Drum Roll, Please…
Written by Sara on November 10, 2009 – 10:01 am -We have selected bridesmaid dresses!
That’s right, readers – after searching high (as in high prices) and low (as in desperate Google searches for “metallic grey dresses”), my lovely gal pals and I have finally found a bridesmaid dress that not only will look fetch on all of my ladies, but is absolutely cost-effective, too!
The dress is from Dessy‘s After Six line, and after selecting four of my favorites, this is the one that all of my girlfriends loved:
Isn’t it beautiful! While the picture shows the dress in brown, my ladies will be wearing the dress in a metallic silvery grey satin (I still have to get swatches of the colors, but for now I like “mocha”). The dress comes with optional straps that my girls can elect to wear (I care not), which will help my chestier and/or more modest chums!
Here’s my next debate, however: readers, do you see the waistline of the dress, and how the dress features almost a band around the waist? We have the option to either keep that band of fabric the same color as the dress, or to select an accent color for the band. Although I’ve flirted with the idea of having coral be my accent color, I really feel that my true love is yellow (yes, I changed my mind again…) so I love the idea of using a lighter hue of yellow as the accent color for the band. However, I also like the use of ivory as the accent color, since that’s the color of my wedding gown.
Even still, I love the dress in solid metallic grey, and to me, if I were a bridesmaid, I would prefer a solid-colored dress to a dress with an accent color. (I seriously think if it were me, I would wear this bridesmaid dress again to another wedding or a fancy holiday party.)
My solution: at this point, I think I’ll have the girls order the gowns in solid metallic grey, and that way, we have the option to add a yellow or ivory ribbon/sash to the dress, if we so choose.
Do you all remember this dress pattern? See the beautiful woman on the right in the amazing patterned strapless number? I love how she’s rocking that wrap with the brooch, and I recently fell in love with having my girls walk down the aisle with wraps and brooches of their own. But I’m not so sure of this look anymore, and I’m not sure why.
Readers, what do you think of the bridesmaid dress we’ve chosen? Have a thought about the color conundrum? What about the wrap look – what do you think? Please comment below!
Have a happy Tuesday!
Top Photo: Dessy’s After Six, Style 6553, www.dessy.com
Bottom Photo: McCalls Dress Patterns, www.McCalls.com
Tags: After Six, Dessy, Google, McCalls
Posted in Adornments & Embellishments, Beauty & Polish, Fashion, Our Wedding | 2 Comments »
Bridesmaid Brainstorming
Written by Sara on October 14, 2009 – 10:10 am -Happy Wednesday, all! I’m feeling great today, because tonight I’m headed back to David’s Bridal with my Mom and Kristen, my maid of honor, to try on more gowns! Expect a full report in the coming days, but for now, a few things are a-brewing in terms of my bridal party!
Check out the updates I’ve made to the “Our Wedding Party” page; I am so honored that three of my closest friends (and some of my most favorite people) have agreed to stand up for me as J and I recite our vows! Some of J’s best guys have also signed on – it’s wonderful to have such supportive friends!
This week I spent time with my bridesmaid Serena and her Mom Teresa, who was really like my second Mom in high school – I spent SO MUCH TIME playing board games, eating fruit snacks and homemade popcorn, and cuddling up under Teresa’s homemade quilts at Serena’s house in high school. Anyway, the purpose of my time at the Schweitzer home was two-fold: 1) I missed my friend! It had been a month or so since I’d seen Serena, and I really wanted to catch up; and 2) Serena casually mentioned over text message last week that Teresa, who is a wonderful seamstress, has made three bridal gowns and at least one set of bridesmaid dresses before!
You all may not know how much I’ve been struggling with selecting a bridesmaid dress, but let me tell you: it’s been difficult. Selecting the vintage-inspired theme wedding is probably the best and the worst idea I’ve ever had, and one of the reasons it’s the worst is the utter lack of vintage-inspired bridesmaid dresses. Also, my bridesmaids are all beautiful in their diverse shapes and sizes, and I would never, ever want them to feel uncomfortable in their own skin by choosing an unflattering dress. Last, I have a HUGE problem asking my girls to purchase a dress for $150-$250, and then ask them to buy shoes, pay to get their hair done, etc. As I former bridesmaid myself, I literally would have died if I had to shell out that kind of funds.
So, I spent a few hours talking with Serena and Teresa to gauge Teresa’s interest in making my bridesmaid dresses. After a little chit-chat in the kitchen, we moved to their office and logged on to the web site for McCalls dress patterns. Little did I know that this web site would (hopefully) hold the answer to my bridesmaid dress woes!
Here’s the first pattern that we liked:
I loved the lace details on the neckline and skirt of the v-neck dress, on the skirt of the boatneck gown and the waist of the scoop-neck gown. I especially loved the rosette on the scoop-neck dress (Teresa’s made rosettes before, and they’re beautiful!). Teresa also mentioned that my girls could each wear one of the four dresses, or they could all wear the same one, depending on which dress I liked best.
The second set of patterns, however, is my absolute favorite, simply because of the picture on the far right:
How AMAZING does the woman on the right side look with her little wrap, secured with a brooch!? I got SO excited when I saw this, I had to hustle home and show my Mom (who loved it, too). These pictures remind me of a dress I had in high school that I called my “Pearl Harbor” dress…it was a black dress with cap sleeves and pink tulle peeking out from underneath the skirt. I loved that dress. While I wouldn’t necessarily put my girls in a print (even though the dress on the right side is FREAKING GORGEOUS), that’s exactly how I want my girls to look at the wedding.
I plan to check in with Teresa and Serena next week to gauge Teresa’s feelings again about making dresses for my girls (I wanted to give her time to think about whether she’s interested or not), but in the meantime, I couldn’t help but share!
[Photos from McCalls.com]
Tags: David's Bridal, McCalls
Posted in DIY, Fashion, Our Wedding | No Comments »