Sarah, Jess’s cousin, set out to sew her wedding dress as a gift when she and Michael got engaged. Jess finds out that the wedding dress is two sizes too small during the last fitting. Is Sarah going to fix her mistake, or does Jess need to do something herself?
My friendship with my cousin Sarah has always been rough. She’s loud and bubbly, and she also loves being the center of attention. And because of that, everyone in our family paid attention to her. It made more sense to have Sarah get the attention than ourselves.
My family was really happy for me when Michael and I got engaged after being together for four years.
Sarah even planned a night out for all of my best friends and our girl cousins. We kept the party going at an Airbnb because I was the first one of us to get engaged.
Sarah came up to me with a glass of champagne that night.
“Jess!” She said, “I have a great idea!”
“What?” I asked. “What do you want to do?”
She swayed to the music as she spoke, “I want to make your wedding dress for you!”
Now, Sarah is a great seamstress who has already made some amazing clothes in her short career. Sarah making a dress for me was a great idea, even though our relationship was tense.
“Really?” Would you do that for me?” I asked, moved by the kindness.
“Of course, Jess!” It will be great!” She smiled back and said what she meant, which seemed honest at the time.
The rest of the night went smoothly. There were lots of people who loved me around me, and my cousin wanted to do something extra special by making me a wedding dress.
It felt good all around.
We chose the pattern and materials for weeks. After reading a lot of magazines and blogs, I finally came up with an idea.
I met Sarah at her office one day, ready for her to take my last measures so she could start making my dress.
“You’re going to look beautiful,” she told me as she carefully measured me and wrote everything down on her pad.
As Sarah put away her measuring tape, I took a sip of my coffee and said, “Oh, I hope so.” “I stuck to a strict diet, and now I’m happy with my weight.” That’s it, now I just need to keep up my shape.
She told Jess, “You look good.” „But if something changes and you start to gain or lose weight, just let me know. You can come back for another fitting.”
I said “yes” and left, excited to see how my dress turned out.
But things changed when I went for the last measure.
The dress was way too small when I tried it on. Even when I held my breath really hard, I couldn’t zip it up.
“Jess!” “Are you crazy to put on weight before the wedding?” Sarah asked, but her tone was full of fake worry.
It broke my heart. The wedding was in two weeks, and this fitting made it look like I didn’t have a dress.
I told Sarah, “I haven’t gained any weight.” “I’ve been too stressed to eat.” Because of that, I should have lost weight!”
Sarah shrugged, and she could barely hide the grin that was plastered on her face.
Even though the wedding is coming up quickly, I’ll do my best to fix it. Jess, I have other customers waiting for their orders too.
I could still hear what she said as I drove away from her building.
Next thing I knew, this wasn’t a mistake. The way she talked to me and the sound of her voice came back to me. She didn’t feel bad about what she did. There was no mixing up of the amounts. I didn’t gain any weight.
Sarah made the dress too small on purpose so this would happen.
When Michael got home that night, I told him, “I don’t know what to do.”
He got a glass of water and asked, “Show me the dress.”
“What!” “No!” I screamed. “The dress is a mess, but you shouldn’t look at it!”
“Hey, why don’t you give Mrs. Lawson the dress?” She makes all of my mom’s changes because she’s her friend. She’s also making Mom’s wedding dress.
So, I got the awful dress and went to Mrs. Lawson, a retired tailor who was known for doing amazing things.
When I walked in, she said, “Oh, honey.” “Michael called me and told me everything that was going on.” “But I’ve seen worse things and made them better a hundred times over.”
I showed her the dress and said, “This could be tricky.”
“Trust me, honey, I’ve seen everything.” She laughed and said, “Let’s make this work.”
We took the original design and made it into something totally different. A stylish, short party dress that was a bit daring and edgy for a wedding.
But it was beautiful. It was fun, flirty, and just right for me, which is exactly what Sarah’s dress wasn’t.
My heart beat fast when it was time to walk down the aisle. I stood in front of the mirror in the bridal suite at the wedding setting. I looked lovely. I looked and felt beautiful.
My dad’s jaw dropped when he walked into the room to get me.
He said, “My darling.” “You really look great!” “Wow!”
I told my dad, “Thanks.” “I know it’s not what we all thought I’d wear to my wedding, but it was the best surprise.” “I feel like a bride.”
He told her, “That’s all that matters, darling.”
Soon, my arrival music started. A classical version of a Lana Del Rey song filled the room with chills, and I felt them all over.
People looked around.
As people watched me walk in, I could feel their respect. I was sure my dress would be a hit.
Before I got close to Michael, his eyes got bigger, and he smiled. That’s when I knew the man I was going to marry loved me again.
But before I sat down next to Michael, I looked at Sarah to see how she was seeing things.
She had a beautiful face; it was pale and shocked. I knew she was waiting to see me in tears, feeling bad about her betrayal, and wearing that awful dress she made.
I was instead shining and smiling all the way around.
The ceremony went off without a hitch. Michael’s promises made me cry, and I fell deeply in love with the man I would spend the rest of my life with.
But then there was the party.
Michael and I were talking to our friends when Sarah snuck up behind me.
“Where did the dress go, Jess?” Where is my first design? “Why did you change it?” She asked, trying not to show how confused she was.
Laughed.
“Oh, I thought I could improve your outline!” Don’t forget that you weren’t even sure what you could do. I was about to burst because it was at least two sizes too small.
“That’s all there is to it?” “You threw away all my hard work?” She let out a gasp. “That’s not good!”
“No, Sarah, this dress is built on your work.” The person who fixed it wanted me to look and feel beautiful on my wedding day, so it’s a hundred times better.
She opened her mouth, but she didn’t say anything. People around us kept telling me how beautiful and unique my dress was.
Sarah had no choice but to wait and watch.
Michael called out to me, “Come on, love.” “Let’s dance our first dance so I can go to the buffet!” I can’t stop thinking about the roast beef!”
I finally felt happy and smiled, “I’m coming.”
What would you have done?
This work is based on real people and events, but it has been made up for artistic reasons. To protect privacy and make the story better, names, characters, and circumstances have been changed. Any similarity to real people, living or dead, or real events is completely accidental and not on purpose by the author.
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