They were always going to have different styles of dresses, that was not even negotiable for me. I also love the sense of fun and informality that a print adds, but as we're (literally, atmospherically) a season behind trends from the US and Europe, I couldn't find any in Cape Town.
When it turned into a late afternoon ceremony, I thought something a bit more formal would do. I also realised at this point that my girls aren't 18 year old innocents, they're beautiful grown women. So I started looking for something a bit more grown-up glamorous.
Voracious reading of wedding blogs at this point gave me an overdose of green and or yellow weddings, and the thrill faded for me. I just wasn't ready to commit to colour. Which led me to this perfect picture:
And for those who think frothy little frocks might be a bit more cocktail party than wedding party, I also adore these.
So by now I was thinking grey, and Bombshell in Colorado spotted the perfect little grey dress in my favourite cheapo store, Forever 21. Obviously it would've been a real bargain. Thinking about summer in the countryside though, grey didn't feel quite right, so I started thinking about white. And then I saw this:
Amazing right?
Sadly, coordinating this kind of look across three continents, and still making it just a little bit obvious which one of us is the bride, was more of a challenge than I was up for. I also started worrying about different shades of white, off-white and ivory and how the wrong mix could make some dresses look dirty. Not a good look. Then I found and ordered my gown, which turned out not to be the sheer, simple, understated frock I was dreaming of. Back to the drawing board then and the simplest answer in the world presented itself: lbd.
These are a bit formal and shiny for me, but you get the gist. LOVE a bit of lace in black too...
As proven before, I'm not a big fan of black. But picturing the hotel, the late evening light, chandeliers and candles, my glam dress and BB's rock star outfit (more later) it was suddenly the only option that made sense. It also saved a lot of trouble in coordination and matching/mismatching so I resignedly informed the girls that they're each to find a black dress that they adore, that adores them back and they'd love to have anyway.
30 comments:
okay, A: you have a lot of followers. You're like your own lil' wedding cult. It's fab.
And B: I'm sooooo wanting to go this route as well. I love the idea of white bm's dresses, but black may be easier for them to pull off.
Wow-- love every single dress you posted a picture of!! lol
I've tossed and turned about my bridesmaid dresses too. I, like you, don't really care for them to all match! None of my girls are shaped the same at all, so I made a rule: Same fabric, same color, same length. They can pick whatever style they want, so long as all the dresses fit that!
We are going shopping in a week for the dresses :)
Stunning bridesmaid dresses - I love so many of them.
Great choices.
tck, ha ha. it's all relative hey, have you seen some other cults? way bigger!
black sure is easier, but now that it's getting warmer and brighter every day, i kind of wish i could back to white... too late though!
hannah, thanks! that's a good rule of thumb, they're going to look fab. and so lucky that you can go shopping together! i was only there for my sis/moh's dress, the rest all did it on their own. boo.
thanks brazen! i loved looking!
I actually considered a lot of those options, too. I love the gray dresses! The shades of white/ivory could be stunning, but I do agree it might take a bit of effort...too much for me! The LBD is a great solution and I think it is going to be stunning. At the end of the day, you can't go wrong with a classy and sophisticated black dress.
my best friend is getting married next april, and i was so excited when she told me that we get to choose fabulous lbd's to wear! :)
I so wore the first printed dress in my mom's wedding!! But it had little purple print instead of light green!
I love the lbds! Good choice!
The last dress is what my darling friend has chosen for me and her other bridesmaid to wear for her wedding next may. She wanted a theme of black, champagne and white for her big day and our dresses are kind of old hollywood (I think) which form the perfect backdrop to her STUNNING Stuart Parvin (that shows of her amazingly tiny waisted hourglass figure!)
At least 5 of these pics were in my inspiration folder! I am all about the mismatched dresses. Love them! LBD's would be perfect because everyone would DEFINITELY wear them again.
Great choice to go w/ the lbd - timeless & classic! And your girls must be so happy that they are buying something they WILL wear again!!
Rock on with the lbd for your girls! Mine are all over the place too and each chose their own dress and they look fab. Love it!
Gorgeous finds!
So glad to see that you have gone through a few bm ideas. The LBD is absolutely perfect and I bet all of your ladies are thanking you!
Cyd, exactly. It can not look anything but elegant and classy. The girls also have so much personality, they can not look subdued, not even in black. Can't wait to see them all together!
abi, that makes me feel better to hear you say that!
Mrs. S, aw I still love that little dress, and how cute in purple? Sweet!
CC, that sounds like a wonderfully glam wedding, yay for you that you get to wear such a fabulous dress!
Abbie, you obviously have great taste!
Lisa D, that's what I hoped for, thanks!
Beka, that's great that they chose individually and it all looks good together. Can't remember your colours now? Will go refresh my memory!
Thanks Atlanta!
Amy, did I mention they're paying for their own dresses? Naughty bride, so I'm not sure about thanking me but at least they aren't hating me!
Oh my god, that picture with the three pale grey dresses is perfect. That's what I would want my bridesmaids to look like if I was going to do the whole coordinating bridesmaids thing. I think black is a fabulous idea, especially mis-matching. Matching black bridesmaids scare me a bit, like minions of the grim reaper, but mismatching is fabulous. Especially with great accessories.
Peonies, I KNOW ABOUT THE GREY DRESS PICTURE! Is it very wrong that I'm already thinking of my "If I had to do it all again" wedding?!
Great result, they're going to look fab!
I am doing grey and marigold for my summer wedding, and definitely looked at those gorgeous grey melissa sweet dresses! However, like you, I decided grey was a little too drab for the July wedding so we went with gorgeous J. Crew dresses in marigold :)
Nice collection..! Well, bridesmaids dress is really a main attraction of a wedding.
You went through tons of thoughts to get here, but I agree that black dresses as they like is a great idea...
so great that I am also doing this for my wedding! :)
Can't wait to see how it turned out!
Thank you so much for sharing the such pictures of beautiful bridesmaids dresses.
Hey, I'm not very far with my wedding plans but I know that I myself the bride want a shorter soft grey like the one in three girls picture with the two grey and one white dresses. Do you remember where you got that?
Hey sanddog, the picture is from InStyle Weddings Fall 2007. Dresses were by (l-r) Max & Cleo @ Macy's, BCBG and Rebecca Taylor. Hope that helps!
Hi there, I LOVE the yellow dresses in that picture! I'm getting married in April on the beach and I would love to know where those are from! Thanks a bunch :)
Hi there Clarissa! Beach wedding sounds so fab right now, we're still waiting on Summer '09! The yellow dresses were all from David's Bridal... super cute & a bargain? Yay! Good luck with all the planning!
hi i'm getting married in a year and really love the dresses in the picture where the bridesmaids are talking to the little flower girl.(3rd picture down) they are the perfect colour of green and i love the different styles. can you please tell me where they are from?
Hi Anon, I'm afraid I've passed on all my bridal books, all I know is that the picture appeared in InStyle Weddings Fall 2007. Good luck!
I know it has been a couple of years, but the picture with the 3 different dresses, Do you know where they were from? I am going to be in a wedding and that is exactly what the bride is looking for! Yes a yellow wedding,LOL!
Your topic is nice. all the brides maid wedding dresses had very beautiful designs and innovative styles usually bride maid dresses had fantastic design and more stylish, online wedding planner also provide list of bridesmaid dresses and extract the services too.
Thanks for sharing this post. I love your designs of Bridesmaid Dresses. I Love them all.
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