I just got married two years ago.
Can we put a picture of my cute husband right here?
See?
Look how cute he is.
So I know firsthand how special it
is to go wedding dress shopping with the people
that you love the most.
So when I got a letter from a bride-to-be named Sarah asking
me to go wedding dress shopping with her,
I knew we had to make this a first ever she would never
forget.
Here we go.
11 years ago, Ellen made my dreams
come true by giving me my first ever job right here
on the Ellen DeGeneres Show.
We want to offer you a job here.
Oh my god!
And now I'm paying it forward by helping some very special Ellen
fans do incredible things for the first time ever.
This is Life's First Evers, presented by Dove Ice Cream.
My name's Sarah and I live in Camarillo, California,
and I'm a teacher.
I'm originally from Nova Scotia, Canada.
My fiance's name is Will and we have a 15-month-old daughter
named Ellie.
Will is a Navy pilot and he's stationed here
at Point Mugu in Ventura County.
My daughter Ellie has all kinds of personality.
Just to watch her experience new things every day
is just amazing.
She's kind of the heart of our little family.
I love living in California so much,
it feels like such a blessing to be
able to live in this part of the world.
But it is tough being away from Nova Scotia,
I really miss my family.
What's prevented us from getting together
is mostly time and money.
Finding the time to be able to travel so far away
and the expense of traveling has really been a factor.
Being away from the people you love
is the most difficult part about deployment.
It's the most heartbreaking, it's one that wears on you the
hardest.
At the same time, Sarah's been absolutely amazing.
You would never notice how hard it is for her.
I can't wait to marry Sarah and spend the rest
my life with her.
My wedding is in two months and I don't have a wedding dress.
My dream scenario of wedding dress shopping
would be having my mom and my sister
and my closest friends with me.
But if that can't happen, I would love to go with Jeannie.
She is always giving back and she seems so fun
and has so much energy, and I think
we would have a great time.
She has no idea what is about to happen.
Here we go.
Oh my god!
I can't believe you're here!
It's so good to meet you.
It's so good to see you.
Come on in.
All right, here we go.
This is so beautiful.
Thank you.
Thank you so much for coming.
OK, I have to see your ring.
Let me see it.
Oh my gosh.
What has the process been like for you?
It's definitely been challenging with having
to plan so many times zones away,
not having family or friends here to help me.
You have no one to help or no one to do anything with?
No.
I mean, I throw a lot on Will.
Right, OK.
And how does Will do?
He does OK.
He doesn't pay attent-- he tries, yeah.
If you were at home, who would be helping you
through the wedding planning process?
Oh, definitely my mom and my sister would be my to go-to's.
And they are trying their best to help me out from far away.
Do you have like an idea of a dream wedding dress?
I've done some searching online of what
I think would be a nice wedding dress,
but I think it's one of those things
that you really don't know until you try it on.
I just know it's going to white.
Yep.
OK, well there you go.
You know something already.
Yes.
Well, here's the thing.
Tomorrow you and I are going wedding dress shopping.
Are we really?
Yes we are!
[CHEERING]
I can't believe this.
I am so excited to go wedding dress shopping.
And I know that I'm not your loved ones,
but I adore you and love you already.
I am so looking forward to it.
--with you.
My gosh.
We're going to find you something good
and you're going to look beautiful on your big day.
This is going to be awesome.
All right.
I'm so excited.
I'll see you tomorrow.
OK, get some sleep tonight.
You gotta get your beauty sleep.
Yes.
See you tomorrow, girl.
I am so excited, it's wedding dress shopping day.
So Sarah is on her way here.
What she doesn't know is that I'm not
the only one that's shopping with her because we
brought in two very special people to surprise her today.
Let's go find a dress!
Oh my gosh.
Isn't this amazing?
This is.
Welcome, welcome to Claire Pettibone.
One of the premier wedding dress makers in Los Angeles,
and she is going to be making your wedding dress.
We make all the dresses to order.
So you'll be trying on dresses today,
but then we'll make your actual dress for you.
OK.
That's wonderful
Sarah, are you ready--
I am ready.
--to get started?
Let's do it.
You know, I just--
I feel like something though is missing, right?
Hey ladies, come on out.
Look who's here!
Surprise!
I was so surprised when my mom and my sister
came around the corner.
I was floored.
I was already so excited to be here and to do this.
And then when they popped out around the corner,
it just felt like it was going to be the perfect day.
Let's get started.
Let's try on the the first dress.
Let's try on the first dress!
All right.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Are we ready for the first one?
We're ready.
Oh my god!
--beautiful!
That one, that's nice.
Oh my gosh, it doesn't look like Sarah.
I mean that's already a hit for just the first one.
This is just number one.
I can't even believe it.
Oh, wow.
Beautiful!
I love that.
You look beautiful.
That was made for you.
You said you want to be able to dance.
Do you think you can dance in this?
Yeah?
Yeah.
Yeah?
She's like, can I squat?
Yes I can.
I can dance.
When I was trying on the dresses,
it was an amazing experience.
I didn't think I would have this much fun trying
on wedding dresses.
You gotta give your booty like a little shake.
Like a--
[BEATBOXING]
[LAUGHTER]
Oh my god.
Ooh!
OK, girl.
I see you.
Yeah.
This is beautiful on you.
That is so pretty, are you kidding me?
I really like that.
The veil really dressed it up.
I felt like I looked like a bride, which I never saw myself
as before.
Let's role play.
You're going to be Sarah, I'm going to be Will,
and we're getting married.
Turn towards me.
Oh, I love the veil.
[LAUGHTER]
I do.
[LAUGHTER]
[GASPS]
Oh, I like that one.
Wow.
This one took my breath away.
I like the front.
So unique.
Different from anything else that you have tried on.
Anything else.
How do you feel in this one?
I think that this one is more like me.
I think this one is more like my personality.
Yes!
This is unbelievable.
How does it feel to see your little girl right now,
thinking about Will standing next to her.
How do you feel?
I can see your father walking you down the aisle
you're both going to be beautiful.
This is the dress?
This is the dress.
It's the one, yay!
[CLAPPING]
We found it!
When I tried on that dress I felt so comfortable in it.
I felt like it showed my personality,
and I felt so excited for Will to see me in it.
I just knew it was the one.
This is beautiful, this is the one,
and I'm just so glad that we could
bring your mom and your sister out here.
I have one more surprise for you.
This dress is on us.
Really?
Oh my gosh.
Thank you so much.
You look so beautiful.
I am forever grateful for this experience.
To have an amazing wedding dress,
to have the memory of being here in this beautiful place
with Claire and my mom and my sister and Jeannie,
it's amazing.
I am so grateful to everybody here.
I am just so, so, so glad that we
were able to make today happen, that you
found the dress, that your family is all together.
But I feel like the whole family isn't here, right?
I mean, it's not the whole fa--
oh!
Hi guys!
Hello Will.
Hi Ellie.
[CHEERING]
Come on, sit down.
Get comfy.
Will, I am telling you, you are going to be a very happy groom.
She looks--
I'm already gonna be a very happy groom.
I know you are but, I'm telling you, she looks incredible.
Good.
She looks absolutely incredible and it was a fun day.
It was fun.
I got to go to a pretty amazing place.
Yeah.
To all of you being together as a family, to finding the dress,
and to a wonderful wedding.
[CHEERING]
Cheers, Ellie!
Yay, Ellie!
Yay Ellie!
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Ellie!
[LAUGHTER]