The dream wedding dress ended up being a nightmare when bride-to-be Elisa Zuritsky didn't get her dress until three days before her big day. Elisa got a back-up dress for the wedding, but she still kept her "dream dress" in a box, unopened. Then she decided to have a contest to give it away. She asked brides-to-be to tell her their tales of woe. Weekend America Guest Host John Moe speaks with Elisa Zuritsky as well as the winner of the dream wedding dress.
The Winning Entry
For posting purposes, the author requested to be known as "Ann."
I have never professed to be a storyteller, so here it goes...
My fiance is an active duty Army officer, and I am a civil engineer and former Army officer, anxiously awaiting his return from Iraq so we can start our life together as married folks.
Our target date was 22 March 2008, but thanks to our fabulously wealthy and slightly tyrannical Uncle Sam, I am being called back up to active duty and sent to Iraq. My dear fiance will spend our wedding day alone unless I can figure out how to somehow get him back from Iraq, marry him (in a most elegant manner befitting our undying love for each other) and then promptly strap on my own combat boots, hand off the keys to the car/home, and get about some war-mongering of my own. Grrrr.
In order to pull this off, I will need a fabulous dress to knock his combat boots off, and though I could go find an off the rack dress in a pinch, why turn down an opportunity to find something fabulous and fast. Incidentally, comes home in August... I deploy in September. I am not leaving this country without his ring on my finger; even if we have to go down to the JP in our Sunday best to do it! Huahhh!
Thanks for helping make this frustrating situation just a little more fun. I look forward to reading all the other tales of woe, because after all: misery loves company.
"Ann" from Texas
Then, on June 2, I received the following email from Ann:
It's beginning to look like Gary and I are going to become one of those couples you see on the news who get married via Video Tele-Conference. To add to our original tale of woe, we got word that my wonderful fiance got extended by three months putting his return home in November. If you will remember, I deploy in September. We will both be in Iraq for a short time but at different bases, of course, and a very nasty "triangle of death" between us. Then he comes home and I have to stay there. I wonder if they have any Vegas-style chapels in Bagdad.
Looks like I won't be needing your fabulous dress after all, so I am going to withdraw from the competition. Best of luck finding a worthy bride to gve your dress away to.
It didn't seem fair to disqualify Ann because our country is at war, and both she and her fiance would be in the line of fire. So I wrote back to her about two weeks later, to give her the option to stay in the running. Here's what I got back:
To be sure, our circumstances change constantly. Since I last wrote to you, it turns out that my orders were issued in error (very complicated story, but it pays off to pay attention to little details... take that, Uncle Sam!). I am now not going to Iraq (happy dance!)... but then there goes the "woe" that qualified my application in the first place. Hmmmm. So throw me back in the competition, but keep in mind that my situation is now only uncomfortable... not quite woeful : Surely there is a more desperate (and deserving) bride than myself. If you choose me, I will happily wear the dress, and will be sure to pass it along in a similar fashion. I love what you did, and would be overjoyed to make this free dress a travelling dress.
Soooo... current plan is for us to elope to Colorado on January 18th after my dear soldier returns home to me in November...
Warmest regards,Ann
Ann, in my book, it's plenty woeful to be in one part of the world while your fiance fights a war in another. I absolutely couldn't imagine it. And I admired your sense of humor and humility throughout the twists and turns of your own call to duty, before it was reversed. So, thank you for entering this contest, and thank you for giving my dress a reason to celebrate!
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