My Wedding Dress

Ha, ha. As if. Today is my third wedding anniversary. That wonderful day in 2003, I wore a red strapless satin Jessica McClintock gown. I tried to find a picture of it on the Internet, and this is the only red strapless satin Jessica McClintock "gown" (I use the term loosely) image I could find. Not the same. (And boy have things changed in 3 years; I'm glad I got married when I did. 2006 sure does seem to be the year of the ruffle. Yikes. "Do you, miss Ruffle, I mean, satin explosion, I mean, the dress that ate New York, take this poor unsuspecting man. . .")I'd like to think I looked glamorous in an elegant, romantic way, not like an Alicia-Silverstone-rock-the-cradle-of-love-video vixen.

A few of my favorite moments from that day (there were many, but in the interest of not putting any readers to sleep):

• Spending an insane amount of time (typically at work) poring over the Going Bridal website. She postponed her wedding about a month after I got married and had she done so before I got married, I'm not sure I would have made it. The Calvalcade of Bad Bridal Fashion got me through many a near bridal meltdown.
• Having my "girl time" at the salon - getting manicures and pedicures with my gal pals. I still remember the color I had my toenails painted - OPI (of course) silver. I bought myself the whole bottle (in case touch-ups were necessary), only to drop it on ceramic tile and have it explode all over our foyer months later. I think it was called "Kyoto Pearl." Whatever it was called, I loved it and I'm completely bummed that they don't make it anymore.
• Checking in at the Ritz; my husband-to-be was already checked in and out on a run (I know.) The very nice front desk clerk was inexplicably confused by our situation and I said, "Please, you have to let me in our room. I'm getting married in three hours." And a very nicely dressed man standing behind me said, "You're amazingly calm for someone who's getting married in three hours." I don't know why, but I was very flattered.
• A nice employee at the Ritz who delivered a beautiful cake (heart-shaped, I believe and in the same colors and flavors as our wedding cake) to our room - a gift from my wonderful friend and matron of honor (and her husband) - the first of many wonderful surprises that evening.
• Walking into our wedding/reception space and feeling like I was walking onto a movie set. My wedding planner (and friend) had purchased 75 red roses and rose petals were everywhere. I thought the effect was stunning.
• Dancing with my husband to "At Last" - and we didn't really have a dance floor or dancing per se, so it was even more romantic.
• Eating! I vowed that this would not be like my disastrous first wedding (and first marriage, but again, another story) and I would actually eat the food. Bring on the garlic mashed potatoes served in large martini glasses. The best!
• It was really, truly, the happiest day of my life. Perfect. If I get around to it, I may post the menu later. (Can you tell the food was really, really important to me?)