PHILLY
EVENTS
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I’ve got no one to blame but the dresses.
Finding bridesmaids dresses has quickly become one of the more frustrating parts of wedding planning. I have, so far, been to four different shops with three different groups and still, no dresses. I could tell you about how indecisive I have been recently, and how I still cannot commit to colors. Or I could tell you about how my bridesmaids’ heights range from 5’3″ to 5’10″ and how their ages range from 17 to 30. But why blame myself or my close family and friends when I can blame the selection?
Unlike searching for my dress—which I wanted to last only one day—I kind of knew that searching for bridesmaids dresses would take considerably longer. I looked at a lot of dresses online, but I was never super excited about any of them. I started the physical search at Van Cleve in Paoli. They have a great selection of popular designers, so I thought it would be a great place to start looking. I found a few that I liked, but the problem has been the color/style combination: I have found some styles that I like, but they don’t come in colors that I like. In some rare cases, I have found a color that I like but, of course, then, I don’t like the styles.
I went to a few more large-selection stores. One was a warehouse-type setting where we rummaged through loosely organized racks of dresses, elbowed our way to a dressing room and fought for mirror space with people who could definitely beat us in a fight. It was quite the experience, but hardly conducive to making a purchase. I also made a highly anticipated trip to the J.Crew Bridal Salon (I think that deserves its own post), but still, have come up empty handed. I even started looking at just regular non-bridesmaids dresses online, but just can’t commit.
After all of these unsuccessful attempts, I’ve decided that I will put bridesmaid dress-shopping on hold for a while. This might be one of those decisions that will benefit from a little pressure.
Was the bridesmaids dress decision easy for you, or did you struggle with it like me?
I’m getting married next September and have had a (relatively) seamless experience making decisions for the wedding…that is, except for the bridesmaids dresses. We narrowed down the colors (eggplant or lavendar) and decided on the fabric (crinkle chiffon) and I thought we would be set just walking into a reputable bridal shop (I’ll leave store names out of it cause it’s really not their fault) but each time I went, I came out empty-handed. For me, it is really about the quality of the dresses. I have really hard time asking my best friends to pay $300 for polyester. I would see the dresses online and then get to the stores and they would look like something you would have worn to a 7th grade dance…but with an adult price tag. I just couldn’t stomach it. I will save you from more stories of my back and forth and sleepless nights because I actually did just make a final decision: we are going with J. Crew. I think that I could get some sort of Masters Degree in all things Jenny Yoo/Amsale/Thread/Simple Silhouttes but in the end, J.Crew looked great and had the best price. Another thing I am doing which I found to make this whole bridesmaids dress thing a bit more fun, my MOH is wearing a long BCBG patternred dress that has some eggplant in it while my bridesmaids are wearing the eggplant Jcrew Dresses. Stepping out of the sea of chiffon and taffeta and dupioni and all of that mess for a while really helped and made everything a little less “bridesmaidy” and more party dress! Chin up! You will find something! And if you don’t, you can do what my sister did…just pick a color and have your friends go get dresses they like in that color.
Let your 5’3″ and 5’10″ bridesmaids go shopping and come back with what they like based on a couple color guidelines from you. This way they feel a part of the gig, and you can make final decision. I am a music consultant and I can help you select the right songs based on your theme and guests if you need help.
Even though I am a 30 year old bridesmaid, I dont mind dressing like I am 17
I totally hear you on all of this! My current wedding colors are lime green and blue (navy… royal… maybe?).
I am now moving in the direction of asking the gals to find a cute black cocktail dress from their fav store and then we can tie everyone together with each other and the wedding colors with the flowers, shoes, fascinators (which I am making).
We are planning a trip to KOP to check out the stores as a group!
http://www.modcloth.com/shop/dresses/true-to-form-dress?nt_id=3&URL=http://www.modcloth.com/
you’re way nicer than me. I figured bridesmaid dress shopping should be one-day max. I think every bridesmaid expects the worst, so if you get a half-decent dress, she’ll be pleasantly surprised. I mean, it’s a rite of passage to own an unflattering bridesmaid dress, so you’re only doing your duty if you comply. You’re being ultra-nice if you get something half-decent. As a bridesmaid, I cared more about the dress being reasonably priced than how it looked, so when it came time for me to pick bridesmaid dresses for my wedding, budget was one of the determining factors. My role as a bridesmaid was to be supportive of the bride. I didn’t care how I looked. I did appreciate one friend of allowing the bridesmaids to pick the dress style. You know, the “similar but different” trend that seems to be oh so hot right now. Pick a color of a dressmaker, and then have the bridesmaids each pick her own dress in that color from the dress maker. It was kind of fun to have some personality in the dresses we all ended up choosing.
Hey Ladies,
I had the same problem when I was looking for bridesmaid dresses for my wedding party. My cousin suggested that I try out convertible dresses and they worked so perfectly. You can check out their website here – http://www.Henkaa.com.
After the wedding, I grabbed one in the peach coral and took it on my honeymoon, honestly you don’t know how versatile this dress is!!!!!