Lily looked at herself in Elsa's long mirror. 'I don't know. It's a bit – dreck. Looks like net curtains.'

‘It could certainly do with a wash,' said Elsa briskly. 'Try the next one.’

Sarah and Lily had gone round to Elsa's for her professional advice. Sarah had had a trawl of the local charity shops to see if anything was suitable. Lily had been forced to come round to the idea of a 'pre-loved' dress, but not willingly, despite being reassured that Sarah would make sure it was dry-cleaned thoroughly before Lily's big day.

Now, Sarah handed over the next offering. This had big hoops, lots of beading and was grubby round the hem. 'Here you are, but don't let the label drop off. I can take back the ones we don't use but I must remember which charity shop they came from.'

‘I can't believe they let you do a sale or return,' said Elsa, hooking up Lily.

Sarah shrugged. 'It took a bit of sweet-talking but that's my job.' Then she sighed. Sometimes she found her job very difficult. Lily was proving to be even more demanding than her A-list client.

‘Oh!' Lily squeaked. 'That's too tight.’

No one spoke for a few seconds. 'I think that could be described as a pregnant pause,' said Sarah.

Elsa and Lily glared at her.

‘I could let it out if you love it,' said Elsa. 'I might have to sew an extra bit of material into the bodice. I'll check the seam allowance.'

‘Don't bother. I hate it.' Lily plucked at it and sniffed, fighting tears. 'I can't believe I can't fit into that dress just because I've got a tadpole swimming about inside me. What size is it?’

Sarah and Elsa exchanged glances. 'About eight to ten, I should say,' said Elsa, tactfully. 'They don't often have the size in them,' she added.

‘Take it off,' said Sarah. 'You've still got a couple more to try. If only I could have got to one of those charity shops that specialise in wedding dresses, I might have found better ones.' She took the dress from Elsa and put it into its bag. 'That's still an option if none of these are any good, but we are getting short of time.’

The last dress was much better and billowed generously round Lily's still slender form. 'Oh, I like this!' said Lily. 'This must be a size twelve.'

‘Don't get so obsessed with sizes,' said Elsa. 'I'm going to pin this so it fits you and you can see what you think.'

‘I don't suppose you've got any wine, Elsa,' said Lily. 'I can't help feeling this would be a lot less stressful if we had a little glass of white.'

‘No alcohol until Bron gets here,' said Sarah firmly. 'She's bringing a takeaway round at seven. Anyway, I thought you were off it.'

‘Sometimes I am, sometimes I'm not. Don't be a spoilsport,' said Lily. Sarah was just about to protest when Lily went on, 'What's that dress up there, under the muslin?'

‘Ng,' said Elsa, her mouth full of pins. She took them out. 'That's the ball gown I was telling you about. For the ball I'm going to with Laurence.'

‘Oh, can we see it?' asked Sarah, needing a break from shop-soiled wedding dresses, even if they were 'pre-loved'.

‘Oh, let's,' agreed Lily, probably bored with them too.

Elsa went across and removed the muslin cover from her dress. She was pleased with it. It had little puff sleeves and a bodice in pale blue. The dress split just under the bust revealing a primrose-coloured underskirt. The edges of the gown were trimmed with tiny embroidered flowers, with the odd seed pearl picking up the colours. It had been a real labour of love.

‘That's fantastic! I can't believe you made that,' said Sarah.

‘Thank you for your confidence, 0 Great Provider of Two Important Clients,' said Elsa dryly.

‘Oh, you know what I mean. It's just it's so exquisite. How did you find the time to do all that embroidery?' Sarah was peering at it closely.

‘I cheated. That's some very fancy ribbon. I sewed on the pearls. It's effective, isn't it?'

‘Extremely! You really should take this up professionally,' said Sarah, giving Elsa's arm a playful push. 'That's what I want!' declared Lily. 'That's my dress!’

‘Actually, it's my dress,' murmured Elsa.

‘I mean, that is exactly the sort of dress I want!' Lily was pointing at the gown as if she were trying to put a spell on it, possibly to make it fit her perfectly.

Both the other women looked at the ball gown and then back at Lily.

‘Something like that could work well,' said Elsa. 'The bump would be quite unobtrusive.'

‘There won't be a bump!' declared Lily.

‘There probably will be,' said Sarah, for what felt like the millionth time. 'But it will hardly show. That's a lovely idea, Lily, well done!'

‘Do you want to have a white wedding, everything traditional?' asked Elsa.

‘My mother-in-law does,' said Lily. 'What we want doesn't seem to be important.'

‘The dress is always the bride's choice,' said Sarah, 'especially if there isn't a mother to be pacified. No, Lily, I'm not saying it's a good thing we haven't got Mum any more, but it is one less person to consult on things.'

‘Right,' said Elsa, 'put the first one back on.'

‘But we hated that. It was all grubby.'

‘And a bit tight,' added Sarah, ignoring Lily's frown. 'Never mind about that. I've got an idea.' Elsa was on a roll. 'Come on, Lily.'

‘Couldn't I try on your dress?' Lily asked as she struggled into the dress. 'It's so much nicer.'

‘You can, but later. I want to see what I can do with this one.' She stepped back, her head on one side. 'Dye it, that's the first thing. I think a soft apricot.'

‘Yes,' said Sarah, warming to the idea. 'I like that. What about you, Lily?'

‘Apricot's cool. After all, I shouldn't really wear white. I'm not a virgin.’

As the proof of this was already showing, the other two didn't comment.

‘And then we need an underskirt. If you liked pale yellow, I've got some material left over from my dress,' Elsa said. 'In fact, let me go and see what other scraps I've got. This is going to be good!’

Elsa's enthusiasm was catching. She brought back a bag of bits and Sarah and Lily rummaged through them.

‘Actually,' Elsa went on, 'although it's dirty, this is quite good material. I'll take out the sleeves and give you little puff ones, like I've got – you've got good arms so that's a perfect look for you.’

Lily looked at an arm, trying to admire it underneath the bulky satin.

‘Are you sure you'll have time to do this, Elsa?' asked Sarah.

‘Of course. It shouldn't take too long. Now, Lily, take it off,' ordered Elsa, 'and let's have a good look.’

With the dress back in her hand she examined it a bit more closely. 'Yes, I can put in an extra panel with the material from the sleeves.' There was a terrifying rip as Elsa demolished a seam. 'Don't worry, I know what I'm doing.' Seeing Sarah and Lily looking a little anxious as she picked up her shears, she said, 'Why don't you try on my dress, Lily? Sarah, you help her. I won't be a minute here, then I'll make you a sketch.’

Elsa was perched on her chair unpicking a seam a little more carefully than the one she'd dealt with before and Lily had finally taken off the ball gown. Not that Elsa was proprietorial about her clothes but she was glad to see it safely hanging up again, unscathed.

‘It's so gorgeous!' she kept saying, 'and my bump hardly shows at all!’

As this was the first time she'd acknowledged she had a bump, or at least one bigger than a tadpole, Sarah felt this was progress.

‘Bron will be here with the takeaway soon,' she said. 'Cover Elsa's dress up again in case something bad happens to it.'

‘Is Bron nice?' asked Lily. 'She does hair and make-up, doesn't she? Could she do mine?'