Color Crisis

I think a lot of future brides are afraid to commit to wedding colors (not to marriage obviously) for good reason. The colors determine everything else! Choosing your colors is such an important decision and it's one of the first we have to make. We can't pick flowers, bridesmaid dresses, or really delve into decor without first picking our colors!

I've always imagined my bridesmaids would wear olive green, because it's my favorite color, but that was before I knew I was going to have a garden ceremony. I don't want my wedding party blending in with the trees! Is that a legitimate concern? Are certain colors off limits for outdoor weddings?

{Photo credit: The Knot Real Weddings}

Initially, we wanted to have pale colors like pink, champagne, and creme to go with our olive green. However, I've heard that soft colors such as these do not look good in the fall and I'm having a fall wedding. Traditionally, fall colors are bold like orange, red, and mustard yellow. I like those colors, but again I'm worried my bridesmaids will blend into the fall foliage.

To solve my problem, I think I'm going to mix and match the colors. I'm going to add just one striking color to our muted base, therefore, having olive green, champagne, and burgundy! The bridesmaids will wear the bold burgundy so that they are sure to stand out during the ceremony and we will accent everything else with the lighter colors.

{Photo credit: The Knot Real Weddings}

Here are some pictures that inspired my burgundy vision:

{Photo credit: Brides}

{Photo credit: Etsy seller Mollusa Wedding Art}

{Photo credit: Vintage Design Company}

I feel like a babbling mess, going on and on about colors! Please tell me I'm not alone. Are you debating your colors? Are you afraid to commit to one palette? How did you decide what color your bridesmaids would wear?

Here Comes The...Bride...Maids!

Or rather, bride's attendants...not really feeling the word "maid." (source)

Just like Miss Charlottesville, I am also allowing my attendants to wear a gown of their own choosing (hmm...actually not liking that word either...anyone have any suggestions..."bridesgirls," "bridescrew,"...help me out here, people). Having been in weddings before and not having anything to do with the dress that I was required to wear, I felt an animosity towards the bride that was, sort of, irrational. I do have to say though, the animosity was more so related to the fact that, in most cases, the dress was too big or small, the fabric was very unflattering and I was wearing 3 pairs of panty girdles in order to not look like a rolled sausage...although I totally felt like one...

Now that all of the dresses (technically) have been ordered, I can share with you guys my "vision" (ugh...enough with words I hate in this post) of what my brides...uh...peeps will be wearing. I gave them a few guidelines because, well, I still wanted the look be cohesive, but I was also concerned with their comfort. The rules were 1. Bari-Jay (just to make sure the color would match), 2. floor length, 3. sage in color, 4. chiffon. These are the choices they made...good job ladies!

First up, single friend of honor, Kiki (left) and married friend of honor, Polley (right)
.

Next, single cousin of honor, Melissa (top) and my girl B (bottom)



Next, my cousins and some of my oldest and dearest friends, Nana (top) and Fee Bee (bottom)



And last, but certainly, never least, lil' sis, Tia (with the cutest broom carrier ever, my nephew Julian)


How are you Ladies picking the brides...persons...dresses? Are they all wearing the same thing or are you allowing them to switch it up a bit?

The Bridesmaids Shoe Dilemma

I decided to go against the usual.

I decided that I didn't have the energy to find a shoe that would please all of my bridesmaids. Besides, I'm the shortest one anyhow, so I don't care if my bridesmaid that's almost a foot taller than me wears 2" heels or wears ballet flats, same with my taller-than-me Maid of Honor (sister)

I decided, as much as comfort is important to me, it should be important to me to let my gals be comfortable in what they wear to my wedding.

I looked for pictures, and the few that I found of brides who didn't put their gals in matching shoes looked fine. I think it'll add a certain uniqueness to the pictures.

Unfortunately, I told them to either get them in navy, green or pink - because well. Who doesn't like a rainbow of colors, right? And since the dresses are all cocktail length and navy from Aria Dress, I thought adding some color and personality to the pictures would add a little umph to the pictures.

But after reading this thread on Weddingbee, I'm beginning to second guess myself. Maybe I should have told them navy shoes. But what if some of them already bought shoes in pink or green?

Weigh in, what do you think? Should bridesmaids wear matchy-matchy shoes (even though not all of them like heels - my sister never wears heels and picked a chunky shoe, my tall bridesmaid would be towering over all of us in any sort of heel, and my other three bridesmaids, are likely indifferent), my biggest thing is comfort and costs. They're spending so much to come down here so I'm trying to keep costs to a minimum and I like to think that letting them wear a dress that they could wear again and shoes they picked out for themselves, they're getting the most bang for their buck.

Thoughts??? Did you make your bridesmaids wear matchy matchy shoes?

(image via Budget SaavyBride)

Picking Out the Bridesmaids Dresses

So in a twenty-two month engagement, when do you start looking for the bridesmaids dresses? Oh, immediately. Bridesmaids dresses are one of the easiest things to look at online I think because almost every designer, from David's Bridal to Watters, shows the full bridesmaid collections online and while color isn't as easy to determine on a computer screen, the details tend to be less fussy, so I think it's easier to get a good feel for the look of the dress on the screen.

After hearing about a friends debacle with custom-made, nude, satin bridesmaids gowns, I knew I needed to make the whole process as easy on my lovely ladies as possible. After a little looking, I knew my top two priorities, fabric and price.

I love the look and feel of raw silk, aka shantung or dupioni. I also think the stiffness and characteristic body of the fabric makes it a little more forgiving wear. Since I was also concerned with price, I ended up selecting Aria Dress for the gowns as they offer the most options, best quality, for the best price as far as I could see. Unfortunately, I did much of my research over a year ago, so I can't site specific vendors, but I do recall that most silk dress were in the $250 to $300 range. Aria silk dresses start at $195 for knee-length styles.

I was still concerned about the price, so I spoke with each bridesmaid individually and asked for input on the fabric, price, and all. Everyone seemed pretty happy (hopefully they were telling the truth!), so I made an appointment at the Aria boutique in Dupont for the first round of try-ons.

We're really lucky that we have a boutique here in DC. Karen, the Aria contact here in DC, is lovely and extremely helpful. We were able to try dresses on to our hearts desire, with just us in the salon, and take lots and lots of pictures. We also used the Aria try-on program. Aria's LA shop will mail you up to three dresses to try on if you aren't near a boutique. One of my bridesmaids is out of state and just did this last week. Downsides are that it's does cost $15 per dress, but hey, it's cheaper than flying the person to the shop right? You also receive dresses on Monday and they must be returned by Friday of the same week or you are charged a late fee. Boo. Nonetheless, it worked out and my bridesmaid found a dress she loved that she doesn't think will need to be altered at all.

So let me get to the good parts...here are a few photos from our Aria excursions.

On the first trip with bridesmaid K, we tried on A LOT of dresses, and took pictures so we could show the other girls.

Above is K in style 107 in slate. This was my very favorite dress. I love the sweetheart neckline and the shirring across the bust is really cute too. The skirt is A-line and overall the dress is very flattering. K is very petite in slim and I'm taller and a little more um, filled in and I thought it looked quite nice on both of us. Here I am in the same style in tangerine.


K's dress is in shantung, my dress is actually in satin. While the Aria Boutique is just PACKED with dresses, since they offer so many styles, fabrics, and colors, the options are limitless and they can't carry every combo in the shop. Typically, when you visit, Karen will pull all the styles you like and then pull one or two in the colors you like so you can see the color. Below is bridesmaid K in her brown dress.

You'll notice it looks quite large, I think it was 2 sizes to big, and she was clipped into it.


Here's bridesmaid A in one of Aria's newest styles, 191, with a keyhole neck and a tie at the back of the neck. K actually got to try this dress on when it was still in the experimental phase...we didn't take any pictures, though. We loved this dress on A because it was a little less bridesmaidy, and super fun. This dress also comes with three skirt options: shirred (above), box pleat (below, style 173), and A-line. Most of the other styles have A-line and column as the skirt options.


A's favorite style was the dress shown below:


This is style 185 with a box pleat skirt. We thought the shirred skirt was a little too much skirt and preferred the look of the box pleat and the A-line skirt. Below is bridesmaid K again. This was her favorite style, 106, in eucalyptus.


She's pinching it back just a little bit where it was a little too big. I really liked this dress a lot as well. The neckline was very flattering and the halter ties in the back and there is enough fabric in the back to tie a nice bow if you want. In fact, this was the favored dress by 2 out of 3 Fairfax bridesmaids! Bridesmaid E received this dress from LA and this was her favorite as well.

I'll share just a few more so you can see a couple more styles:

Me in Style 160 in Midnight. This is just a basic strapless, but it has a more defined waistline with the band of fabric rather than just a seam.


This is style 181 in magenta on K. This was very cute and the skirt has a nice swing to it.

Here's the last one. I think this is the only dress we weren't crazy about. There was just too much dress for K, it kind of looked like it might creep up over her neck and eat her! The color is pretty amazing though. The style is 183 in burnt orange. This is the orange that is offered in the shantung fabric, while the tangerine I'm wearing in the photo above is the orange in the satins.

So far I've been quite happy with Aria. I've interacted with Karen in the DC Boutique and made a couple appointments, called to ask questions etc. I've also spoken with the LA office to ask about the try-on program, actually order the try-on dresses and ask about sales tax. They've been great every time.

The dresses are custom-made upon order so Aria recommends ordering at least 4 months in advance of the wedding. My plan is to place our orders the first week in May, though I've been told we could order as late as June 1. Most of the reviews I've read online have noted that the orders came in about a month early.

As far as the need for alterations, I've seen mixed reviews. I've seen some reviews where the dresses were perfect on delivery, and others that said that the whole bridal party needed alterations! I'm pretty confident that we'll be good to go. All the girls seemed to feel the dresses fit quite well in the store.

If you have any questions about my Aria experience, please feel free to e-mail me at fairfaxmiss@gmail.com!

How was your dress selection process? Did you have a good experience with the company you chose?

Everyone's Happy!!

Earlier this weekend, I trekked up to Boston to meet up with a majority of the bridesmaids, the girls all met and met my mother. We had a lovely, lovely lunch, laughed, chatted and everyone got along fabulously. Then we went to the appointments and the girls picked dresses!

We had two appointments - one at L'elite and one at Aria Dress both on Newbury Street about two blocks from one another. I had gone to Aria Dress in DC with Miss Jeff Memorial, and fell in love with the dresses. So I wasn't surprised when we got there that the girls (T, S, Sister GP, and L -Mr. GP's little sister) all fell in love with them as well.

The greatest part about the dresses is that girls all loved them which was what I wanted.

The color of the dresses is navy, with the green sash in "leaf."

We went after Aria to L'elite because I was curious about the Dessy collection. The girls looked through the styles and didn't see anything they liked, the prices were a little more than I wanted them to spend so I decided not to waste time having the lady pull out dresses thinking we were actually interested when the girls weren't and I too was not impressed. The service was good, but the dresses were just...a little too formal for what I'm looking for.

Anyhow, so the girls picked their styles, each one different, but all the same with the sash, so now Miss JM and I need to make another appointment so she can pick her style and then the dresses can get ordered and another thing checked off my list!

Did your BM's all match? Did you let them pick their own styles?

Thinking of My Girls

Bridesmaids. They're on my range, my to do list. I'm trying to get my girls settled away so that they can begin to save because well, Aria dresses aren't exactly the cheapest dresses in the world (not the most expensive ones either).

So I've been looking at their shoes. How to complete the bridal party look. We picked out the groomsmen ties earlier this week - as I mentioned before, we're going with Vineyard Vines ties. We still haven't really picked out what color suits but m'eh. We'll get there.

In three weeks, I trek to Boston to go with the girls to go to Aria Dress so they can pick out their dresses and thus, I can get them ordered sometime in the next century (in case you haven't noticed? I procrastinate in all things wedding planning).

But I also want to have an idea about their shoes (I'm only mildly obsessed with shoes. Really.)

All my girls, sans two - one being my twelve year old cousin/junior bridesmaid - are significantly taller than me. I'm 5'2"...on a good day - my shoes are 2 1/2" heels, so that'll put me maybe at 5'4 1/2" but realistically, 5'4". When my tallest bridesmaid is 6'0" and my shortest is 5'2" like me, putting them in 3" matching heels? Not an option.

I know, I know, it's what "I want." But since my girls are mostly traveling to be here with me, and the one that's not traveling is getting married two months after me, I don't want them to spend TOO much money on the outfit. That's why I was careful about picking dresses that had styles that they could pick, that they'd be comfortable, and dresses that looked like they could be worn again. Makes sense right?

So I thought, what about classy flip flops. Not the 2 for $5 Old Navy flip flops but classy ones.

[JCrew $78] - a little too pricey for...flip flops. Let's be real.


[Victorias Secret $38.50]


[Gap $39.50]



[Piperlime $49]

and finally....


[Nordstrom $69]

I just know, I KNOW that someone - likely FMIL, or my own darling mother will say something. Too casual, too something that they don't like. But me? I like the style. I live in flip flops from nowish to like, October. So it seems natural to have my girls in flip flops. Especially the last pair because then - navy dresses, white shoes. Me? White dresss, navy shoes. Oh my goodness, this could be perfect.

I'll get a few more opinions, I like to reaffirm my decisions with my girls cause I know sometimes I'm irrational, neurotic and everything in between but this time? This is just me.

Thoughts? Are you letting your girls pick their shoes? Heels? Flip flops? Flats? Am I being too crazy for this??

Simple Gifts

FI and I have purchased all of our attendants gifts, Kenneth Cole cufflinks for the guys, freshwater pearls for the ladies. We've ordered a doll-sized FG dress for our FG and the doll to go with it, and for our parents we've gotten gifts from Things Remembered, Tara frames for our moms, and a clock for his dad. Hopefully, everyone likes these little tokens of our appreciation. There is just one other gift 'd like to get for the ladies, and it's a simple pair of slippers. Last time I was in a wedding, the bride gave us slippers, and for those who found their bridesmaids shoes a little uncomfortable they were a lifesaver. After standing for a nearly hour long ceremony, we luxuriated in placing our weary feet in the comfort of these simple Dearfoam slippers.
The slippers are non dyeable, but you can't even see them under a long bridesmaid dress. They are so comfy, too. I still wear mine at home sometimes. For 7 bucks a pair at Walmart, you can't go wrong. Certainly, slippers like these will be a thoughtful and appreciated addition to the gifts you give the lovely ladies of your wedding party.

Bridesmaids Dress Quest: Part 5 of 5

Yay!! After several months of searching, we have our bridesmaids dresses - and they're ordered and paid for. I went to the Amsale Bridesmaids Dress Buying Party at Hitched a week ago eeeearly (5 PM) - yes, I actually left work 30 minutes early just to make sure I got there on time. Kati and I went straight to the chiffon dresses (new for Spring 2009). We / she tried on all the beauties I first spied online and we fell in love with them all over again. They were so flattering, forgiving, and I loooooove the dresses in Cerise.


And now, for our lovelies:
Amsale 456c (shown in Cerise, crinkled chiffon)Amsale 454c
Amsale 455c

Amsale 450cAmsale 451c
I decided to pick out 5 dresses so the girls could choose the dress that's most flattering on their figure and they felt most comfortable getting and they will all be wearing the same color in Cerise, which is my favorite color of all time. Seriously.

It was kind of a tedious process to order them as I was seeing them for the first time during the trunk show and then had to decide that night if we were going to get them to take advantage of the 15% discount. So we tried on dresses, I looked for wifi at 2 different internet cafes to email the girls the pictures, couldn't find one, and just called all 7 of them. They were all on board if I thought they were a good choice, and Kati and I definitely loved them. Some were concerned if they would have to wear a strapless bra under all of them, I assured them that was not the case with Amsale 454 (the halter top with ruffles) - it's definitely thick enough at the top at the neck to wear with a converted strapless/halter bra. Some were a little concerned about the color, too, but Kati and I have very different coloring (she's more fair and porcelain colored and I'm more olive toned) and we both thought they still looked good on both of us. I didn't necessarily have to convince the girls, but I definitely wanted them to feel comfortable in trusting me. My sister, the Maid of Honor, will likely go with a longer, tea length option rather than the cocktail dress to look a little different from the rest.

I do hope they turn out well. I just love them so much and really have high hopes that the girls will like them too and that they'll look as stunning as I think they will.

Did you have any specifications or goals during your bridesmaids dress search? Was it difficult? Did the girls seem receptive?

Bridesmaids Dresses: Part 4 of 5 (Hopefully)

As promised, here is the report from our visit to Hitched in Georgetown last week. (Don't forget about their Bridesmaids Dress Buying Party this Thursday!) Below are the stand-outs:
Callie by Thread: Elijah by Thread (not sure why it's a guy's name):

And Kiki by Thread. We also loved these dresses by Simple Silhouettes:

A-Line: def sans sash, but that's just me. I'm trying to go for the "not bridesmaid" look.

Empire: This was much cuter and very flattering on my friend.

There was also a strapped cocktail option that my friends both liked, but it's not online. These are more traditional and in the $250-$275 range.

Comparisons: My friends loved the quality and feel of the Threads dresses, but they're significantly more expensive -$350 oto $375. They also thought they were the most flattering, but they're not as fun and the colors are okay (bright-ish pink but with an orange "tinge" in the silk shantung) for what I'm looking for. Right now, I'm leaning towards the Melissa Sweets from my previous post, some Amsale dresses, and the Threads dresses, based on color, dress type, and price. The Threads dresses come in an awesome color they call "Popsickle." It's kinda bright, but lots of fun, however, not sure if all my girls will be 100% pleased about it, I'm guessing maybe 85%.

With so many choices, it's rather difficult to pick just a few! I had decided to give my girls options between at least 2 dresses, but it'll probably be around 3 as some have requested a dress that didn't require a strapless bra - oh for the "blessed" among us. Did you find it difficult to choose? What swayed you?

Making Decisions!

With the 7 month mark looming ahead of us as of next week, Fiancé and I are still slacking on those pesky save the dates.

Whoops? My mother has been uber nag since January 1. Each time I talk to her it's "have you finished the save the dates? You need to finish the save the dates." Yes mother...yes. I know.

This weekend, we're looking at a *cough* new *cough* reception *cough* site. I'm not saying more because we're not ditching the one we have yet. Rumor has it we might get more bang for our buck at the one in question (that we'll be visiting Saturday) and if that's the case it doesn't hurt that it's merely ONE block from the church and the hotel where we're hoping to block off 20 rooms for our guests (that we're also looking at this weekend).

Of course things couldn't be that easy, as opposed to site #1 that we currently have a deposit on, a deposit that was only ~$100, the one in question has a $5k deposit, $10k minimum food and drink, thankfully that $5k deposit? Goes towards the minimum. Now, our proposal at current site, had us at $18k. We brought it down, cutting out just about EVERYTHING, to about $11k. So if we can keep it in that vicinity and get more for our money, we're golden and totally only losing $100.

No decisions have been made but if I can have a cocktail hour downstairs, dinner and dancing upstairs, with a full cocktail hour? I'm totally bailing on site #1.

I digress though. I'll hopefully more info next week and pictures.

In other happier news,

I picked out the Bridesmaids dresses, have a trip scheduled to Boston to go with the other girls, and should have them all ordered by May 12. The dresses in question?

[via Aria Dress]

The fabulous dreses from Aria Dress. They'll be short with an Aline skirt, in navy blue. The girls will then wear fuschia shoes. Carry green and white flowers. It's going to be fabulous. I love the navy/fuschia color tablet with a hint of green, like a spring green. Ahh love colors.

My vision? Something similar to this:

[via Miss Havy]

I've got the navy shoes, the girls will have navy dresses and pink shoes with white flowers with a dash of green in the mix. I'll have pink flowers. The men will have green mums as their boutonnieres with navy suits and vineyard vine ties.

All in all, it's coming together. If this ah-hem new reception site works out we'll save a significant amount on transportation. Like seriously - none needed. The men can stay at our apartment and walk over the day of, and I can stay at the hotel which is catty corner to the church. I'm pretty excited about this all, now if I could just sit down and get those stupid Save the Dates done....*le sigh*

Rebuffed: Bridesmaids Dress Search Part 2

Two weekends ago I visited Richmond to see some friends and go bridesmaids dress shopping. We visited 2 different stores and had 2 very different experiences. The first was Jingles. I had called them 3 days prior to our visit to see if we needed an appointment to look at dresses (they were fully booked for appointments because of a trunk show). My friend had tried to prepare us as she had researched them prior to our visit and reported that she'd read comments online that the shop can be a little snobby, even though they have some nice dresses.

The woman who answered told me no, only if I wanted my girls to be measured for their dresses. When we arrived, the first woman who greeted us asked if we had an appointment. I told them about my phone conversation. This first woman was very nice and even apologetic that their dressing rooms were all in use, but she may be able to squeeze us in after a group of girls was finished. I thanked her and we began our browsing. A second woman asked us if we had an appointment, ready to record my answer on her trusy clipboard. I told her the same and she was very rude and said, "Well, we you need an appointment. We're very busy today, with the trunk show and all." I told her we understood and we would be okay just browsing if if need be. A THIRD woman asked us the same question (mind you, the shop is very small and the section with the bridesmaids dresses is right in front of the front desk, so even if you wanted to have a quiet conversation with a potential client, you would still only be standing a maximum of 10 feet away from anyone else in the store! Well, the first one was able to get us into a dressing room 15 minutes before her 2:30 appointment. Between the 3 of us, we were able to try on 7 different dresses in less than 10 minutes. On our way out, we said thank you and let them know that the dressing room was available. We will not be returning.

BM Dresses (Minus 1)

My BM dresses have arrived! (minus 1 - more about that later) They are gorgeous and I love them. They are Alfred Angelo in sunshine yellow. When I decided on this dress, everywhere had samples in pink. So, when the dress arrived at the local boutique, it was the first time I got to see the dress in the actual color. My BMs and MOHs are wearing the same dress. To differentiate the MOHs a little I'm having a bit of embellishment added to their dresses. This is the dress. It's more sunshine-y in person. My pda camera does it no justice.

Now, back to the "minus one" part. My younger sister (23), for some unknown reason me is opting not to be in the wedding and has not ordered any of her attire, which should have been ordered in November. Everyone else's dress and shoes are here. It's bothersome that she's choosing not to be in the wedding, but what's also bothersome is the way she going about it. She's just not ordering her stuff, and not taking my calls. I had to hear that she has no intention of participating in the wedding from my baby (17) sister. Has anyone else ever had a situation like this with a member of their bridal party?