Free The Less Than Perfect Wedding by Sam Westland Page B

and gloom in the future. I really hoped that Judy's internal happiness wouldn't end up irrevocably altered.
    Thanks to a bit of online research, I learned that wedding dress shopping was not as simple as walking into the nearest bridal store and trying a few things off the rack; I had to call ahead and speak with a rather snooty woman with a fake-sounding British accent, setting up an appointment time. I had to let the woman know how many people would be in my party, the date of my wedding, and what price range I was looking to shop in for my dress; I felt as though I was applying for a credit card.
    Finally, the appointment was confirmed, and I quickly sent out a mass email to my mother, sister, Sally, Claire, and Judy to let them know the time and location. I received two confirmations (Judy and Sally), a list of "Helpful tips from the Internet on buying a wedding dress" (Claire, bless her heart), an all-caps rant about how this should be family only (thanks, Mom), and a badly misspelled complaint about why the shop had to be in my town, instead of closer to my parents' house (love you too, sis). I permitted myself one long, drawn-out sigh, and then closed my computer and tried not to think about the chaos that loomed ahead.
    On the day of my properly scheduled appointment, I swung by Claire's apartment to pick her up, and the two of us headed over to the store. I was aiming to arrive early, definitely not wanting to be the last person to arrive to my own shopping trip. We pulled up fifteen minutes early, only to find Sally waiting anxiously by the door, her giant binder clutched against her chest like a shield.
    "Hi, Sally," I greeted her. "Have you met Claire? She's my best friend, and maid of honor. Claire, this is Sally, my wedding planner."
    The two women shook hands, Sally still looking nervous and Claire giving her a smile, trying to put the poor woman at ease. I pulled open the door to the bridal shop, and we made our way inside.
    Inside the front room of the shop, the door had barely closed behind us before a tall, gaunt woman came bustling out from the back room, her face stuck in a perpetual sourpuss glare. "Yes, excuse me, can I help you?" she sighed in our general direction, looking frustrated that we had dared inconvenience her by entering.
    "Hi," I greeted her back, holding out my hand. "I'm Danielle - I have a wedding dress appointment in a few minutes?"
    The woman gave me another sigh, not even glancing down at my outstretched hand. After nearly fifteen seconds of her simply staring at me, she finally turned away, pulling out a large, rather disorganized looking appointment book from behind the counter, below the cash register. She flipped a couple pages, glanced up at me, back down at the book, and then finally closed the book and pushed it aside. "Yes, everything seems to be in order," she commented, still sounding rather grumpy.
    I exchanged looks with Claire, her rolling her eyes at me. "There are a few more people still on their way," I spoke up, when the woman didn't seem to be making any sort of further move to help us. "Can you check back in five minutes?"
    The woman looked at me, and then turned on her heel and headed off towards the back without commenting. "Wait!" Claire shouted out. "We didn't get your name!"
    The saleswoman called out something over her shoulder that I didn't catch, and then turned around the corner and vanished. Claire turned back to me. "Did you hear her? Did she say Shacklett?"
    "I thought she said Shattle," I confessed. "I couldn't hear that well."
    "It sounded like Shuckle to me," Sally offered.
    Claire sank into one of the plush armchairs in the front of the shop, rubbing her forehead with one hand. "Whatever. When your mom and sister get here, we'll just knock things over until she shows up again to yell at us."
    The three of us sat and waited for ten more minutes until my mother finally made her way into the store. Still gazing out the window, I spotted my younger sister