Bridesmaids: Dressed.

Ok, ok. I’m back from my bridal shower/bachelorette long weekend, and let me tell you – I’m still recovering from all the excitement!  It was bittersweet going back to work on Tuesday, knowing that a major engagement milestone had passed.  My first night back at home I slept hard, like I hadn’t slept in ages.  Apparently all that celebrating wore me out.

It was a whirlwind weekend, but we did check a few tasks off the list.  I picked up my wedding gown, took the bridesmaids to see the wedding venue, finalized the bridesmaid dresses, and worked on invites.

Things didn’t go as planned with the invites, but thanks to my wonderful friends I got the envelopes addressed, lined, return-address stamped, and got some other details done.  There’s still one more step because the RSVP cards didn’t work out.  The ink pad I had for stamping them was crappy, and it kept blurring and leaving gel-like blobs of ink.  Yuck.

On Saturday we grabbed my MOH from the bus in Philly.  You may remember Melissa from when I helped her move into a miniscule studio apartment in Boston last summer.  After a very late lunch and errands in Philly, we went home to try out bridesmaid dresses.    The most difficult one was for Crysty, who’s going to be 6 months pregnant at the wedding.  It’s hard to know what will work then, and even harder to find maternity dresses in white lace,  but I think the dress she chose will be fine.  Here is the final result:

You probably know I don’t like to buy sweatshop-produced merchandise.  I first looked for US-made or sweatshop-free dresses, but the only options I found were very expensive.  All of my friends are on a budget, and I didn’t want to ask them to spend over $150 or $200 on a bridesmaid dress.

When I decided to go with neutral / off-white assorted dresses, I thought maybe we could source them from consignment and thrift stores.  That way there was no sweatshop activity, and we’d be recycling.  But once I specifically looked for off-white lace or chiffon dresses, they were no where to be found.

It was at that point that I realized I’d have to make some concessions.  I could have just asked them to wear something they already had, but after looking in their closets I realized they’re all so different that nothing would look cohesive.

With time running out, I had to make a choice:  stick to my guns and just let them wear mismatched dresses, or suck it up and find dresses at stores that may or may not have less-than-ideal manufacturing overseas.   I chose the latter.

It was still tough to find the right dresses, even new off the rack.  My friend and I hit the massive and crowded Tyson’s Corner mall twice, scouring it top to bottom and trying on all sorts of dresses that *might* work.  We ended up with 3 or 4.  Then she ordered a few dresses online.  Finally, right before the big weekend, I saw a few dresses in the window of Dress Barn, and snagged 4 styles for them to try on.

Just in case you want details, here’s where the final choices are from, in photo order left to right:

1. Comfy cap-sleeve lace dress.  $40 at a tiny store at the mall, brand unknown.
2. Exposed Zipper Lace Dress via PiperLime.  I can’t find it on the site anymore.  Less than $100, I think.
3. Strapless Lace Dress by Vince Camuto.  $168 at Macy’s – but now on sale for much less.
4. Lace bodice, chiffon skirt dress. I have zero info on this dress, but Crysty found it for Reba for only $10 somewhere.
5. Lace Tank Dress with Beaded Neckline.  $60 at Dress Barn.  It’s not a maternity dress, but she’s going to raise the waist to empire height to accommodate The Bump. 🙂

Clearly my friend Alyssa’s strapless dress was the priciest, but she really prefers strapless and doesn’t like the hoochie-length that so many other dresses have these days.  So this was worth it, because she does think she’ll actually wear it again in the future.  However, if anyone sees a size 2 or a 4 for less than $168, we’d love to return the full-price one and buy a sale-priced one. 🙂

We tried some dresses from Modcloth, but they were all a disappointment and will be returned.  They’re not constructed well, they don’t fit well, and they’re all so freakin’ short.  I love my friends, but I’d rather not have their asses hanging out at my wedding. 🙂

So that’s the wrap-up of the “supposed-to-be-easy” dress adventure.   I was going to have everyone in colorful, fun shoes – but after looking at what’s available online, I just asked them to find neutral, nude or off-white shoes that they liked (no flip-flops, no boots) and call it  a day.

Sidenote: Don’t know where else to say this – I can’t imagine wedding planning before Pinterest.  Seriously, having a collaborative board for bridesmaid dresses as well as reception decor, stationery, etc – it’s been my saving grace.

It’s seriously ridiculous how much time you spend worrying about coordinated bridesmaid dresses just for the sake of a wedding!