A BRIDESMAID FOR REAL, Part #1
A long adventure of how I became to be a Bridesmaid in a real Wedding when only the Bride and Groom knew my real gender.
By Joyce Devries, joyce_devries@hotmail.com ICQ: 26082876
In order to totally understand this story you should read, "Birthday Surprise", first.
Note, this a true story, none of the names have been changed, but certainly not the events of the days!, this is taken right from my diary entries of the time.
My (email) name is Joyce Devries and it was a real life adventure that till this day has never been matched for an exciting adventure. I am 5'2", TV, live near Toronto, Ont., Canada, pass quite well as a woman and have done tons of "real life" things as a woman, but this was the ultimate in adventures.
Prelude:
In order to totally understand this story you need some background information. Debbie and I continued our phone relationship after the date in March of 1988, we continually talked at least every couple of days a week, sometimes for hours. We talked about everything from sex, to relationships, what was happening in our lives and such, really and truly became close girlfriends. At one point she suggested another threesome with her boyfriend, but something magical happened and I had to decline.
Two weeks after the date in March of 1988 I met a girl that eventually became my spouse. Two weeks later my spouse discovered "Joyce" by accident and to my amazement, she accepted her right off the bat and still to this day, 2001 still does. At the time, we were both the same size, except for shoes (I was smaller) and bra size, and right away she was borrowing some of my clothes and I was thrilled. I told her about Debbie and she was fascinated that another woman had a girl-girl relationship with me. My girlfriend even went as far as taking me out with her as we went out for a quiet evening out just to see how I was as a woman in public, and was thrilled at how it turned out.
The following is are the actual events that happened between September 1988, to the actual Wedding in November 1989.
September 1988
Debbie and I talked and talked and my girlfriend had no problem with her talking with me and at the time I had my own apartment and she still lived at home. On a Monday evening in early September I got a call from Debbie and she sounded really excited and really wanted to get together for lunch the Friday of the week. She would not tell me what she wanted to talk about, but assured me it was not about another threesome with her boyfriend. I checked my schedule and noted that I had nothing on the go and was free for lunch. Debbie said, "great, see you at 11:45am and I will pick you up for lunch".
After I hung up the phone I immediately called my girlfriend and told her about the Friday date with Debbie. She told me that it was great, and during the course of the conversation, asked what I was going to be wearing?. Again, I paused and thought and thought of the same brown suede skirt and red sweater, but the temperature at the time was what we call "Indian Summer", temperatures were way too hot for that outfit. I told her that I really had nothing and I asked her if she had any ideas?. She giggled on the other end of the line and told me that she would be over the following evening and would bring over a couple of things from her wardrobe and hopefully we could find something. After I hung up the phone with my girlfriend I wondered what Debbie was wanting to meet with me for?, and more importantly what was my girlfriend going to be bringing over the next evening?.
The next day as soon after I got home from work, I immediately stripped out of my "guy" clothes and jumped into the shower and got all squeaky clean before my girlfriend came over. After cleaning myself up, I slipped into my favorite pair of pink satin panties and matching bra, a girdle. I then slipped on a pair of sheer nude hose and then a short pink satin makeup coat. I decided since I was not going out in public, makeup was a light application of eyeliner, blush and lipstick was all that was needed to make my face look presentable. I settled down in the living room of the apartment and waited for my girlfriend to come over.
It took about an hour or so and she buzzed up to come up to the apartment and I could see that she had a bunch of clothes with her and a couple of bags as she walked across the parking lot. When she came into the apartment she quickly noted that I was already dressed for trying on the clothes she had brought. What she brought was 2 summer dresses, a couple of longer lightweight skirts and two floral blouses. As she held up each of the outfits, I relaxed on the couch and she told me about each of them. The one that stood out the most was a short little floral number with a small peplum skirt, perfect for hiding the waist and hip area. She asked if I knew what Debbie was going to be wearing and I told her that she would most likely be in business wear. She then commented, "great all of these outfits are suitable for the office so take your pick". I told her that I wanted the short floral dress and that it would be perfect, she smiled and said, "I thought you would pick that one, hope you like to have your legs stared at though".
She handed me the dress and I took it to the bedroom to slip into it, I had seen my girlfriend wear this dress before, except it was before I convinced her to have it shorten to a "mini" style. I slipped it on and the peplum belt and admired myself in the mirror, it sure was sexy and pretty all at the same time. I slipped on a pair of black kid 3" heels and walked into the living room and my girlfriend immediately complimented me on how it looked, and said, "see what I mean about the legs?, I wonder if I got it shortened too much?, be careful if you have to bend over!". She walked around me and told me that she had personally not tried on the dress since she gotten it shortened, but did like the look of it on me and could not wait for her chance to wear it. She commented about the fact normally she would wear a half slip with the dress and we would have to do something as my panties were showing through the white material. She told me that she had an idea of how to fix the problem and would pick something up before the Lunch on Friday.
As I stood, my girlfriend sat down and started rummaging through one of the bags she had brought and pulled out a pair of white size 8 pumps, they had about a 1 to 2 inch heel on them and handed them to me to try on. She told me that they were much more suited for the dress and since it was not past labour day, it was alright to wear them. I stared back at her and asked what she was talking about, she laughed and said, "that's part of the class girl-101, no white heels after labour day", I asked if she was serious. She continued to giggle, and said, "well that is what fashion-101 tells you, but I never listen to it anyway". I slipped on the heels and they fit like my usual 7, and she explained that she bought them but after wearing them one day to work realized that they were too small, even though they were a size 8. After I slipped them on she immediately commented on how great they looked, and after she said that, I headed to the bedroom to look in the mirror for myself, and she was right. As I walked back into the living room, she was rummaging through another bag and pulled out a white purse, it was one of her older ones and was in not that good of shape, but she said it would do for the day. I told her I already had a purse, but she quickly commented, a black one, this one matches your heels.
I paraded around a bit with the whole look, dress, purse, heels and she liked the look and so did I. She asked what time the lunch was and said she had an idea. She then said, "it is a shame that you are going to spend all that time getting dressed up just for just lunch, why don't you stay dressed up and we can go out for dinner after I get off of work?". I totally agreed and the date was set for my girlfriend and I to go out to dinner as girlfriends.
On the Thursday night my girlfriend came over and had a bag from a local department store, Sears, and handed it to me, and as I looked inside, it looked like a pair of white panties but when I looked more it looked like a slip. I looked at her with a confused look and she smiled and said, "it is a panty slip, designed for short fashions, just like the dress you are going to be wearing tomorrow, panties and a slip in one". I gave her a peck on the cheek and thanked her, she said, "your welcome, after all, I don't want the world to know what colour my girlfriends panties are".
The Friday came and I took the whole day off work and was excited for another opportunity to go out, but also to see Debbie again and what she was excited to tell me. I started around 10am to get ready and after making sure I was all clean and smooth, slipped into my favorite pink satin bra and matching panties, girdle and finally a pair of sheer nude hose. I put on my "hair" and fluffed it out and made sure it looked perfect, and then I made my way to the bathroom and carefully applied my makeup with all of my normal "business colours", and the tone of the makeup was light and perfect "for the office". After I applied a coat of my light reddish pink lipstick, I stood back and admired the look, "perfect" I thought then headed for the bedroom to get dressed. Before I slipped on my clothes, I decided to wear a perfume that my girlfriend left in my apartment, and that was "Halston's", very floral and a nice perfume. I looked at the time and saw I only had 20 minutes before Debbie was to arrive and quickly slipped on the panty slip, and my dress and heels. I finished the look off with a gold watch, my gold anklet and the same long dangly gold earrings as I wore the first time I met Debbie.
I was in the middle of transferring the contents of my usual black purse to the white one my girlfriend gave me and the buzzer went off and it was Debbie. I told her that I would be down in a minute and proceeded to quickly grab the "essentials" and shove them into the white purse. I made sure I had my apartment keys and headed downstairs to meet Debbie. I opened the car door and she was smiling and immediately commented on how "darling" my dress and look was, I smiled and complimented her back. She was wearing a sage coloured business suit, with a skirt that rode up above her knees, a matching short sleeved jacket with a pretty lace camisole underneath, I could smell her "eternity" perfume and it brought back a flood of memories. After I slid in we greeted each other with a light kiss, and she told me how much she missed seeing me, and loved the look of my legs. She drove us to the same road house restaurant that we went to earlier in the year, and we talked about this and that. When we arrived at the restaurant, we got out of the car and walked to the door, I looked down and noticed that she had on the same black pumps as the last time we went to the restaurant. She again complimented me on how dainty and lovely the anklet made my legs look and again commented that the dress was really short and certainly helped to show them off.
Once inside, we asked for a quiet table, one out of the way, and the waitress lead us to a booth in the rear of the restaurant, only two away from were we sat the last time, and as she handed us our menus said, "enjoy your lunch ladies". I did not even open mine as I knew what I was having, but Debbie was looking through hers, and I asked, "so Debbie, what is the big news?", she put down her menu and smiled and told me to wait until we ordered and she would tell me. The waitress came and Debbie ordered and she looked at me and said to me, "and you will have Miss?", I ordered a house salad and a glass of white wine.
After she left and took the menus, I looked at Debbie and said, "ok, the suspense is killing me, what is the big news?". Debbie just smiled and put her left hand on the table and started giggling, myself really not knowing these things, said "what?", she started wiggling her ring finger and said "look silly", then it dawned on me, she was engaged!. I grabbed both her hands and congratulated her and exclaimed, "you must be thrilled when is the Wedding?", she explained that Carl had proposed on the Weekend and that the date was not firm, but it was going to be in November of the following year. She continued to hold my hands and then the big question came, "more importantly, I want you in the party". I told her I would be thrilled to come to the party and see her get married, she grabbed my hands harder and giggled, "no silly, I would be honored if you would be one of my Bridesmaids".
I was floored, first of all, what was the heck was a Bridesmaid?, and at that point all I knew was that it was something a real woman does at a Wedding. My jaw dropped and I said, "you can't be serious?", she told me, "Carl and I have talked about it and WE want you to be in the Wedding party". A flood of emotions came to me, and I blurted out, "I don't think I can, a Church full of people knowing what I am, and won't that ruin the Wedding?, I will be so embarrassed". Still holding my hands Debbie said, "dear Joyce, the only people who will know who you are will be myself and Carl, to the other Bridesmaid's, the Groomsmen and everyone at the Wedding, you will just be another pretty Bridesmaid". She saw the reluctance in my eyes and stared straight at me and said, "please say yes", I did not know what I was getting myself into, but if those were the terms and she was comfortable, I said, "I would be honored". She smiled and got out of her seat and came and gave me a big hug and said, "thank you, thank you".
Lunch came and Debbie went on to describe that the Wedding party was now set after she talked to me. Her maid of honor (whatever that was), was going to be her sister Teresa, and two other girls were going to be Bridesmaids (still wondering exactly what that was), both were her cousins, Connie and Liz. I was rounding out the Wedding party as the College roommate, "Barb", after she said that I said, "what?". She explained that she had a roommate, Barb, that her mother or no one had never met and that she had a huge "falling out" with her just after graduation and it would be the perfect explanation for having me in the party, and old college roommate. I told her I did not mind, but I would have to get used to the new name for the day of the Wedding. Debbie just smiled, and said, "my you have a lot to learn, you will need to get used to it for much more than the day of the Wedding, but trust me it will be fun". Again, I had no clue what she was talking about and smiled back and we continued the conversation. Once the shock of the Bridesmaid announcement ended, Debbie and I talked about a ton of other things and finished up our lunch.
After lunch we both used the ladies room and freshened up, Debbie then drove me back to my apartment. She gave me a small kiss and told me that she would call me in the next couple of days as the plans for the Wedding started to firm up. I left the car and went back up to my apartment still wondering what I had actually just agreed to and decided to ask my girlfriend that evening when we went out for dinner.
I sat around the apartment for the remainder of the afternoon relaxing and around 5pm, I decided to freshen up for my girlfriend getting to my apartment so I would be ready for going out to dinner. I touched up my eyeliner, eyeshadow and blush and decided to wait for my girlfriend to come over before I put on my lipstick. Around 45 minutes later the buzzer went off and it was her waiting for me downstairs. I grabbed my purse and headed into the washroom and applied my lipstick and double checked my look and went down stairs and met my girlfriend. I opened the door to the car and saw that she was dressed for the office, in a long white skirt, and short sleeved flowered blouse and white heels, the same heel height as mine. She complimented me on how nice I looked "all dolled up" and noted that I was wearing her perfume and it suited me nicely. She pulled out of the parking lot and asked were I wanted to go and suggested the same restaurant that Debbie and I went to and asked her to pick another as that is were I went for lunch. She suggested a restaurant down by the lake with a patio and that sounded perfect. She right away asked me what the "big thing" Debbie wanted to talk to me about and I smiled and grabbed her hand and told her that I would wait until we got to the restaurant to tell her.
When we got to the restaurant, my girlfriend took the lead and asked for a table on the patio and hostess lead the way to the patio. She gave us a table in the corner, sort of out of the way and a nice cool breeze was coming off the lake. Our waitress came almost right behind her and took our drink orders, I had a glass of white wine and my girlfriend a beer. She smiled at me and said, "so what is the big news your girlfriend had to tell you?". I told her that Debbie told me that she was engaged to be married, my girlfriend immediately smiled wide and said, "that's so lovely, I bet she is really excited". I told her that Debbie was thrilled and then casually mentioned that she asked me to be one of her Bridesmaids. She grabbed my hands and I was smiling and she looked me right in the eyes and said, "you have got to be kidding, right?", I said no and told her that I accepted. My girlfriend was stunned and just stared at me, "does she know what she is doing?", I explained to her that I asked the same question and she told me that only her and her fiancée was going to know who I was, and the everyone else would only know me as one of the "pretty Bridesmaids". She then asked me, "and how do you feel about being a Bridesmaid?". I told her that I thought it would be a fun time, helping a Bride get ready for her Wedding day, after all, it was only one day.
My girlfriend then got serious and was staring at me and said, "you really have no clue what you just got yourself into, have you?". I asked what she was talking about, and then she asked, "do you even know what a Bridesmaid does?". I shrugged my shoulders and honestly had to say, "I guess not, I thought it was helping the Bride to get ready on the day of her Wedding?". She smirked and shook her head and asked, "have you ever been to a Wedding?", I had to admit that the last one I was in was when I was 10 or so at a cousins Wedding, but that was about it. She shook her head again and asked, "so are you really serious about going through with this?", again, I was lost as to were she was going and said, "of course I am". Still staring at me, she then said, "well Joyce, you have allot of learning to do about what a Bridesmaid is and what she does, and trust me, it is not just the day of the Wedding, there are many things you will need to do and duties to perform". Still clueless about what she was talking about, I just agreed and figured I would start to sort out things later.
Our drinks came and we ordered our meals, and my girlfriend went on to ask about when the date was, when they got engaged and all of the other minor details and I answered as best I could after the conversation I had with Debbie over lunch. During the course of dinner my girlfriend started to explain some of the duties of a Bridesmaid. She said, "now, with the Wedding over a year away, I suggest you set up a special savings account and start to put say, $20 a month in it for when you and the other Bridesmaids have to go shopping for your dresses". I assured her that had more than enough in my savings account and "how much could a dress cost anyway, $50?, and I already had some nice ones in my closet?". She nearly spit out the food in her mouth as she started to laugh, "are you kidding?, you will need $50 just for your shoes alone!, you are looking at around $200 to $300 for your dress, and typically all the girls wear the same dress!". I was floored, how the heck could a piece of fabric cost that much?. She was still giggling, and said, "oh my dear, you have soooo much to learn". I had to trust her and we finished up our dinner and as I went to the ladies room and came back, my girlfriend had already settled the tab and we headed back to my apartment. She dropped me off still giggling and telling me that I was in for the adventure of a lifetime.
I got into the apartment and undressed and slipped into a favorite teddy and makeup coat and gave Debbie a call. I told her that I let my girlfriend know that she had asked me to be a Bridesmaid and she asked if everything was alright. I told her it was but I was really confused at what a Bridesmaid was and what was expected of me. I heard her laugh on the other end of the line and she suggested I get a copy of "Modern Bride" and start to do some research. I really did not have the guts to do that but lied and told her I would.
The following Monday evening, I came home from work and sitting in my mailbox was a wrapped present in a pink/white wrap and a pink Ribbon, the card on the package said, "to my special girlfriend, soon to be a Pretty Bridesmaid". It was signed by my girlfriend, I raced upstairs to see what it was, I ripped open the package and it was two books, one was the recent copy of "Modern Bride". The other was a book entitled, "The Complete Bridesmaid's Handbook", there was a note and it read:
"Joyce, I thought these would help, read them and then give me the Bridesmaid's handbook when you are done, so I can help more, enjoy the dresses, some of them are drop dead gorgeous".
I plopped myself down on the couch and opened the "Modern Bride" magazine and started thumbing through it. It mainly had Wedding dresses, but sections of it had absolutely gorgeous Bridesmaid dresses, some were really elaborate with floor length skirts and daring open backs, and so much lace and satin. I was mesmerized as I flipped through the magazine, I could not put it down and it was about 3 hours after I got home that the phone rang and it was my girlfriend. She had called and asked if I got her present, and I was still reading the magazine and had not moved from the couch. I answered in my feminine voice and thanked her and told her I did and was blown away by how the dresses looked. She asked, "any favorites yet", I told her "practically all of them!". She laughed and said, "don't worry, whatever you decided you like, you will find when you go out shopping with the other Bridesmaid's that you will most likely find something totally different that is appropriate for you all". We talked for a couple of hours and she explained to me that not all dresses are appropriate for all body types and asked if I knew what the other Bridesmaid's looked like. I told her I did not have a clue, but she told me that part of the "fun" of being a Bridesmaid is trying to find a dress that is appropriate for all of the girls.
After I hung up from my girlfriend I called Debbie and told her what my girlfriend had given me and she was ecstatic as she had the same edition of "Modern Bride". We spent the next two hours going over it page by page, looking at Bridesmaid and Wedding dresses, talking about styles, colours, materials (which I still had to learn about) and such. It was Midnight before I got to bed that evening, but certainly was looking forward at some point in time to trying on some of the beautiful Bridesmaid dresses I had been looking at all evening.
Debbie called the next evening and we talked for about an hour, she told me that her fiancée her had decided to throw and engagement party in November. I asked her what the party was for and she commented, "still have not read your Bridesmaid book have you?", I had to admit I did not and she laughed and said, "it is a chance for all of the Wedding party and the parents to meet and get to know one another well in advance of the Wedding". After that phone call, I decided to dedicate the rest of the evening to reading the Bridesmaid book that my girlfriend got me and changed into a favorite powder blue satin and lace teddy and my pink satin make coat and sat on the couch and started reading.
My girlfriend was not kidding, I could not put the book down and realized as I read that the engagement party was just the beginning of many social events that I was going to have to be a part of. There were showers, meeting to get the dresses, the bachelorette party, the final fitting for our dresses, the rehearsal party, the actual day of the Wedding and finally the gift opening. I also read about what was expected of me the day of the Wedding and what the Maid of Honor was responsible for, I highlighted pages that had key information for quick reference later. I finished the evening off by scanning through the "Modern Bride" and highlighted the Bridesmaid dresses that I found the most appealing. The one I kept coming back to was an "Alfred Angelo" dress, deep rich satin material with a full, floor length skirt and a modest front bodice and a deep plunging wide open back and a large pretty bow.
The engagement party was set for the last Saturday in November and even though it was a few weeks away, the next time my girlfriend and I got together I told her about it and during the conversation she asked, "so what are you going to wear". I paused for a while and mentioned the brown suede skirt and read turtleneck I had, and she looked at me and said, "perhaps that will work, do you know what the other girls will be wearing?". I had not asked Debbie that, but assured her that I would the next time I talked to her. She also asked if I had read the Bridesmaid book. I told her I did and she asked if I realized how many times I was going to be participating in events. I told her yes, and how much I was really surprised at how many things I was responsible for doing and attending. She just looked at me, smiled, and gave me a little peck on the cheek and said "told you so".
She then looked away and started thinking then turned to me and said, "well Joyce, it looks like if you are going to all of these functions, we need to get you a proper wardrobe. You cannot be always borrowing my clothes and even I don't have things that are appropriate, so as the functions come up, we should go shopping. After all, you cannot be showing up in the same clothes all the time." I agreed and told her that I would start putting more money away to save for them as they started to come up, and realized that I had a whole year. She then said, "however, after seeing how pretty your legs were in that white dress, I want to bring over one of my favorite dresses that you have not seen yet and I think it will be perfect for the engagement party". I told her I thought that was perfect and that I could not wait to see the dress. She told me that she would bring it over soon and that if I liked it and it fit me, we would leave it in my closet, the same as her white floral dress, so we both could wear it when we wanted. In a conversation about 3 weeks later she said that the next evening she would bring over the dress for me to try on.
The next night when I came home from work, I immediately jumped in the shower and made myself all nice and clean and after drying off, slipped into my favorite pink bra and panty set, sheer nude nylons and finally my pink satin makeup coat. I sat and watched TV and about and hour later I heard the keys in the door and in walked my girlfriend., She came to the living room, and was wearing a blue shirtdress, not really a mini, but about 2 1/2 inches above her knees and her 2 1/2" black heels. The dress had padded shoulders and long sleeves and looked fantastic on her. She paraded around and said, "you like?", I had to admit it looked great on her. She commented that I was dressed and ready for trying on one of her favorite dresses. I was puzzled, all she came in with was her purse, she then reached down and grabbed the bottom of the skirt and pulled the dress up over her head and off. She was standing there in her heels, pantyhose, panties and bra, and said, "ok, let's trade, give me the robe", and she held out her hand and the dress to me. I then realized that this was one the dress she was talking about and I slid off my makeup coat and handed it to her and slid the dress up and over my head.
She then told me to grab a pair of shoes and then come back and let her see the whole look. I decided that shoes were not going to be enough and the dress already smelled of her Halston's perfume, so I decided to go all out. I quickly fluffed out my hair, and applied a "business coat" of makeup with all my usual colours, made sure my lips were perfect with my darker shade of pinkish red lipstick and then spritzed myself with her perfume. Finally I added a pearl necklace, my gold anklet and long gold dangly earrings and slipped into a pair of black kid, 3" heels. I looked at myself in the mirror and really liked the look. The skirt was short, but not a mini style, more of an office "sexy" look, not too short and not too long, it was at least two inches longer than the white floral dress I wore. I had no clue how long I was in the washroom and bedroom, but obviously it was longer than just simply grabbing a pair of heels.
I grabbed my black purse and made my way to the living room were my girlfriend immediately said, "mmmm, very nice", she smiled and said, "so this is the game we are playing?, I will be right back". She grabbed her purse and headed into the washroom, and I sat down and noticed how high the skirt rode up, I thought, "mmm, sexy yet nice all in one". I was wondering what the heck she was talking about when she went to the washroom and 15 minutes later I heard her leave the washroom and go into the bedroom. Then a few minutes she later came into the living room dressed in my brown suede skirt, red turtleneck and in her black pumps. She had touched up her makeup and I could smell my Obsession perfume on her. She was smiling and said, "you like?", I told her she looked great and that the outfit fit her perfect and she could wear it to work anytime. She said, "I know that, I kind of like the feel of the suede skirt and the way it rides up, ok Joyce, I see you already have your purse, let's go out for dinner".
I was very pleasantly surprised and eagerly grabbed my purse and followed my girlfriend out the door of the apartment. It was early October and weather was just about to a point were you did not need a coat. We were just about to head out the door for only our third trip out as girlfriends, when she stopped and asked me to grab the edition of Modern Bride that I was reading so we could talk about it. When we got into the car the skirt rode way up and when my spouse slid in she noticed it. She then said, "well if you are going to wear that dress to the party, I suggest you get used to crossing your legs or making sure your knees are always together". She asked me if I minded if we went to a restaurant the girls in her office had been talking about near her work, they described it as "quiet and cozy", I of course said "sure". When we pulled up to the restaurant I knew what she was talking about and as we walked to the door, I could tell it was going to be special. My girlfriend lead the way and once inside we were greet by a hostess that asked if we wanted smoking or non-smoking seating, and we both said at the same time, "non". She lead us to a booth near the back of the restaurant, not too far away from the washrooms and after we were seated told us that our waitress would be with us shortly.
The waitress came and took our orders for food and drink, and again, I decided on eating light and had a Caesar salad and French onion soup, and so did my girlfriend. I pulled out the Modern Bride magazine and my girlfriend and I were flipping through it, looking at dressed that I had highlighted, and the waitress came and said, "one of you getting Married?". My girlfriend took the lead and said, "no, but she (pointing at me) is going to be a Bridesmaid, so we are checking out the latest styles". She looked at me and smiled and said, "are you not the lucky one?", I just smiled back, knowing what she meant and said, "yes I am". We kept on looking at the dresses and all the ones that I had highlighted and my spouse asked, "so what is you favorite so far?". I flipped to the page with the Alfred Angelo dress that I really liked, the one with the wide open back and she looked it over and said, "very pretty, but you know some girls are really not into showing that much back". She reminded me that the dress shopping experience was always interesting as all of the girls needed to fit and feel comfortable in the same style.
We continued to talk as we ate our dinner and she asked me a bunch of questions that I could not answer, as I had not talked to Debbie in a couple of weeks as she was on a business trip. Questions like, what was her colours?, where were the pictures to be taken?, how many guests?, etc., etc. I did not have the questions but assured her that I was going to be talking with her in the next few days and would get back to her. My girlfriend pulled a piece of paper out of her pocket and started reading through the list, what she had done was highlighted all of the social events I was going to be attending. She showed me the list and said, "well Joyce, looks like we have that many of changes of clothes to prepare for you". I looked it over and she had already written, "short blue shirtdress" beside the rehearsal dinner one. She then said, "why don't we go over this list this evening and see if we can choose a few more". I agreed and we talked and decided that since the dates were so far away, that we would wait until the spring to figure out what I was going to be wearing for them as they got closer.
When dinner was done, my girlfriend settled up the tab and we both grabbed our purses and headed to the washroom to freshen up. This was a special time as it was the first that we were both actually in the washroom at the same time. I was the only one that had to go, and proceeded to the stall and did my business, when I came out, I met my girlfriend at the vanity and started applying a fresh coat of lipstick. She finished touching up her lips and as she packed up her purse, she looked at me in the mirror and smiled and said, "my we even make the sound of a girl peeing, that is a good thing". I smiled back and told her that after the first time in a washroom peeing next to a woman, I learned how to make the same sound. She giggled and after she finished fluffing out her hair, we left the washroom and went back to the car and then back to my apartment. At this point she and I were not living together full time and I had to slip out of the blue shirtdress and into my pink robe and she changed back as well. She gave me a light kiss and wished me goodnight and left for home.
I was lounging around the apartment later that evening and Debbie called, she had just got in that afternoon from her business trip and we spent the next couple of hours chatting about how her plans were coming. The date was set for the 3rd Saturday in November, 1989, her colours were going to be blue, blue cornflowers were going to be part of the bouquets for the Bridesmaid's, the time of the ceremony was going to be 3pm, and finally she shocked me with the next plan. The reception was going to me held in a really posh hotel in the city next to mine and the guest list was going to be 300+, yes, 300+. I really started to get nervous and she could tell I was and told me to "relax, just think of all the guests in their underwear", we both giggled, but nervousness for me was not that many people, just the whole situation with me. One of the things I asked her was what I should wear to the engagement party, as I did not want to look out of place, and I told her what I was planning to wear. She told me, "sounds perfect, I will be in a dress I wear to work and heels, and I am not sure what the other girls will be wearing, but that sounds great". We talked about a few other details of the Wedding, but she told me that things might change as we get closer to time. The call ended with her offering to pick me up and take me to the party as it was on her way and I thought it was a great idea. She told me to be ready for 2:30pm, as the party was from 3pm till "whenever".
Over the next few weeks we chatted back and forth and I passed on all of the information to my girlfriend as the plans started to firm up. Finally the date of the engagement party came and I was nervous as hell, by this time my girlfriend and I started living together and the morning of the party she could tell how nervous I was. At around 11:30am, she came to me and said, "Time to start getting ready, Debbie will be here before you know it". She was right and could sense how nervous I was and came and put her arm around me and said, "too late to back out now sweetie, go get showered and start to get dressed, here this might help", and handed me a wine spritzer, which I drank. I made my way to the washroom and got in the shower and spent probably 30 minutes more than I usually did to make sure I was perfectly smooth and clean.
I got out of the shower, right away slipped on my "hair" and fluffed it out and into my pink satin makeup coat. I quickly got into the bedroom, as I did not want my girlfriend to see me until I was ready. As I closed the door and turned around I saw that she had laid out her blue shirtdress, a brand new pair of sheer nude hose my 3" kid black shoes and her Halston's perfume. What was also laid out was a brand new matching blue satin bra and panty combination, which almost perfectly matched the dress she had left out, as well as my purse. I slipped out of my robe and quickly into the bra and panty set and it looked great. Next were the pantyhose and then the makeup coat, as I did not want to get anything on the dress. I spent over an hour putting on my makeup, I was so nervous and did not want to make myself look bad. I applied all of the makeup lightly, as I did not want to overdo things and as I looked in the mirror, I thought I did a pretty good job, the final touch was a light pinkish red lipstick.
I slipped out of the silk pink makeup coat and then put on a gold anklet and then I spritzed myself with Halston's perfume and did not go overboard. Next I moved to the bed and grabbed the dress and pulled it over my head and smoothed it out. I then grabbed the black heels my girlfriend left out for me and slipped them on and headed for the mirror. I was stunned, I looked perfect, I almost cried, and I grabbed my purse and headed to the living room were my girlfriend was and the first thing she said was, "my someone is ready for a party!", I smiled and she gave me a big hug. She noticed I forgot my jewelry and told me to sit down and relax and she would take care of it. She came back into the living room and handed me another wine spritzer and my long gold dangly earrings and a faux pearl necklace and helped me put them on. She also had my makeup bag and said, "Joyce you have done a great job, but we need to fix a few things to make you look really great".
She used some charcoal coloured eyeshadow and applied a little dash at the outside edge of both my eyelids, she then used a lighter blush a brushed it on the lower part of my cheeks bones. She finished off by smudging my eyeliner a little and applying a little more mascara and curling the applicator in my lashes. As she put the cap back on, she stood up and looked and me and said, "perfect, now go have a look yourself". I went to the bathroom and she was right, my cheeks were more defined, my eyes looked wider and slightly more dramatic. I went back in the living room and gave her a big hug, and thanked her, and asked how come she had not shown me that before?. She laughed and said, "because this is the first time I have been in the apartment when you were getting ready!". I relaxed for about 30 minutes, made sure my purse was packed and then the buzzer went off and the nervousness came back. My girlfriend buzzed back to Debbie that I would be down in a minute, while I made my way to the bathroom and touched up my lipstick. When I came out of the bathroom my girlfriend was waiting there holding my coat open for me and helped me slip it on. She handed me my purse and kissed me lightly on the cheek and told me to not be nervous and have fun. I thanked her and nervously headed out the door and down the stairs to meet Debbie waiting for me in the car.
To be continued.......
Joyce Devries, joyce_devries@hotmail.com ICQ: 26082876