturing mentality, maybe a committed relationship, or maybe a new baby, but as many of my friends have moved ahead with their lives as married ladies, their clothing has changed to reflect their new status. There is no question that they are beautiful, successful women, but there is also no doubt they are going to go home a man they adore. The single (and when I use the term "single", I mean no attachments) women are always dressed a little differently. 

Weddings, like any other party, are opportunities for single people to meet, make fun of their married friends, and drink free alcohol. They are also occasions to make first impressions. The dress you wear can make all the difference in the world.