for eight hundred people was a major undertaking, and was like planning a war with a happy ending. It was going to be the grandest wedding San Francisco had ever seen, and they would have friends and relatives coming from New York and Boston. She asked Eleanor for a list of the friends she wanted to invite, and she wanted the same from Alex, but most of the guests would be her and Charles’s friends, which was the tradition.
* * *
—
The first fitting of the muslin was very exciting. Two of the premieres were there to make adjustments and copious notes, the directrice of haute couture, and of course Madame Lanvin herself, who arrived frowning, in anticipation of all the things she knew she wouldn’t like. She embraced Eleanor and shook hands with her mother, and then the muslin was fitted to Eleanor’s body. It looked like a finished gown, in a fine cotton. It fit her like a glove, with barely a ripple here and there, which Madame Lanvin pointed to immediately, and the premieres corrected with pins. The premieres and Madame Lanvin stood staring at every inch of the muslin, looking at flaws that would betray them later if not altered on the muslin. It took them an hour. And then they had Eleanor choose the style shoes she wanted. Eleanor chose the style which Madame Lanvin preferred for the gown, with the heel height she felt was right for it. Then they measured Eleanor again for the undergarments that would be made for the dress. Nothing was left to chance. She would be wearing haute couture from the inside out and from head to toe.
They took several road trips that week, to explore some of the chateaux outside Paris, Chateau de Cheverny, where they loved the tulip garden, and Chateau de Villandry, with beautiful formal gardens. At the next fitting, the muslin fit perfectly. There was only one tiny detail Madame Lanvin wanted changed. She felt the waist was a centimeter too high, and wanted it lowered. Other than that, she seemed satisfied and disappeared quickly.
At the next fitting, the panels of lace had been basted into place. It looked like a finished dress to Eleanor, but to Madame Lanvin, it was far from it, and still a work in progress. The fittings with the muslin had paid off. The dress fit Eleanor without a single flaw or ripple. There was nothing to change, and the next week felt like waiting for a baby to be born. Eleanor could hardly wait to see it, and Louise was as excited as she was.
The final fitting, when it came, made every moment they had spent in Paris worthwhile. Eleanor stood before them looking like a vision in her incredibly beautiful wedding gown. Every detail was flawless, the embroidery was exquisite. All the tiny pearls sewn on the lace were perfectly placed. There were a hundred tiny buttons down the back. The undergarments fit her like a second skin, and when they placed the veil on her head, both Eleanor and her mother cried. Eleanor had never felt so beautiful in her life or looked so spectacular. It was the wedding gown to end all wedding gowns. Madame Lanvin smiled when she saw her.
“Yes…yes…it is very nice. The lace is just the right one for this dress,” and then she looked at Eleanor seriously, and said, “You are a beautiful bride, and a beautiful woman. You will look wonderful on your wedding day.”
“Thanks to you,” Eleanor said in a hushed voice. She stood there staring at her reflection and couldn’t believe it was her in the mirror. She couldn’t wait for Alex to see her in the dress.
“We will have a box made for it. It will be delivered to your hotel before you sail,” Madame Lanvin promised. She kissed Eleanor on both cheeks then, and wished her a happy wedding, and the magician who had created the miraculous gown disappeared. Louise made the final arrangements with them, which Charles was handling from the bank, through a correspondent bank in Paris, and they left a few minutes later. Eleanor felt as though she were walking on air.
“Mama, how can I ever thank you for a dress like that? It’s so beautiful I’m almost afraid to touch it.”
“You will touch it, and wear it, and you’ll be the most beautiful bride anyone has ever seen. And you and Alex will live happily ever after.” She smiled at her daughter