First Official E-Mail
Yesterday I sent my FIRST official wedding party e-mail to the lovely ladies who will be standing up with me. One of the girls, KLH just finished up the Virginia Bar Exam (YAY!) so I figured that was excuse enough to start sending frivolous e-mails her way. First order of business was, of course, the dresses. I'm not 100% set on the company yet. I want to see the dresses in person before saying, "yes, this is it," but I did want to show them what I was thinking of and what the price range we'd likely end up in.
^This is what I'm thinking, sans the flower girls and possibly sans the sashes. I love the chocolate brown and KLH, A, and College Roommate all look lovely in rich colors. From the Aria Photo Album
The plan (pending in-person meeting with said dresses) is to use Aria Bridesmaids because of their excellent reputation for quality and re-wear-ability. Aria offers so many style options, hopefully each of my friends will be able to pick a dress she really likes and will feel comfortable in. Plus they do petites!
^There's that pink and navy again! And the sash is a celadon color, it's a little hard to see in the small picture.
^This is kind of cool where each bridesmaid is wearing a different style AND color!
The price tag freaked me out a little at first, just the WIC* rearing it's ugly head, but after discussing with a few important people--the ones who have to buy and wear the dresses--I've been assured this is perfectly reasonable.
^Aria offers the contrasting hem on the top or bottom free of charge. Contrasting sashes can also be included free of charge.
ALSO, I LOVE RAW SILK aka silk shantung. It's a light-weight silk that has slubs (nubby bits) in the fabric and therefore a beautiful natural texture. It's very flattering and easy to wear and in October it will be perfectly weather appropriate too. Aria is one of the few places I saw raw silk dresses under $200. So as long as the dresses measure up in person, I think "select bridesmaids attire" can be ticked off the check list. Of course that still leaves fitting, ordering, receiving, altering, bridesmaids' dresses to go.
^This is my favorite style, #170. I like the empire waist and I think the tie straps are really feminine and elegant. I'd pick this one if I were my bridesmaid...haha.
How did you decide on bridesmaid dresses?
*Wedding Industrial Complex
^This is what I'm thinking, sans the flower girls and possibly sans the sashes. I love the chocolate brown and KLH, A, and College Roommate all look lovely in rich colors. From the Aria Photo AlbumThe plan (pending in-person meeting with said dresses) is to use Aria Bridesmaids because of their excellent reputation for quality and re-wear-ability. Aria offers so many style options, hopefully each of my friends will be able to pick a dress she really likes and will feel comfortable in. Plus they do petites!
^There's that pink and navy again! And the sash is a celadon color, it's a little hard to see in the small picture. 
^This is kind of cool where each bridesmaid is wearing a different style AND color!The price tag freaked me out a little at first, just the WIC* rearing it's ugly head, but after discussing with a few important people--the ones who have to buy and wear the dresses--I've been assured this is perfectly reasonable.
^Aria offers the contrasting hem on the top or bottom free of charge. Contrasting sashes can also be included free of charge.ALSO, I LOVE RAW SILK aka silk shantung. It's a light-weight silk that has slubs (nubby bits) in the fabric and therefore a beautiful natural texture. It's very flattering and easy to wear and in October it will be perfectly weather appropriate too. Aria is one of the few places I saw raw silk dresses under $200. So as long as the dresses measure up in person, I think "select bridesmaids attire" can be ticked off the check list. Of course that still leaves fitting, ordering, receiving, altering, bridesmaids' dresses to go.
^This is my favorite style, #170. I like the empire waist and I think the tie straps are really feminine and elegant. I'd pick this one if I were my bridesmaid...haha.
How did you decide on bridesmaid dresses?
*Wedding Industrial Complex
Labels: Bridesmaids, fashion, Miss Fairfax
posted by Miss Fairfax at 12:58 PM
6 Comments:
I used Aria and found them to be great. The manager of the DC store, Karen, was super helpful. For my MOH, who lives in Indiana, they have a try-on program. For $15 they sent her a dress style she selected in her size and she was able to make sure it would work for her too. The dresses are good quality, they have so many styles to choose from, and they are the most reasonably-priced dresses I found in this fabric (I love shantung too!). Finally, the dresses arrived a full month before I expected them---so their service was great all around!
I chose j.crew so that they could buy a bunch and take back what they didn't like/didn't fit--but I wasn't married to the idea of a certain fabric and I wanted to just pick a color/line and let them choose styles. If you call their wedding consultant, they give really good advice that is universal across brands. The central piece of advice is this--the better the fit of your bridesmaid's dresses, the better the pictures will be, so it is smart to build in some flexibility.
I wore an aria dress as a bridesmaid once and loved it. It was the long strapless a-line. It was a deep red and after the wedding I chopped it off and wore it to a black tie event!
I also just got married and I had my girls wear Jenny Yoo dresses, they are also in the Silk Shantung and I think a little more strudy then the Aria. They are also a little more expensive though. www.jennyyoo.com
I love sending emails to the girls--my name starts with a B so I always sign my emails "Bride B" :) Its a great way to keep in touch, and keep everyone together! As for dresses, I went with Mellissa Sweet, I just loved the styles!
I love sending emails to the girls--my name starts with a B so I always sign my emails "Bride B" :) Its a great way to keep in touch, and keep everyone together! As for dresses, I went with Mellissa Sweet, I just loved the styles!
As a bride-to-be that has been a bridesmaid nine times, three of them a maid of honor, and never worn any dresses again (I donated them to a prom project), I had my friends choose any navy, floor length evening gown for my white tie wedding. That way they can have something they both like and afford--you can even borrow a dress from another friend. So far, no complaints.
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