The Veil Story

Kimara has requested the veil story, so here it is. Kimara, by the way, also served in our mission, so we have a lot of friends in common.

The day before I got married, I was with my mother-in-law (MIL) and my sister-in-law (SIL) wandering around downtown Salt Lake with no clue where to go or what to do about traditional wedding attire. The dress was taken care of (and honestly, I would have liked a big, fancy dress, but I didn't want it enough to go into debt for it), but I had no veil.

My MIL has great faith in the kindness of strangers. She especially has great faith in the kindness of strangers in Salt Lake City, so she suggested we walk into the LDS Church Office building and ask someone for some sort of advice. It helps that she has that gorgeous British accent. It makes people really want to help you when you sound refined, I've noticed, so I have often thought of developing a really good fake British accent; the problem is that I start laughing and give myself away. Anyway, we walked into the office building and proceeded up to the information desk. Two older women were working the desk, and they immediately turned their attention to us. My MIL explained what we were looking for and asked them if they had any good recommendations for some place I could buy, rent, or steal some sort of veil (okay, not steal). One woman blurted, "I have a veil that's been sitting in my closet. My daughter used it for her wedding and left it with me a few months ago. You could use it."

Now, I've often wondered if she immediately felt like taking those words back. She didn't know us at all and here she was offering a veil that probably had some sort of sentimental value to her daughter. Nevertheless, we seized on it and accepted her offer, sight unseen. Addresses and phone numbers were exchanged, and later that evening, we went to her home to collect it. She was very nice about it and had a lovely home.

The veil worked just fine. It was a little heavy in the back, so by the time the reception was coming to an end, it had kind of sagged back so that the ring of flowers was more on the top of my forehead than around my forehead.



Incidentally, an old mission companion of mine, Shannon, who happened to be dating an old mission companion of Husband's, Merlin (gosh, there's another story!), told me she would return the veil. Actually, I asked her to make sure it got back to the kind woman who lent it to me because Merlin lived in the same ward (church congregation) as she did, but he is a guy, and I didn't really want to entrust a guy with something he might not think was all that important. Shannon solemnly promised she would get it back (and she did), and I met that woman again at Shannon and Merlin's wedding reception a few months later. It's a small, small world.