I'm walking on sunshine [Brita]

Recently, the majority of Frida Trickett's thoughts turned to her upcoming wedding. She couldn't help her excitement, after all, she had waited a very long time for this important milestone in her life and she was overjoyed that her patience had eventually paid off, that after waiting over a decade Fri was finally getting hitched to her soulmate! Though the pair had decided on a fairly lengthy engagement, that hadn't stopped either of them mentioning their forthcoming nuptials at least once a day, whether to each other or their family members. It was, perhaps, a more meaningful event than most weddings (though Frida knew all weddings were important!) since it was bringing some much needed happiness back into both Frida's, and more importantly Leo's, lives after all the heartache they had been through. It was bringing a broken, lost little family back together and already Frida felt like just as part of the Emersons as she did her own Tricketts. She'd known the Emerson family for what felt like her whole life, and the Ministry employee couldn't imagine one second of her life without them.

With that thought in mind, the sunny witch insisted on involving everyone on both sides of her family, so that all her favourite people could get involved in the thrill of planning such a momentous occasion. So far, Frida felt like she and Leo had done an excellent job of splitting up the tasks between them and their families. Just last week, Frida had spoken to her future sister-in-laws Ophelia and Meredith about the cake and catering and she was eager to see what they would come up with. Even with an almost two years engagement, it felt like everything was a whirlwind, that this adventure was happening all so quickly, but the Trickett had never felt happier in her whole life. That was certainly a feat, since the cheerful witch had much joie de vivre to offer.

And so, on a mild sunny day, Frida left the couple's townhouse in Kensington with her heels clicking along the pavement rhythmically to their own little tune, betraying the jolly mood of their owner. It had been a difficult adjustment for Frida when she first moved to London with Leo from her little cottage in Cornwall and while she still missed the beach and countryside, she did appreciate how much quicker it was to meet with everyone. The Trickett was on her way to meet @Brita Trickett for what was probably the most thrilling decision of all wedding decisions. It was a decision that Frida (like most teenage girls) had dreamed about for years... her wedding dress. In her muggle coat pocket, Frida had a small, tattered newspaper clipping dated from when she was just a sixth year at Hogwarts, which had her dream dress on it. In ten years, her opinion of the dress hadn't changed and she was determined to find a similar one.

While Frida was usually an impulsive witch, she had actually thought long and hard about who she wanted to bring dress shopping. Her first thought was to choose among her siblings, but Ragna liked decadent, poofy gowns, Otto would have been useless, and Islof would have loved anything and everything she tried on. Then she thought maybe one of the Emerson siblings, but didn't trust them (with the exception of perhaps Ophelia) not to blab to Leo since they were as excited as she was. The next person she thought of was perfect. Frida loved all of the Tricketts, she really did, but Brita was one Trickett that she had always felt closer to. They were very similar and there was no one's opinion she could have valued more.

Ducking inside the quaint bridal shop entrance, Frida walked up to the counter with a beaming smile exchanging pleasantries with the staff who'd been expecting her, while waiting for the other Trickett to arrive. The shop door soon opened with a jingle of the bell above and Frida immediately ran towards the new arrival, enthusiastically hugging her in greeting. "Brita, hi!" She exclaimed, releasing the other witch and stepping slightly back to follow the staff through to browse the selection of dresses. "Thanks so much for agreeing to help me with this! I can't believe this is finally happening!" She squealed, clapping her hands together in front of her face.

A notable consequence of having many of the Trickett cousins around the same age - it had dried up a little bit in between Freya and some of the littler ones - was the potential for long-term relationships to bloom. Brita was still waiting on Hal and Ruari to get their act together, but at least there was some movement with Frida and Leo. She mostly knew the latter from her drop-ins at Sugar and Spice, but from her interactions with them the juxtaposition of the gentle but generally serious Healer with her bubbly cousin always brought an amused and delighted smile to her face. Surprisingly, their ambition might be one of the more unique things the couple had in common - Frida had always been much more of a go-getter than Brita, despite the many attitude similarities the two of them shared.

In any case, Brita was quite excited about the wedding and she was certainly all in on dress shopping with her cousin. It was the kind of thing most girls liked to imagine at least a few times in their lives, and it was hard to say no to something that combined a hint of secrecy, getting to look at impractical, beautiful, out-of-the-ordinary things, and, eventually, making someone extremely happy. Plus, Brita couldn't deny that she was a little curious about what the process would be like herself - not that there was a wedding impending in the near future or anything, but perhaps there might be in the medium future? Frida had given her an address, but she wasn't sure what else to expect or even how many shops they might be visiting, so Brita attempted to overprepare for any emergencies that might come up. Her bag was filled with things for retouching makeup, putting up hair, snacks in case it took a while, and an instant-printing camera she'd borrowed from a friend. Sometimes it paid to know a lot of people.

Pushing in the door to the shop, she was immediately engulfed in a hug from her cousin. Brita grinned and hugged her back, then followed as they were ushered through by the salespeople, who were all smiles. "Of course, I wouldn't miss it for anything! Bring on the gowns," she declared. Catching the other girl's arm for a second as they proceeded to the back , she leaned over to inquire in a low voice so that the staff couldn't hear. "Wait wait, so three things real quick - budget, what do you have in mind, and accessories yea or nay?" She wanted to be prepared in case the staff tried to pressure her cousin into buying random things she didn't want. Hopefully a good shop wouldn't, but there was always a chance.

Beaming from the aftermath of their happy hug, Frida was loving the enthusiasm from both the shop workers and Brita herself. She had a feeling the day was going to end well, how could it not? Her cousin caught her arm as she walked away to follow where the shop staff were leading to and Fri turned her head to look at Brita immediately, though her body unconsciously continued for a moment longer before stopping completely. She hummed in confusion reflexively, as her cousin asked about budget and the like. The surprised look on Frida's face made it more than obvious that she hadn't really thought about budget until that moment. Typically for the former Hufflepuff, the impulsive witch had just charged full steam ahead, leaping into wedding planning without really thinking. This was exactly why Frida brought along her cousin, she was much better at thinking practically, or thinking at all really, and had already stopped the Ministry worker from getting ahead of herself.

"Oh!" Frida gasped, rapidly trying to think of an answer without making it obvious that she was doing precisely that. She was doing well in Broom Regulatory Control and she certainly had money saved up, so it wasn't like she needed to budget like crazy. And she knew in her heart that Leo wouldn't worry about how Frida looked, but the Emerson family was a fairly influential family and some part of Frida was still desperate not to embarrass her second family and fit in as much as she could. Finally, the older Trickett just sighed. "You know what? I don't really know." Frida admitted, rocking back on her heels a little. "I don't want to go crazy but... I don't wanna look like a hag in a sack either."

Frida glanced away for a second before pulling a small smile back on her face, pulling out the tatty newspaper clipping from her coat pocket but keeping it close to her chest for the time being. "The one dress I had in mind wasn't too expensive at the time but..." Frida trailed off as she discreetly handed Brita the clipping, for the picture did move and Frida was more than aware that muggles were present. "I doubt I'll find the exact one... but I'd like something as similar as possible." She added quickly.

As for accessories, Frida's mind was jumping about all over the place. It made her realise she was really jumping the gun. "Accessories..." She murmured, dragging a hand down her face. "Thank Merlin that you're here to rein me in, Brita!" Frida laughed, because the only other option was to get overwhelmed and cry, and that just wasn't the sunny woman's style. She shook her head with a smile as she racked her brains for what she needed. She needed a veil, of course, but the customary tiara that went with it just wasn't her thing. Frida preferred a flower crown of some sort, maybe sunflowers to fit with the theme. And shoes weren't a problem since she wouldn't need them. That's it really, isn't it? "I need a veil." Frida blurted out, catching herself with a small laugh and continued, "I'd like a flower crown too, but I don't know if we can get that here... and of course, I don't need shoes since its on the beach. Shoes would just be silly!" She giggled again, before grabbing Brita's hand with an appreciative smile. "You're genuinely a lifesaver. I have no clue what I'm doing."

Brita's smile took on hints of concern, her eyebrows raising even as she laughed a little at her cousin's face. She gave her arm a little squeeze, as if to say they would figure it out, but inside Brita was realizing that even if she'd taken care of all the material things in her bag, she really hadn't prepared about all these abstract things. She had no idea what going crazy would be in terms of wedding dresses, even if she had a good idea about how a hag in a sack looked. The last wedding she'd been to was Charlie Baker's, and she assumed all of it must have cost a lot because he could afford it.

Taking the picture in her hand, she let out a little "aww" before narrowing her eyes, throwing a teasing knowing look at her cousin. "Frida, when exactly was 'the time'?" She didn't want the shopkeepers to snatch the paper from her to have a look, so she just indicated it with her head, rubbing the beat-up paper between her fingers. It looked like it might be as much as ten years old, which elicited a horrified thought from Brita about what she would have picked then. Was that when she'd had her brief hippie phase, with the long flowy sleeves everywhere? Luckily for Frida, this dress looked a lot prettier than that, but it was still a big gamble she'd made on her future self, no?

Brita chuckled at the idea of her reining Frida in. Normally Brita was the one out being impulsive, but people did say things were relative. Ben was a good, responsible check. "Your florist can probably do that, to make it match with the other flowers and be fresh? Anyway," she raised her voice so as not to be too rude to the ladies ushering them to the back, "I don't know if you're actually in luck because I don't know what I'm doing either. But that's what these people are here for, right?" she grinned at the staff, turning then to the racks to pinpoint ones in the right general shape. She quickly got mildly absorbed by the first awful ones she saw, though. "Oh wow, how about this one?" she joked, pulling a deep blush-colored mermaid-shaped one with ruffles shaped like giant roses at the bottom, before dissolving into laughter.

ooc: sorry I wasn't exactly sure what she's looking for so I couldn't specify a serious suggestion - I can tack something on if you want or you can just guide!!