The Hustler Wedding [Alex Gaskarth]

Chapter Two: The Dress

     Wedding dress shopping is hard, even with a bridal consultant, wedding planner, future mother-in-law, and four of your best friends there to help you. 

     It had been a little more than a month since Alex left on Warped, and I missed him way more than I'd care to admit. We Skyped at least every other day, but it wasn't the same as having him there, especially when Brüno, our wedding planner, insisted I make decisions on things.

     We were somehow getting married at The Herrington, which wasn't in Baltimore, but still close enough that Alex and I agreed on it. The photographs were stunning, and when Lucy came with me to look it over, she made me FaceTime Alex, so he could see what we were seeing. He agreed it was perfect, and would be even more perfect under a layer of snow.

     Then Alex sent Brüno. Brüno was, apparently, the most sought-after wedding planner in Maryland. He was also gayer than a rainbow, and almost impossible to understand through his thick Austrian accent when he got excited. In a way, he was a godsend; he knew everything about everything in terms weddings. He knew what was in, what was out, what was five years ago, and what all the A-List celebrities did at their weddings.

     When we took him dress shopping at Kleinfeld, it was no different. He immediately hit it off with Ciara, the dress consultant, and they spent a good ten minutes discussing wedding dress do's and don't's. When I mentioned my desire to have a shorter gown, he shook his head violently.

     "No, no, it just won't do! Thees is a weenta weddeeng! Long dreasses! Ballgowens! Floor lengt or longa!"

     I turned to Ciara, who was smiling bemusedly. "You heard the boss. Long dresses it is."

     "Any specific figure, or are you open for anything?"

     "Anything," I said quickly. "But I don't want it too outrageously sexy or frilly or sparkly. Maybe some small crystal detail. I like snowflakes. Please don't make me look fat."

     Ciara laughed. "Of course not! I don't know how we could, anyways. You have an amazing figure. Now, come with me, and we can get some dresses for you."

     I took one last glance at my supposedly amazing figure in the mirror, and followed quietly behind her.

     When we got to the dressing room, she sat me down on a small sofa, and smiled. "Okay, now why don't you tell me about your fiancé?"

     I smiled. Talking about Alex was something I could do. "My fiancé's name is Alex Gaskarth, and he's the lead singer and guitarist in All Time Low. We've been together for five years, this November, and he proposed at our friends' wedding. I think a lot of people might think that he's kind of a jerk sometimes, but he's honestly just one of the sweetest guys I've ever met, and..."

     Ciara listened attentively as I threw out fact after fact about Alex and our relationship. In a way, it was sort of soothing, like I was convincing myself that Alex was perfect for me. We were going to be okay. It didn't matter that he wasn't around for the wedding planning. He would be there for the wedding, and that's all I needed.

     "I'm sorry, I'm talking way too much, aren't I?" I half-laughed self-consciously.

     Ciara beamed. "Of course not. I love hearing what brides have to say about their fiancés. It's one of my favourite parts of the job."

     "Really?"

     "Uh-huh. It's the way their eyes light up, and they automatically become more comfortable. If their fiancé is really the one, then it's easy to see it in the bride's expressions."