W ith the day fast approaching, I found myself watching the weather like a hawk, I was just as nervous as any Bride usually is as her Wedding day approaches. The plans were set for Saturday September 20th, for 2pm, that would allow me be able to really experience the Wedding Day experience and have to share the Gardens with other Brides and Wedding parties. We had talked about alternate plans for the Sunday if the Saturday was not good weather, as the upcoming weekend was the only one that all our schedules, Rose, Andy and myself would work.

I made sure all the arrangements were set and all the props and such I would need were ready to go, as well as making sure I had all the film ready, both for the video camera as well as the 35mm camera. Everything was all set, now all we had to do was cross our fingers that the weather would cooperate, but sadly it did not, on the Saturday at least.

Sharon watched with me as we checked the weather, constantly, and as Saturday drew closer, the probability of rain grew even more and then finally the morning came and by 10am, the time we all agreed to say "go" or "no go" came and unfortunately the weather was not cooperating and the plan for the Saturday shoot was scrapped. I felt bad and Sharon knew it and she tried to make me feel better, but offered words of encouragement that the Sunday was looking like a better day, and that is exactly what happened.

The Sunday morning came, and the weather was perfect, sunny, dry, and most of all cool. If you have ever worn a Wedding Dress what you learn real fast is that it is heavy and on a hot and sunny summer day can be quite uncomfortable, no matter how lovely and feminine you look!. No woman can look that sexy in lace, satin and sweat!, so I was very glad for the cool weather, so by 10am, the calls were made and the decision made to go forward.

So with the day set, I started getting ready. The day started with me getting all of the pieces for the shoot together in one place and that was a chore and a half!. Two Wedding dresses, two veils, one hair comb, two pairs of white satin pumps, one crinoline, two shades of lipstick, Sharon's white satin purse (something borrowed), the video camera, my 35mm camera loaded with black and white film, and the two rolls of colour film. I gathered all of the items and placed them in the living room and used that as my "staging" area for the shoot. Once that was all set, checked and double checked, I then moved to the bathroom and started getting ready for the day and with Rose arriving at 12:45 pm and Andy arriving at 1pm, I had allowed myself 2 hours to get ready for my big day that I had waited 7 years to happen.

After showering and such, I moved to the bedroom and slipped into the merry widow that I borrowed off Sharon and after doing up all 10 hooks and such, I was set for the rest of my lingerie. The merry widow had the ability to accept stockings with garters built into the garment, but for the same reason I decided not to wear a garter belt on my original Wedding day, I decided to stick with pantyhose, the reason being having to lift your dress and attach a stocking that let go. I then decided to wear some of the original items that I wore on my actual Wedding day, and one of those was a pair of ultra sheer white pantyhose with a seam up the back, but unfortunately as I checked them out, realized that they had a run in them. After slipping on the panties I wore on my actual Wedding day, pure white satin with lace around the crotch, I pulled out a brand new pair of semi-sheer pantyhose and slipped them on. I glided my feet into a pair of low white heels and put on my pink satin makeup coat and headed for the washroom to put on my makeup.

I took out the original shades for eye colour that I wore on my Wedding day, as well the blush, nailpolish and lipstick. I felt funny as I started to apply my makeup, remembering the day Sharon and I Married, and how I was doing it all over again, my makeup I mean. The colours were dark pink for the upper lids of my eye and dark purple for the lower lids, my eyeliner was conservative, but apparent. I did my blush light, but maybe a shade between business and daytime, and topped the whole look off with a pinkish-red lipstick, the same shade I bought specifically for the shading in my original Wedding dress to wear on my Wedding day. I liked the look in the mirror and remembered back to the same feelings I had on my original Wedding day, it was spooky to say the least!!. I then decided to do my nails with my original nail polish, but alas, I should have added thinner as the polish was thick and not that easy to put on, but I went forward and added a coat, knowing full well it would be tacky and not fully dry.

With my makeup done I decided to make sure I had everything ready other than what I already had left out and finished the look off for the first Wedding dress with a 20" pearl necklace (as recommended by my seamstress Maria), my original pearl and diamond clip earrings I wore on my Wedding day, and finally I decided to really go all out and slipped on my original blue garter I wore on the big day (something blue).

With that all of that set I was in good shape, and I went and checked all of the props and such that I would need for the day. I finished checking the props and Rose knocked on the door and I invited her in and we exchanged pleasantries and started talking about the shoot and I explained to her what she would be doing. As Rose loaded the camera and such, it was not time later, before Andy was knocking on the door as well, and I invited him in and introduced him to Rose and the shoot was on!.

Andy unloaded a ton of equipment and Rose and I just watched, but Andy certainly was enjoying himself. After organizing film, video cameras and getting some of the logistics sorted out, we were ready to get the shoot underway. To start with, Andy wanted to film Rose helping me with my dress and headpiece selection for the first part of the shoot, and Andy started setting up for this, once he was set, I informed Rose that I was going to get the first dress of the shoot and slip into as much as I could of it and then have her do me up the rest of the way, she had no idea of what she was getting into!.

I grabbed the newest of the Wedding Dresses and headed for the bedroom to slip it on, leaving Andy and Rose to get things organized and better acquainted in the living room. I slipped on the dress and did up the clasp at the back of the neckline, and the zipper up as far as I could go and then grabbed the train, yesh was it heavy and headed for the living room for Rose to zip me up the rest of the way.

Rose was waiting for me and immediately came over to start zipping and buttoning me up, commenting on how much of a chore it was, and I jokingly said, "well you volunteered to be the Bridesmaid", and we all had a chuckle at that. Andy was getting things ready behind Rose and I and was commenting on taking pictures of Rose helping me with my headpiece and I agreed that would be a good idea. So with the dress all done up, Andy took the lead and started to fluff out the train while Rose was complimenting me on how lovely the dress looked and I could not have agreed more.

Rose grabbed the headpiece that came with the dress and we tried it on and got Rose used to how it should look in case it shifted and such and Andy started filming Rose and I adjusting and such, Andy even had me pose a couple of times as he shot away. Rose helped me try in the other headpiece, the one I got from Maria's, and we decided that just for ease of getting in and out of the car we would go for the shorter headpiece. You see, the one that I got with the dress was the same length as my train, which was already about 12 feet long!, so managing the train and the headpiece would be quite the chore getting in and out of a car!. As Rose and I continued with the headpiece, Andy kept on filming, and I smiled knowing that all of the work Andy was doing was going to be very special. Once Rose and I were happy with the headpiece, Andy helped me drape my train over my right arm and make sure the rest of the dress was taken care of and Rose started gathering things for the trip to the gardens.

Rose and Andy had me stay put and got everything packed away in the two cars we would be using for the day, a car that Rose had rented and the car that Andy came in. Rose backed her car up so I could leave the house and get into her car without causing too many problems with my dress and train.

So once all of the things were packed, Andy went to his car and Rose helped me make the "Bridal Dash" to her car and she helped me into the car, the neighbor's dog barked like they had never seen me before and I had to chuckle as I slid into the seat, with Rose's help, ensuring the dress was all inside the car, she shut the door, and away we went!. As we drove along it was fun looking out the window watching women and girls pointing and such at me, and I could see the word "bride" being mouthed almost every time, it was quite the trip. Once we arrived at Gairloch Garden's, we saw that there were not many cars in the parking lot, and I had mixed emotions, I wanted lots of people and especially other Brides to be there with me, but I was glad we could have some freedom.

Rose and Andy grabbed all of the accessories that were needed and I concentrated on bunching my train and slinging it over my shoulder, making sure I did not lift the skirt of my dress too high by mistake!. Once we were all set we were off, I was flanked by Rose and Andy and we wondered down the path of the beautiful gardens towards the lake and some wonderful flower beds. I was tickled pink as I walked past people that were leaving the park, every women smiled at men looked back, and the cutest was a little girl that was with her family that said, after we walked by them, "Mommy, I just saw the Bride", I loved it!.

Finally we found a couple of perfect locations within the gardens and Andy and Rose went to work, with Andy posing my train and asking me to pose this way and that way and Rose snapping away, I knew that things were working well. The sun kept on making Rose's life a little difficult and thankfully in the end only one picture was ruined because of it, as well the cool breeze and that made wearing the heavy dress that much more comfortable and shuddered to think I posed there, what a hot and humid 80 degree summer day would be like!. Andy was also busy with the video camera and I was hoping at the time that things with the video was going to work out as well as the still shots. It was fun watching people milling around the gardens, stopping and looking at me posing and looking at me, ooohhh to know what they were saying!, but I am sure they loved viewing a Bride getting her pictures done.

Rose and I had discussed that at a certain point for the first shoot, and the second, we would change headpieces and we did without too many problems, however Andy had some more work to do as the headpiece was cathedral length as well, the same as the actual dress.

A few of the poses had me slightly on a hill, and got to experience another "joy" of posing in a Wedding Dress and spiked heels on grass and that is your heels digging into the ground. Sharon warned me about this and cautioned, "walk on your tippy toes", which I tried to do, but you can only do that for so long!, so I sunk from time to time.

Once all of the pictures were done, Andy helped me drape my train over my left arm and back to the car we went, but not before I need a much needed break sitting down, as I was standing for almost 45 minutes. So as we crossed a little bridge, I took the opportunity and Andy saw it as a perfect opportunity to capture a special pose and Rose snapped away.

We made our way back to the car and Rose once again helped me into the car, playing the perfect Bridesmaid role and once I was all set, shut the door and away we went back home.

Once home, the "bridal dash" inside was done with Rose helping me with my train and dress. Kevin reloaded and checked his equipment while Rose unbuttoned and unzipped me, and I went to the bedroom to slip out of my first Wedding dress and carefully laid it out on the bed. I then slipped into my pink silk makeup coat and went into the living room and made sure that the bag was packed for the second dress shoot, removing the cathedral length headpiece and packing the shorter headpiece I got from Maria's. Once I knew Andy and Rose were ready for the next dress I made my way to the bathroom to freshen my makeup, eyes, cheeks and lips and then grabbed my second dress and slipped into it, doing it up as best I could. This was my original Wedding dress and it was a lovely feeling slipping it on and seeing myself in it again, and knew that the photo session would be wonderful.

I met Rose and Andy in the living room and Rose zipped and buttoned me up again while Andy filmed the activity, it was quite the wonderful feeling, getting all zipped up in my dress again. Once zipped up, Rose helped me with my first headpiece, and that was the original one that I wore on my Wedding day. Once I was all set, satin gloves on and all, as well Andy and Rose were ready, away we went to the second gardens, and after a successful second "Bridal dash", away we went!.

Again the ride put me in the spot light with women and young girls pointing at "The Bride", and as one little girl saw me I waved a satin gloved hand back at her, it was a special cute moment.

We arrived at the second gardens, Shell park, and as I grabbed my train and headed for the grass, I soon realized that my slightly higher heels for my original heels were going to be a real challenge at this park. I carefully made my way around the gardens, ensuring I was on my tippy toes and walking very carefully.

Once again Andy took care of arranging my train and such while Rose took care of posing me and snapping away, and it was nice to see on lookers enjoy the site of the Bride in the gardens and this Bride was enjoying the attention!.

Finally, or sadly, the shoot was over, and it took almost 3 1/2 hours to shoot two very lovely and sexy Wedding dresses. We gathered everything up and headed back to the house, were Rose did her final duty as a Bridesmaid and helped unzip and unbutton me and I made my way back to the bedroom were I removed the dress and carefully laid it out on the bed. I then slipped into my pink makeup coat, low white heels and headed back to the living room to help Rose and Andy clean up.

When everything was set, I thanked Rose and Andy and saw them off and then started cleaning up a big mess before Sharon was due home.

Thanks a ton, to both Rose and Andy!.