Date: Fri, 18 Jan 2002 16:55:36 -0500
From: Joyce Devries <joyce_devries@hotmail.com>
Subject: Bridesmaid-For-Real 1

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