Nick & Allie’s Wedding ~ June 6, 2009

So as you know from one of my previous posts, I have asked my bridesmaids to choose their own brown dress for the wedding. Most girls have chosen one and they are all SO cute! Here is what has been chosen so far, which will all be tied together by the girls wearing cowboy boots!

Georgette & Charmeuse Dress from Nicole Miller.

Embossed Cotton Lorelei from JCrew.

Maggie London Silk Chiffon Halter Dress from Nordstrom.

Silk Tricotine and Chiffon Sophia Dress from JCrew. 2 of my girls might be wearing this dress in different fabrics!

Embossed Cotton Swing Dress from JCrew.

Nicole Miller Silk Twist Dress from Nordstrom.

Eyelet Smocked Dress from VS. My junior bridesmaid is going to be  wearing this!

And my sweet flower girl will be wearing this adorable Tiered Cotton and Lace Dress. From Strasburg.

I am so pleased with all the dresses and am glad I decided to have the girls choose their own. Its so much easier than searching the web and bridal shops for bridesmaid dresses that will look good on everyone. Its nice to know that the girls can find something they love and can hopefully wear again (I dont want to be that bride that says- “oh its something you can definitely wear again” becuase while it would be ideal, it rarely happens). This way they pick something that flatters their body and in a price range that they are comfortable with. Now, if I could only motivate my mother to find a dress! Also, we’ve got to figure out what the groomsmen will be wearing!

Picking the bridesmaids dress was definitely an interesting experience. I had an idea of what I wanted….something that would go with my wedding dress perfectly. I envisioned something flowy, romantic, and country  all wrapped into one. I looked for months but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted until I opened up one of the lastest Martha Stewart magazine and found this…

here ~ I mean, this dress is AMAZING. It is my dream dress. It fits perfectly with the theme of my wedding except for one tiny little detail that relates to the ever-important, dare I say, BUDGET….this dress would have cost each maid $294! and I just couldn’t bring myself to do that to my friends. I just felt that it was too much to ask. Oh well, it can just stay in my dreams. It’s such a beauty! So, due to the price factor, I moved on….started looking for something else that would work and I stumbled upon this little beauty…

here ~ I love this one too! Its so pretty. I am so into the romantic lace look. However, as luck would have it we ran into a snag here too. This dress is on clearance and there are very limited sizes. I have 10 bridesmaids and getting all the right sizes just didn’t work out. I was so upset! These dresses would have been perfect and they only cost $70. Oh, I wish I would have found this sooner! I kept looking for pretty brown and lace dresses and couldn’t find what I wanted…so I totally changed my vision. I fell in love something in blue and white…

here ~ Its so different and fun and bright. It seemed to fit a June wedding just right. I got really excited and ordered all the dresses the day I found this. We got them in the mail and tried them on and found that they were WAY too short on all my tall girls and EXTREMELY unflattering! ANOTHER disappointment. I must admit I had a bit of buyers remorse after purchasing this dress as it would have completely changed the feel of the wedding. So, when it didn’t work out I wasn’t completely distraught. That day I decided that I should just move on to my original idea….to have all my style conscious beautiful bridesmaids pick their own dress…something in brown and above the knee that would flatter them each individually. I love the idea of each maid being able to show their own personalities with a dress they love. Surely this option wont fail me!

Lessons learned:

1. Don’t get too excited about a dress that could possibly be too expensive.

2. Be wary of ordering dresses on clearance as they may not have every size available for a large wedding party.

3. Don’t change your vision unless you are 100% sure you will love it as much as the original vision. You could regret it later.

4. Order ONE dress first to see if it will work. Pick your tallest friend to make sure it will fit her. Tat will save you from paying to ship them all back if they don’t work.

5. Trust your instincts and also trust in your friends ability to pick something beautiful and unique to themselves.