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What am I looking for in a bmaid dress? Um, well, ya know, coverage ... something so that no one goes naked. [read: I have no idea] Most likely something knee length (aka "cocktail length"). Also I like straps. Apparently the bmaids dress world thinks all female attendants wear strapless dresses and all brides totally dig that style. Show me something that will keep the girls up! Not those wimpy spaghetti straps!
It also complicates things a bit that each of my girl's body type differs from the next. Honestly, who thought that women of varying body types should all wear the same dress?! Along with the same-dress-same color option, I am also considering the same-color-same-fabric-DIFFERENT-dress option.
We began our search at a boutique in Georgetown. Thankfully this mom-and-pop store actually relaxed a bit and allowed us to do our own thing. At the same time, a little direction is nice sometimes. It was more like a small store with easy going owners than a true boutique. The girls pulled different items off the rack and made use of the dressing room, sporting some great and
After, we found ourselves in a true boutique (well, big store but small store mentality) whose collection paled in comparison to the first store! Again the girls dived right in and pulled almost everything to try. You never know how something will look on you, versus on the hanger.
I think the hardest part of bridesmaid dress shopping is not trying to find the right style for 4 different girls, but finding something you (the bride) love yet they are going to wear. It's really hard and honestly might be my least favorite part of wedding planning thus far.
Don't get me wrong - I LOVE my girls! I LOVE shopping with them! I do NOT love trying to please 5 people at once.
My trusty How To Plan A Wedding Book thankfully agreed with me. (I should really start reading these chapters BEFORE, instead of after, each endeavor)
Knowing that I'm not the only bride who finds this tedious makes me feel tons better.
Also, knowing that honestly I'm the only one who needs to be 100% in love with the dress is nice, too.
So as of now, there are two great bridesmaids' dress options:
1) 4 different styles by Alfred Sung
or
2) a Lorenzo style that may or may not be around in 10.5 months
But I need to put it aside and focus on bigger pictures items. If I focus on this detail for too long my head will explode into Bridezilla, and no one wants that!
The bright side: I have awesome bridesmaids!
I was in a wedding where we wore different styles of dresses but the same color. I think it pleased everyone since we all
ReplyDeletehad different body types
I thought my head was going to explode too. I'd wanted to put the girls in teal blue & a sort of sagey/olivine green, but different skin tones, difficulty finding the right shades, and my refusal to force someone to buy a dress that they would never wear again (have you ever seen anyone wearing a teal gown at a Christmas cocktail party?) well, I just couldn't do it.So I threw my hands up in the air & said "find a black satin dress"! And I kept my sanity. I had my sister (who would look good in garbage & a burlap sack, but lives in NY), one heavier bridesmaid (who didn't want to wear anything that was too revealing, but couldn't articulate what "too revealing" was since not every spaghetti strap or halter dress fits in that category), and another who didn't want to do bridesmaid dress shopping at all (wear, yes. shop, no). I knew that trying to find something that everyone would like would be nearly impossible. And do you happen to remember my bridesmaids' dresses? All of them were totally different. Thank god for foresight.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like you've got a number of options that everyone is up for though! Good for you! Just keep in mind that yes, you are the only person who has to love what you're wearing, all of your girls are individuals, and a dress... is a terrible thing to waste.
P.S. What color dresses are they wearing?
I wasn't a huge fan of trying to pick out bridesmaid dresses either. We like our modesty here in Utah. So needless to say, finding a dress with sleeves was a pain in the ass.
ReplyDeleteWe all remember the incident with the vomit colored bridesmaid dress, right? Well the good thing I learned is that choosing a designer and color and then letting your girls choose the cut will allow for each persons own issues to be dealt with on their own. I certainly didn't care about straps either way or cut really but mine needed to be longer since I have the leg thing going on but then we had a plus size girl and a tiny petite girl. Eliminating the same cut issue will not allow any comparing the way they look to take place. Also, don't choose vomit green:) But I'm sure you already knew that!
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you on the whole wanting straps thing--I never wear strapless (except my wedding dress), they're too much of a pain to keep pulling up!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I really like your bright side, that's the most important thing! :)
Okay so someone posted some really cute pics on your Facebook page the other day,... different colors AND different dresses, but same hue? I thought that was actually pretty cool. And David T. is always mixing up the styles for the various body types!
ReplyDeleteBut yes, in the end, all that matters is that everyone feels comfortable in what they're wearing so that the smiles are real and the pictures turn out great.
Loving Joy's "a dress is a terrible thing to waste" - Truer words may have never been said.