Alice Fletcher left the office of Woods and Guyer with the intent of finding something to wear for her wedding, and the desire to see what Mister Worchester Pettigrew might have on hand was overwhelming. This was not something that she had planned, but the moment she stepped on the boardwalk, that feeling engulfed her. So she made her way to the dress shop, which would already be open for business.
The dress she wanted to find would be simple but elegant for the occasion. Every woman, it seemed, wanted the finest gown they could afford, or their father could pay for, but she was a realist. She knew that Speed was having suits made, which he would need for business. He would likely want to wear one for the ceremony, whether in church or with the judge.
This was a determined woman who walked up to the door of 'Pettigrew & Packham Corsets.' She paused a moment, looking into the window at three beautiful gowns, none of which were appropriate for a wedding, so she turned the white porcelain knob and stepped inside to see Miss Jemima Wigfall at the counter as the business had just opened.
"Good morning, Jemima." She greeted.
@Javia
"THERE'S SOMEBODY AT THE DOOR!!!"
"Good morning, Jemima." She greeted.
Jemima looked up with that calm, half-witted look on her face.
"Hello Miss Fletcher. How may we help Madame today?" she repeated mechanically the phrase that Mr Pettigrew liked them to use.
Pettigrew himself appeared, flouncing in a rather burlesque manner through the blue velvet curtains that let to the 'back of house' area where all the real work at the drapers took place.
"Ahhhhhhhhh!!" he sighed, wobbling to a stop and, taking in Alice and fluttering his chubby pink hands in the air, "What do I see here, Miss Wigfall?! Do I see an ordinary woman, come to my modest emporium to purchase a drab frock to wear in the dusty street or within the mundane confines of the home? NO! Emphatically I see a fiancée! YES!! A fiancée! who requires a fairy Godmother to transform her into a fairy Queen!!"
There were probably enough fairies around this place for Jemima's taste, but she gave the bald man with the ginger comb-over his due, and murmured to Alice the intelligence that "He always knows."
Wayfarer (If you want to play Miriam - I know you love to)
"Good morning Mister Pettigrew. I am here for a wedding dress. Yes, one that will make my groom smile. Not a gown, but a dress, white, of course, and a bit, I'd say on the formal side. Something that will flatter myself and Marshal Guyer, who I know has commissioned suits from you." She responded with her ideas on the matter.
The dress would likely see some use on business trips with Speed for the Copper Queen mining business. Speed had spoken of trips that would be necessary in the near future for several ventures as well as equipment purchases, and dealings with the Territorial government for licenses and such.
"Where are the snows of yesterday" - Villon
"Good morning Mister Pettigrew. I am here for a wedding dress. Yes, one that will make my groom smile. Not a gown, but a dress, white, of course..."
"Of course!" echoed Wuz gallantly, while Jemima wondered how much of an 'of course' that 'of course' was! And to be fair, when it came to wedding dresses, Mr Pettigrew himself always took into account the possible factor of rapid shape change and tummy growth as the big day approached.
"... and a bit, I'd say on the formal side. Something that will flatter myself and Marshal Guyer, who I know has commissioned suits from you." She responded with her ideas on the matter.
"Miss Fletcher, let us forget the Marshall's suit! Messers Patterson Forde have taken over that commission, and believe me, their work will be perfect, yet nobody, NOBODY! will be looking at it, all eyes will be on you, my dear!" he assured her.
"Patterson Forde? I don't believe I know the name. There are two of them?" She questioned. "I would have thought that you would be making his suit. I didn't know we had a men's tailor in town. However, that has nothing to do with my visit to you, sir. I am here solely for myself and for a dress that will be used after the ceremony for business trips to our Capital, and likely to the east as well."
"Actually, I will probably need more than the one dress, but the others can wait, as this one is far more important." She added, though she did like the idea that all eyes would be on her at their nuptials. The ceremony would have to forgo flowers, this was not the East after all. And, wild flowers were just not the same.
"Where are the snows of yesterday" - Villon
"Patterson Forde? I don't believe I know the name. There are two of them?" She questioned.
"There's a about a hundred of them!" murmured Wus.
"I would have thought that you would be making his suit. I didn't know we had a men's tailor in town."
"It's the store right next door to this one... the one with the big sign that says 'Forde Patterson Forde - Men's Tailor' in big letters" put in Jemima.
"Ahem! That will be all, Miss Wigfall... go and, er, sort out the button drawer!" Mr Pettigrew ordered. The dress shop was no place for sarcasm, especially when aimed toward customers!
"However, that has nothing to do with my visit to you, sir. I am here solely for myself and for a dress that will be used after the ceremony for business trips to our Capital, and likely to the east as well."
Worcester Pettigrew was an artist... a painter in cloth, one might say... but he was also a businessman.
"Well, ur, I suppose I could make something that would serve as a general dress for business as well, but my dear Miss Fletcher, it would lack that special panache that is so important in a wedding gown! My advice would be to order something separately for such meetings, I can bring such a garment remarkably cheaply without sacrificing quality and wear. That way... why, we can make your nuptial frock simply stunning!!" he pitched the idea with the utmost conviction in his voice.
"Actually, I will probably need more than the one dress, but the others can wait, as this one is far more important." She added, though she did like the idea that all eyes would be on her at their nuptials.
"I am so glad that we are in agreement" rumbled Wus, giving a stately bow: the effect of which was spoiled by Jemima happening to open the cash register at that point with a loud "Ker-ching!!"
"Ahem... now, about flowers, and especially your bouquet? All must blend and match perfectly, of course..." he enquired unctuously.
"It's the store right next door to this one... the one with the big sign that says 'Forde Patterson Forde - Men's Tailor' in big letters" put in Jemima.
"I have no idea how one could miss that, but I surely did." Alice admitted. "I should probably pay more attention to the things around me."
And the conversation went on about the need for more than one dress, the cash register being opened, and, Alice's struggle with the idea of a wedding gown as well.
"Ahem... now, about flowers, and especially your bouquet? All must blend and match perfectly, of course..." he enquired unctuously.
Flowers? Out here? I, I hadn't thought about flowers, or even where one would get them outside of going out and picking the local wild flowers." She admitted. And then she thought to ask Wus a question, if not several questions. "Now let me ask you a question or two, aside from the flowers, I mean, about the dress and the gown we've been tussling with. I take it that you also plan weddings?" That was the first of them, and as often is the case, others simply rushed from the grey matter to the mouth, and out into the air.
"Now, about the cost? I have my own money from the mine, and cost is not the problem, knowing it is. If you plan weddings for people, how much do you charge for that, or is it included in the cost of the gown? I realize that the dress is separate, and would no longer need to be white; it should be a more business-like color. And, with the Wedding in June, can the gown be completed in time? There, I think that's all the questions I have."
"Where are the snows of yesterday" - Villon
"Well fan mah brow, that's a mighty lot of questions, Miss Fletcher!" Wuz chuckled "But, at the end of the day, it all boils down to just how fancy you and Mr Guyer wish this affair to be and how much the father of the bride is willing to splash out... it would be traditional for Mr Conroy to be paying for all, of course."
He had something to say about the organization of the Wedding.
"Now, a simple wedding needs no planning - apart from reconciling any religious differences in the ceremony itself... uh, if it is not too indelicate a question, uh, to which religious denominations do you and Mister Guyer belong?"
"On the other hand..." the rotund dressmaker went on "... if it is a big swell affair you require, it's not so much organization as hiring folks to do different jobs, that's the key. I'd suggest Mrs Warbouys for the flowers... you'll be wanting to check with Miss Mudd for the music as you glide down the aisle... the 'Wedding Breakfast: Mrs Lutz could organise that or the folks at the Hotel; if you want music for a wedding dance afterwards... now that's getting into the realms of real fancy, you'd want to Miss Grimes - I believe that she will be putting together an ensemble for the upcoming barn dance. And so it goes on, ever more expensive!" he warned.
Alioce paused for a long moment; somehow, she had not thought of all the hands that went into making a wedding what it was. It seemed that it was the father of the bride who bore the brunt of whatever expenses were entailed. It was a holdover from the old dowery system of property, or money brought by a bride to her husband on their marriage. And how or why did that come to mind? Not only that, why in Heaven's name was that still in practice? Was it still in practice?
"So then, if I want a glorious wedding, it is expected that what? Does the bride, or her father, pay for everything? Is that how this works?" She asked, the wheels already turning. Alice Fletcher, an officer with the Copper Queen Corporation, already drew a salary that was deposited in the Kalispell bank. A woman with her own money, not the only one in town, to be sure, but a woman with money.
"So then, Mister Pettigrew, what you are saying is, I, or my father, would pay for all of these expenses? Marshal Guyer is a catch, but, after all, he is only a man who happens to have a good job, owns two mines, and has a thriving mining and mineral business. That being said, I, with your help, will plan this wedding for him, the way that I want it!"
In the rebellious moment, she hit on something almost without knowing it. "It would appear, sir, that you are not fond of the ceremony planning part of this affair. What if I were to set up a wedding planning business to take care of all of the details for the bride, not that most men would care how the day went, I am positive the women would."
"Where are the snows of yesterday" - Villon
"So then, Mister Pettigrew, what you are saying is, I, or my father, would pay for all of these expenses? Marshal Guyer is a catch, but, after all, he is only a man who happens to have a good job, owns two mines, and has a thriving mining and mineral business. That being said, I, with your help, will plan this wedding for him, the way that I want it!"
"You plan away, Miss Fletcher" Wus nodded "But let your father pay. It's not the money, so much, but his reputation... you wouldn't want folks saying 'he didn't even pay for his daughter's wedding' now, would you?" the fat man counselled.
In the rebellious moment, she hit on something almost without knowing it. "It would appear, sir, that you are not fond of the ceremony planning part of this affair. What if I were to set up a wedding planning business to take care of all of the details for the bride, not that most men would care how the day went, I am positive the women would."
Mr Pettigrew chuckled: Miss Fletcher had the true yankee can do spirit, always looking for a new business opportunity. "Why not? It's really just a matter of co-ordination and tact. I mean, if you were to pick out a canary yellow wedding dress design with pink polka-dots, it would be my solemn duty to steer you away from such an obnoxious idea, but in such a way that you didn't feel you'd been strong-armed by your dressmaker. You see the conundrum. If you think that you have tact enough for such work, the business could well be a go" he ruminated.