wedding dresses

Had fun going wedding dress shopping with Helen yesterday afternoon. We started at the bottom of Spadina and worked our way up, then to the west to Queen and Bathurst. The shops we visited ranged from tiny offices lined with racks of remainders and discontinued styles to plush galleries where dresses were exhibited on busts and you could sit by a fireplace and drink tea (presumably while recovering from seeing the hefty price tags).





I'd forgotten how much fun shopping for wedding dresses can be. When else in your life can you try on drop-dead gorgeous dresses you know you can never afford but want to see what you look like? Helen had intended to also try on drop-dead ugly dresses for fun and for me to photograph a few (I was pushing for her to try on a shiny mermaid-style wedding gown), but this didn't quite work out mainly because of all the shops we visited, only one let me take photos. The shop that did allow it warned us that most bridal shops are paranoid about photos because they're worried about design ideas being stolen.





Helen's running commentary as she tried on the dresses was pretty amusing, and had one shop clerk laughing so hard that I thought she was going to drop the dress she was holding. I don't think she's ever had a customer quite like Helen before. :-)


Helen didn't buy anything, but did see some dresses she didn't totally hate. By late afternoon, we were both suffering from wedding dress overload and were hallucinating about beads and sequins and white lace, and all the options were starting to blend into one.





Helen's friend Adina joined us at the last shop, and then we went across the road to have tea and split a maple-pumpkin pastry. Then Adina went to dinner with other friends, and Helen and I opted for the Festive Special at a new Swiss Chalet that opened just down the road from my apartment (I think I mentioned recently how much I love Festive Specials).


Met Amanda at the Paramount for an early evening showing of Harry Potter. It was Amanda's and my fourth time, Helen's first. I am shocked to report that Helen was (I can barely say it) NOT ALL THAT CRAZY ABOUT THE HARRY POTTER MOVIE, and she disliked Ron's character (!!!). Sheesh! Maybe drycleaning chemicals had seeped into her skin from all the dresses she had been trying on. :-)





It was fun commiserating with Amanda about being so sick of the same pre-show commercials and trailers. I think that alone will keep me from seeing Harry Potter in the theatres again. Plus I think four times is enough, even for someone like me. :)


After Harry Potter, we met Jeff and Bryan to help them move into their new office space, which is part of the office of One Trick Pony. Very cool space, even nicer than our old Inkspot office.





I'd be jealous except that the fact that Jeff moving into his own office space means that he won't be home, which means I'll get more work done, woohoo! ;-)





Blatherpics:


- First three pics were taken at the first wedding dress shop that Helen and I visited on Spadina Avenue.


- Adina met us at the last shop, and then we went across the street to a tea shop.


- Amanda and Helen at the Paramount, just before the showing of Harry Potter.


- Amanda and Helen helping Bryan and Jeff move into their new office space. Note the fervent expression of ecstatic exertion on both their faces.


- Amanda and Helen briefly rest in the new office space after their efforts.




Today's Poll: (Suggest a question)

Have you ever been a member of a wedding party? (not including groom or bride)