bridesmaid dresses - CHECK!

So after much deliberation and many sleepless nights (ok, now I'm exaggerating), I finally made the decision to stick with the Alexia Designs dress I loved so much. 

Last week, Momzilla, MOH, my cousin/bridesmaid Amanda and my aunt met for a day of dresses.  First, we stopped at Dolores Bridal Boutique where Amanda and I got measured for my sister's bridesmaid dresses.  The dress for her wedding is gorgeous - I can't wait to wear it!

Lyn's bridesmaids will be in a latte color (almost a mocha color) and I, as the Maid of Honor, will wear "butterscotch."  She just got the swatches in and the colors are really nice, although it looks like I'll need to be a lot tanner for November than I am now!

After Dolores', we headed to the Park Avenue Bridals, where Lyndsey and I got our wedding dresses.  They offer their brides a 10% discount on bridesmaid, mother of the bride, and flower girl dresses and since the salon is close enough for most of my girls, I wanted to make my final decision there.

Since I was so uncertain about the Alexia dress, I had Lyndsey and Amanda try on this Bill Levkoff dress that I had also liked.  

While it looked great on the girls and had a really nice navy color, it had crinoline underneath the skirt.  Now, the crinoline would keep the girls nice and warm for any outside pictures but may make them really hot and uncomfortable during the reception.  And I would so rather my girls be dancing it up and having a great time than being bundled for the few pictures we may  not even take outside.

So I once again looked back at the Alexia dress and realized that I still really loved it, iridescent taffeta and all.  The taffeta actually makes the dress "glisten" which fits perfectly with my snowy theme.

When I looked at the tiny little swatch again, I was relieved that the color was a pretty dark "royal blue" and the salesperson even helped me find a similar color on another dress.  This tissue taffeta Jim Hjelm dress seemed to be the closest match and I think it looks great!

Then the best part of the day came - Lyndsey and I tried on our sample wedding dresses again!  They weren't fitted of course, but it was so fun to try them on again after a six month spell.  We're going to be such beautiful brides!  And what made it even better was the fact that I fell in love with it all over again :)

 So the dress dilemma has been resolved and two of the 8 girls have submitted their measurements.  With 10 months to go, it looks like I'm really on my way!

true blue

So remember the bridesmaid dress I described a couple of weeks ago?  Well, despite how much I love the way it looks on the girls, I'm starting to reconsider whether or not it's the right dress after all.

Since winter/snowflakes are the theme of my wedding, I was planning on putting the girls in dark blue so the white muffs would really stand out.  The dress I've chosen so far (click here for the link) is made out of iridescent tissue taffeta and is photographed in the color "Bordeaux."  

The blue options Alexia Designs offers are "Desert Blue," "Sky Blue," "Peacock," "Turquoise" and "Royal Blue." Even though "Royal Blue" is the darkest of the bunch, when I change the dress color on the Web site, it looks a little bright for my winter wedding.  And while I know the colors on my computer screen are just meant for representation, blah blah blah, I'm still really worried that my girls will look like blueberries as they walk down the aisle!

Since there is no other sample of Alexia Designs dresses in Royal Blue tissue taffeta, I had to rely on Google images to provide me some examples.


Here's one that I think is a little too electric for a snowflake wedding...

This one is not tissue taffeta but is a little bit closer to my vision.  I would still want it just a shade darker:

And finally, this is the color that I hope Alexia Designs' "Royal Blue" turns out to be.  While it's not as deep as my original idea of navy, it's dark enough for the vision I have.

 

I know my bridal salon will give me a swatch but those things are so small that it really won't give me any peace of mind.

So what do I do?  Would even the most electric blue of this bunch be terrible?  Should I look for another dress that has a safer blue?  Or should I realize that no one is even going to notice the slight nuance in the shades, not even I?

One style fits all?

I've finally begun searching for bridesmaid dresses and despite the anxiety I had about finding one dress to please all 8 of my girls, I'm pretty certain I found one that fit the bill.

My bridesmaids are all different shapes and sizes. Some are very short while others are pretty tall. Some have more curves than others. So I had no idea how I was going to find one dress that flattered each of their bodies when their bodies were so different.

So how did I do it? Two words.

Taffeta Ruching

I know, I know. Taffeta just screams "Ugly Bridesmaid Dress!" and I was pretty anti-taffeta myself. But I humored the dress consultant and I allowed my sister to try on the dress on the right below.

When my sister walked out, lo and behold, I was pleasantly surprised! The dress looked great and, according to her, felt really comfortable. She decided this dress was her favorite compared to the other satin ones she modeled.

But my sister is only one of 8 bridesmaids and while it looked fabulous on her, I needed to do more research. I brought in my roommate and future sister-in-law for their opinions. Both looked at the dress on the hanger, gave me a doubtful look, but tried on the dress anyway.

The verdict?

They loved it.

I would still like the approval of my remaining bridesmaids before I commit to it, but I am pretty certain they're going to feel the same way. The combination of taffeta and ruching seems to flatter most body types, which is not what I had expected at first look.

So the moral of the story? Try on dresses that you normally wouldn't have chosen and you just might find the dress you're looking for!