Example

Thursday, October 09, 2008

Bridesmaids Dresses - decisions decisions

I'm having a problem with my bridal party. Well not a problem with them, but a problem that they're all so far away. You see, Big Sister is in Vermont, she's my ah-hem "maid of honor" (don't get me started), and the rest of my bridal party is in Boston - Mr. GP's lil sister and my two bff's from college.

I've been looking at a variety of dresses - I'm looking for tea length or cocktail length, something that's wearable again, and either navy or a cloverish green.

Some of my favorites so far?


J Crew Rebecca Dress in Deep Atlantic

J Crew Sophia Dress in Deep Atlantic


David's Bridal short halter dress

Alfred Angelo strapless dress - navy with clover sash

Unfortunately, most of these dresses are only available online and the alfred angelo ones I like are all strapless and most of my girls don't like strapless. I don't want to make them wear something they don't like so ixnay on the strapless...eh?

The thing that I like most about these dresses: J Crew dresses look versatile, a dress I know my girls could wear again. They're also relatively affordable. Unfortunately they're only available online so I have no idea what size they'd be - not that's my problem to order their dresses but still.

David's bridal dresses are also affordable, they have my colors, and I like that you can add sashes, and a skirt so that you can see, say green, at the hem or the bust. I like that. I don't like that most of their dresses are long, and I'm still bitter after my last experience at DB which was just as bad as the first. Not that my gals would be shopping down here but I don't even know where the nearest David's is to Boston...though I'm sure it's not far.

Finally, with the Alfred Angelo dresses they're super cute, affordable, and they have great colors with the mix and match effect that I really like. Unfortunately, again with the "where can I find these dresses for my girls near Boston/Burlington," most of the AA dresses I like are strapless and I have no idea how they'd look with the spaghetti straps. Though I'm sure they'd look fine and would give my gals a good option between straps and strapless if they so choose. Though I'd prefer the uniformity I suppose I can't be Bridezill about little spaghetti straps.

So now that my dress is all ordered, I can't spend all my days looking for shoes for me (that's a whole separate post! Let's just say...I know what I want. And can not find it. For the life of me. *sigh*) so before I head up to Boston this winter to meet up with my gals and take them to a lil Bridesmaids luncheon thing, I want to have a good idea the options I plan on giving them. Hmmmm, decisions, decisions. I NEED INPUT! I should probably email my gals about this shouldn't I?

On top of all these decisions, I also have a junior bridesmaid and I haven't even started considering her - my 12 year old cousin who within the next year will surely be taller than I. Sad I know.

Gah! Decisions, decisions!

Any other suggestions where to look for bridesmaids dresses? (I saw a website with cute dresses but I think I forgot to bookmark it...D'oh!) Any pros/cons of the above that I missed?

[images from jcrew.com, davidsbridal.com, alfredangelo.com]

Labels: ,

12 Comments:

Blogger Virginia Wed said...

Try
Watters and Watters
http://watters.com/indexNoFlash.php

Aria Dresses
http://www.ariadress.com/

Jenny Yoo
http://www.jennyyoo.com/bridesmaids.html

Good luck!

Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:05:00 PM  
Blogger Jess said...

One of my BMs got her dress at Ann Taylor. And the other got hers by just walking into a random bridal boutique and looking at the dresses and picking one she liked. That technique seems to work pretty well.

Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:06:00 PM  
Blogger Abbie said...

JCrew does have a few different styles on sale in the clover color. The only problem with final sale that I've run into is that the girls didn't look at the measurements that JCrew provided and ordered the wrong sizes, and they can't be returned under the final sale section. Otherwise, they loved that they would be able to wear them again. We are going with all of the same color but all different styles. Good luck!

Thursday, October 09, 2008 1:08:00 PM  
Blogger Mrs. in May said...

I love the Sophia dress, it just looks great on so many body types.

Thursday, October 09, 2008 3:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I have had great experiences with Ann Taylor both being in a wedding in May and in mine in September. It was great for me because I literally could walk down the block to a store that carried the Celebrations line and buy the dress. Others who wanted to try it on could find a store in their area. One of my bridesmaids lives far from any store so ordered two sizes online with no problem with the return. Another plus with Ann Taylor is their discount sales. If you watch the prices online or sign up for their promotional sales you can save big--we watched my dresses for a few months then got them the day they went on sale. You may have to call some stores to make sure you get your sizes if you take this approach, but for me it was worth the savings. In the wedding I was in (vs mine) I was happy to pay full price at AT for the ease of it. And the fact I could (really) wear the dress on other occasions. One other tip--go see the dresses in person. Some dresses look more bridesmaid-y in person --others had more of the dressy style both of us were looking for. Another plus is that some of the AT dresses are more versatile age and size-wise (we were looking for bridesmaids all north of 30 and 40, one of whom was giving birth a few weeks before the wedding) I thought there were more age appropriate sophisticated choices at AT. Obviously, I had two great experiences with AT and would wholeheartedly endorse!

Thursday, October 09, 2008 3:41:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I found my bridemaid dresses at two birds. http://www.twobirdsbridesmaid.com/ they had a variety of styles, mailed out fabric samples and I have actually seen my bridesmaids wearing there dresses since!

Thursday, October 09, 2008 5:59:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

you have to go with the 1st or second- the last two are SO bridesmaid dress- they will NEVER wear them again...

Thursday, October 09, 2008 7:46:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lovely!! Best color and awesome designs for bridesmaid dresses...

Friday, October 10, 2008 7:29:00 AM  
Blogger Mrs. in May said...

One more quick thing. JCrew is great to work with. They will assign a wedding coordinator to you and that person will keep you updated on who has ordered and who didn't. But- DO have them send you swatches in the different materials they have. I totally switched when I saw the materials in person

Friday, October 10, 2008 9:12:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Jcrew was our first choice but they ran out of colors in the marine navy color I wanted for our girls. Nevermind the ridiculously overpriced $200+ price tag that some could rationalize as it being a dress that can be worn again but realistically, not everyone can afford that baseline price PLUS the additional costs of being a bridesmaid.
You said Boston and what came to mind is Priscilla of Boston's vineyard line! The dresses are adorable, so stylish and best part-the majority are under $200. I have 8 bridesmaids (that includes 3 jr bridesmaids so I feel your concerns) and their dresses averaged $135-$140 per dress. Not bad for today's economy! Something to seriously consider! :)

Friday, October 10, 2008 11:23:00 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

try groupusa.com theres a store in Potomac Mills Mall in woodbridge

Monday, October 13, 2008 1:33:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I prefer the Alfred Angelo one. The bust on the Sophia dress doesn't look right. But just my opinion!

Wednesday, October 15, 2008 8:40:00 PM  

Post a Comment

<< Home