Something borrowed, a dress from ‘fairy godmother’
When Carissa had nothing to wear to her own wedding, a very kindly stranger stepped in to save the day
In Carissa (Bishop) Smith’s fairy tale, she had no dress to wear to the ball, thanks to a wicked step-lockdown, and this was especially sad because the ball wasn’t really a ball at all but a wedding — and it was her own.
Oh, she could have worn her working clothes, I suppose, or a barrel or a burlap sack like the paper bag princess. But a bride wants things to be, you know, just right. And it was going all wrong. No fancy hall but, instead, her own backyard. No big guest list. Just her parents, the groom and Duke, the Rottweiler/shepherd mix.
At least her officiant was still available. And they were going to have beautiful flowers, a lovely bouquet that Debbi ordered from Fortinos.
But no dress. The bridal shop was closed. The alterations could not be done. She found something online. Whew. But, by the Friday before the Saturday wedding, the dress still hadn’t arrived. Calls were made. The Monday, two days after the wedding, was the earliest it could arrive. Lot of good that would do.
Oh, everything was turning into a pumpkin, and the party hadn’t even started. And now, says mother-of-thebride Debbi Bishop, Carissa had a migraine headache, which brides are not supposed to get until years into the marriage (rim shot).
Says Debbi: “My daughter Carissa was one of the thousands of brides who had to cancel their weddings due to the coronavirus. But at the last minute, Carissa and her fiancé decided to go ahead and get married because they really wanted it to be May 23.” The anniversary of the day they met.
“They had obtained their licence already just weeks before everything closed down, so they contacted their officiant, and she agreed. They would get married in their backyard. Social distancing, of course. Carissa had ordered a substitute wedding dress online that was to arrive two days before the wedding. I really prayed the dress would arrive on time. If I only knew what was about to transpire.”
As we know, the dress never came. On the Friday, Debbi and Carissa were out in Carissa’s backyard in Rockton, setting it up for the next day. “But,” says Debbi, “Carissa was so sad that she was not going to feel like a bride.”
Then Debbi gets a text from Allison Osterman at the Fortinos floral department with a picture of the finished bouquet. They had ordered one with some very specific flowers that might not have been available. Fearing, almost expecting, further disappointment, Debbi looked at the picture and was overjoyed. Exactly what they’d asked for.
“It was gorgeous,” says Debbi, and so she texted Allison to the effect that this might help lift Carissa’s mood, after the dress disappointment.
When Allison heard that story, she expressed sympathy. Then she did more. She texted Debbi back.
“I think maybe I can do something to help,” said the text. Allison is head of costumes for Theatre Ancaster.
It was Friday, around 5:30 p.m. “She (Allison) said to come down to the (Theatre Ancaster wardrobe) warehouse (on Wilson Street in Ancaster),” says Carissa. “And bring masks.” Allison was already there.
Debbi and Carissa protested that Allison, who’d just gotten off work, should go home to her family and begin her weekend and just send pictures instead, as they didn’t want to detain this kind woman any longer. But Allison insisted.
So Debbi and Carissa arrived, and Allison got right to work. She pulled out seven or eight dresses. Hmmm. No, that one isn’t right. And that one’s got a little tear in it.
And then — there it was, all white. And all right. Carissa spotted it. She tried it on.
Carissa turned to Allison. She said, “You’re my fairy godmother.” The dress was perfect. But now Allison, already having gone above and beyond, went inside out.
She asked Allison to try on the dress inside out and pinned and fitted it, wearing a mask the whole time.
Allison also lent them the steamer.
Early that Saturday morning, says Carissa, Debbi was up sewing in the alterations that Allison had pinned up for them and steamed the dress.
“My daughter was going to look like a bride on her wedding day,” says Debbi, all thanks to this stranger, who went all out.
“She’s the world’s best mom,” says Carissa.
The wedding was magnificent. Carissa’s dad gave her away. Matt Smith, the groom, saw the dress for the first time as Carissa walked down the “aisle.”
And the sun shone over the entire tableau on a day of ideal weather.
Says Debbi, “Allison literally helped make Carissa's wedding perfect. A memory she will have for the rest of her life.”
Says Allison, “I just kept thinking, if this was my daughter or son I’d want someone to do the same.”
The online dress arrived the Monday after, to find the bride already spoken for. Kindness — even faster than the internet.