Take Her Dress

Besides the crime blotter, I love the local papers because you will find things out that you never would have anywhere else. This week, for example, the front page of The Brooklyn Paper has a story about a woman who is giving away her never opened, never worn $3000 wedding dress.

Apparently, Elisa Zuritsky bought the dress from an East Village bridal shop that ended up closing and the owner's "it'll be here next week" string-along lasted until the week before her wedding, when Elisa high-tailed to Kleinfeld's to get an emergency backup. Her original dress then did arrive--three days before her wedding, still needing alterations--just to mock her.

Now, being a writer (she wrote for SATC and Six Degrees, the latter of which I actually watched but seemingly no one else did. Digression: I realize I saw Hope Davis the day before the show was cancelled at a preview of The Year of Magical Thinking. Fab purse, but she didn't look very happy. Probably b/c her show was getting canned.), Elisa decided someone with the best tale of woe should get her dress for free, so the dress has the happy ending it was supposed to have:

I want to know that all the time and aggravation and money spent finding a dress in which to get married was not in vain, but rather to ease the path of another bride-to-be, who's trying to hold onto her sanity, savings, and sense of humor against all odds.

No money is needed to enter this contest, just your own personal Tale of Woe. Right about now, you might be wondering why being engaged isn't the happiest time of your life. Maybe it's been incredibly stressful. Maybe, in other words, you're normal. Consider this your invitation to vent, kvetch, whine, complain. I promise not to judge you.

Well, that's not entirely true. I'll be selecting the winner, so technically I will be judging you. It's hard to say what I'll be basing my decision on right now; I'm just looking for Ms. Right.

When I find you, I'll open the box, say my good-byes to The Dress, and send it on its merry way, free of charge. The only thing I ask for in return is a photo of you, in The Dress, at your wedding.

At the end of the contest, the winning entry will be announced on this site and posted here, along with excerpts from some of my other favorites. (If your Tale of Woe implicates a family member or friend and you don't want more woe, feel free to specify that your story be posted anonymously.)