Imagine that you’re getting ready for one of the most important days of your life – your wedding day. You put on that white dress, and then…snap. The zipper breaks.
There aren’t days or weeks to have a tailor come in and fix the situation. You’re kind of stuck. You have only hours until the big event, and now your wedding dress won’t work. It’s not exactly like you can quickly dive into your closet and pick out something new to wear.
When Jo Du was getting ready to marry her fiancé Earl Lee, this is exactly what happened. While dressing in a rental home in Guelph, Ont. the bride’s zipper broke, leaving her without a working dress. Photographer Lindsay Coulter was with the bride and her bridesmaids, catching shots of the magical moment. Or, at least the would-be magical moment.
When the bride’s zipper broke her friends jumped into action, telling The Huffington Post Canada, “We tried a few times to make something work. We were calling dress shops asking what we can do.” The pros told the wedding party that the only answer was to find a tailor who could stitch the dress up. On a Sunday? Not likely.
One of the bridesmaids ran to the neighbour’s home, asking if they had a pair of pliers (to use as a makeshift zipper fix). When she returned, she didn’t just have a pair of pliers. She had a set of tools and some key info – the neighbours were hosting a family of Syrian refugees, and one of them was a tailor!
The father, who had been a master tailor, offered to help the bride. He (and his young son) arrived at the bride’s rental home only minutes later, as Coulter snapped pics the tailor worked his magic — fixing the bride’s dress. The man, Ibrahim Halil Dudu, and his family had moved to Canada from Turkey only several days before this happened. Even though he only spoke Kurdish, he was still able to communicate with the bride using expressions and gestures.
On her Facebook page, Lindsay Coulter wrote, “Every weekend I take photos of people on the happiest days of their lives, and today one man who has seen some of the worst things our world has to offer came to the rescue.”
While not everyone everywhere is willing to open their arms, hearts (or sewing kits) and help, Coulter pointed to the pride she feels in her country – for accepting and giving a home to people like Halil Dudu. Of the experience, she wrote, “I am so proud to live in Canada, a country who has opened our doors to refugees countless times. I’m in awe of the families who have welcomed these strangers into their homes and lives, and inspired by the resilience of the Syrian people. We are truly blessed.” How true!
