Style, Color, and Cost... my current enemies
Finding bridesmaid dresses is difficult. To find the winning dress, three factors need to be met:
1) style
2) color
3) cost
So far in my experience I may have as many as two factors met, but there is always the third one lurking out there.
As for 1) style... I can't have strapless. Why? Because a) strapless doesn't usually fit everyone correctly and they'll probably be unwilling to get alterations, so then it just won't look right b) I don't want any photos with people pulling up their strapless dress c) one of my maids said she's uncomfortable in strapless and d) I don't want boobs everywhere.
This should be fine, except that it seems almost all the popular style bridesmaid dresses are strapless! But, we can still work around this.
Considering 2) color... this is, in my opinion, maybe the hardest part. You can't really search dresses by color, you have to fall in love with a style first, only to find that it doesn't come in the colors you like. Many people have suggested that I use David's Bridal or Alfred Angelo, who offer the two piece dresses where the bridesmaid can pick the top and bottom that they're most comfortable in. This sounds great and all, but I really don't like the colors that these places offer... they're usually pretty bland.
I had wanted to use a shade of green, but green is an easy color to mess up. You could end up with a shade of puke. The color of these dresses will influence all the other colors of things that are used in the wedding. It is no easy task.
All of my bridesmaid have so far been understanding with 3) cost. I explained straight up that weddings are expensive because I didn't want anyone to feel manhandled or guilted into having to pay for various things. One bm dress that's on the table right now is this chiffon, tea length Jim Hjelm dress. At Netbride it will be about $154; at a boutique it will certainly be more. $154 isn't obscene for a bridesmaid dress and not a deal-breaker, but being under $150 would be nice. A few things I love about this dress is that it's chiffon (ie, flowy), the colors it comes in are gorgeous (great, subtle hues rather than flat primary colors), and it comes with a ribbon (I really like the idea of having some color contrast... maybe a sage colored dress with a chocolate ribbon?).
I haven't tried the Jim Hjelm on yet, and that really makes all the difference in the world. I'll have to make that a priority.
A dress I more recently found is this chiffon, tea length Jasmine Bridal (B2) dress. I tried it on on Sunday, and it fit great and was very flattering. I think all the bms would be comfortable in it, and they could even wear it again without looking too "bridesmaidy" in it. At the store where I found it, it's $150... but if you buy 5 or more (which we would), it's $135 per dress. But it doesn't come with a ribbon (I could buy a ribbon separately, but would that look alright?) and good old 2) color is causing me some grief. The colors aren't bad, they just don't make me go wild. Of course, I'd need to look more closely at color swatches in a store.
Of course the bms don't need their dresses for a long time yet, but because the color is such an influential part in the rest of the planning it would be nice to know.
1) style
2) color
3) cost
So far in my experience I may have as many as two factors met, but there is always the third one lurking out there.
As for 1) style... I can't have strapless. Why? Because a) strapless doesn't usually fit everyone correctly and they'll probably be unwilling to get alterations, so then it just won't look right b) I don't want any photos with people pulling up their strapless dress c) one of my maids said she's uncomfortable in strapless and d) I don't want boobs everywhere.
This should be fine, except that it seems almost all the popular style bridesmaid dresses are strapless! But, we can still work around this.
Considering 2) color... this is, in my opinion, maybe the hardest part. You can't really search dresses by color, you have to fall in love with a style first, only to find that it doesn't come in the colors you like. Many people have suggested that I use David's Bridal or Alfred Angelo, who offer the two piece dresses where the bridesmaid can pick the top and bottom that they're most comfortable in. This sounds great and all, but I really don't like the colors that these places offer... they're usually pretty bland.
I had wanted to use a shade of green, but green is an easy color to mess up. You could end up with a shade of puke. The color of these dresses will influence all the other colors of things that are used in the wedding. It is no easy task.
All of my bridesmaid have so far been understanding with 3) cost. I explained straight up that weddings are expensive because I didn't want anyone to feel manhandled or guilted into having to pay for various things. One bm dress that's on the table right now is this chiffon, tea length Jim Hjelm dress. At Netbride it will be about $154; at a boutique it will certainly be more. $154 isn't obscene for a bridesmaid dress and not a deal-breaker, but being under $150 would be nice. A few things I love about this dress is that it's chiffon (ie, flowy), the colors it comes in are gorgeous (great, subtle hues rather than flat primary colors), and it comes with a ribbon (I really like the idea of having some color contrast... maybe a sage colored dress with a chocolate ribbon?).
I haven't tried the Jim Hjelm on yet, and that really makes all the difference in the world. I'll have to make that a priority.
A dress I more recently found is this chiffon, tea length Jasmine Bridal (B2) dress. I tried it on on Sunday, and it fit great and was very flattering. I think all the bms would be comfortable in it, and they could even wear it again without looking too "bridesmaidy" in it. At the store where I found it, it's $150... but if you buy 5 or more (which we would), it's $135 per dress. But it doesn't come with a ribbon (I could buy a ribbon separately, but would that look alright?) and good old 2) color is causing me some grief. The colors aren't bad, they just don't make me go wild. Of course, I'd need to look more closely at color swatches in a store.
Of course the bms don't need their dresses for a long time yet, but because the color is such an influential part in the rest of the planning it would be nice to know.
2 Comments:
I really like them both, although I think that the second option will probably be more universally flattering. The thin, spaghetti straps of the first dress almost make it strapless. It IS gorgeous, though, and you could easily wear both again. I would feel more comfortable in the second, but I am notoriously picky about arm exposure! :)
Having just done this, if you are set on a color scheme, go with the color you want and the rest will fall into place.-CM
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