The Dress
- sarahwilk24
- Nov 11, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 19, 2025
932 pieces | Balody: RoseMeet
Assembled by Vanessa Reyes, Mike Alfare; February 2025
Interaction Rating: 3 / 5 (interaction with the set is okay, but only with help from an adult)
September 2, 2023
On a sunny Sunday morning, Hunter and Sarah visited the Carytown shopping district in Richmond to try and find some gifts for one of Sarah's friends, Nena (who they would soon be visiting in Chattanooga), and to look for a temporary ring that Sarah could wear while her engagement ring was in the shop for repairs. The pearl had randomly fallen out while Sarah was sitting on their screened porch earlier that week. Fortunately, the pearl was retrievable with pliers from where it had fallen between the cracks in the wooden floorboards to the mosquito netting below. They found plenty of gifts for Nena, but weren't having any luck finding a temporary ring. They ended up in Lex's of Carytown, a formal dress shop, as the last place Sarah could think of to look for a ring option. While there were no rings in sight, Sarah figured they might as well take advantage of the fact that they were in a dress shop and have Sarah try on her first potential wedding dresses (even though Hunter was there). Hunter is a good sport and played along. She tried on a handful of dresses in different colors and didn't mind showing them to Hunter, since none of them were genuine contenders. They left without a ring or a dress, but fortunately, Sarah's real ring could be easily repaired and would be ready for pick-up a few days later.
November 11, 2024
When it was time to get serious about finding a wedding dress, Sarah left Hunter behind and went back to Lex's of Carytown with her dear friend, Vanessa. Sarah's mom was in Arizona at the time, or otherwise would have joined them. Sarah knew she didn't want a traditional white dress, but beyond that, she was open to trying just about anything. They set off looking through the racks and pulling about 10 dresses that would likely fit and caught their eye because of color, shape/cut, or other unique details. Then it was time for Sarah to disappear into the dressing room, where an attendant helped zip her into each dress and walk out to the pedestal in front of the trifold mirror. Sarah had a blast watching Vanessa's reactions to each dress. It was a quiet day in the shop, so the store attendants were also very invested in my dress selection process. It was one of the very last dresses that Sarah tried on that gave her a feeling of excitement; it just felt right. Vanessa and the store attendants loved how it looked on Sarah and how it coordinated with her sleeve tattoo. Sarah wasn't ready to buy that day, but she couldn't stop thinking about the dress in the months that followed. Soon after, Sarah went back with her mom to show it to her, and she agreed that the dress was "very Sarah." They'd go back in February 2025 one final time to purchase the dress. Sarah can't wait for everyone to see it!
Dresses Sarah tried on while shopping with Vanessa that were contenders, but none could compare to The Dress!