27 Dresses. Nah! How about 2?

To be completely honest, I had an idea of what I wanted for bridesmaid dresses well before Chris proposed. I came across this fantastic dress on the David's Bridal website. The dress didn't come in green, however. When I looked after Chris proposed, I was pleasantly surprised that it had been added in "clover" green. Kimberly, Katherine and I went to the store and they tried on the dress. They liked the dress so it was an "all systems go". We didn't put any orders in just yet (THANKFULLY!). One morning, I went online before work and clicked on the website that had this dress on it. It led me to a page that said the dress had been discontinued. You would think that the people at David's Bridal would have called to let me know that!! Erase that check mark. My search was back on.

Disheartened by the lack of customer service at David's Bridal, I went online in search of a popular designer that is carried in bridal boutiques. I came across Alfred Angelo. This designer is a popular one whose designs seem to be carried in most boutiques around the country. Since the majority of my bridesmaids are scattered around, this was very important. I liked a number of the dresses and picked out two that were similar to my "vision". Their line of dresses come in a very large array of colors. They also had a "clover" green! Brittany was the first to venture out to try on the dresses. The dress that Katherine, Kim, and Heather (pictured in the left) had liked from the picture proved to produce a "nay" by Brittany. The second dress (in the blue) proved to be a winner. She likes how it looks on her and thinks it will be the most flattering on all of my beautiful girls.

Since Allison is my matron of honor, I would like her to stand out among the bridesmaids. To me, this means a different dress entirely. I made an appointment to look at dresses with Allison this past spring. Allison currently is pregnant and will have a little girl in December. She wanted to go dress shopping before she had too big of a belly!! Allison was beyond patient with me. We tried on a number of dresses and made very little progress in choosing a dress for her! Here are some of the dresses she tried on. With a trained eye you could see a little bit of a belly bump!!!

Here are the rules. I really liked the blue dress that Brittany was wearing. I wanted to find a different dress for Allison that was similar but would be different enough that it would be clear that she was my matron of honor. Allison doesn't like to be in the spotlight. She nixed having a different colored dress of the same style. She felt that would be too much. We really needed to find a dress that complimented the bridesmaids dress. I also wanted to find one that Allison felt comfortable in. This means I didn't want her to be self conscious OR physically uncomfortable. Ideally, I think she'd like a dress that has straps. Her little girl will only be 6 months old and will probably be breastfed. So, what did I do first? I pulled a dress that didn't look anything like the bridesmaid dress and was strapless!! Woops...

The Bowtie For Your Belly Dress: I pulled this dress because I really liked the train in the back. The back is just so pretty. However, most of the pictures would be taken from the front. The bowtie was bizarre. It was a shame Allison didn't have more of a pregnant belly at this point because it would have looked hilarious. Although Allison will most likely be back down to her regular size by the time of the wedding, we decided the bow would draw the eye to her stomach. This might make her a little self-conscious. The Two Piece Fit for a Blimp: Ok, so after she indulged me with that bowtie dress, I got back on task and looked for a dress that would be similar to the bridesmaid's one. I pulled this two piece dress because it had the same diagonal lines that the rouching in the bridesmaid dress had. This was the funniest to try on! The skirt was a size 28. It could probably wrapped around Allison's itty bitty body 3 times. We decided we didn't like the look of the separates. This dress really looked like it was two pieces. I think it seems less like a formal dress and more of a matching top and skirt.
In this one, the Employee played along... So, one thing was decided, we like the dress that Brittany liked. We tried to find a dress that was similar. We pulled this peach dress. The girl that was helping us offered to try it on. Talk about going the mile for customer service! Although the peach dress had spaghetti straps, I really didn't like it as much as I liked the one on Allison. I was pretty sure that was the best one I could find that complimented the dress. Although I really didn't like it, thoughts of putting the bridesmaids in the peach dress popped to mind. Thank goddness I went hom eand searched online.

Here is the one Allison will (most likely) wear: I found this dress. It is pictured in the "clover" green. It has thick straps and rouching like the bridesmaid dress. I also like the sparkly details. I think this dress did everthing we were asking it to do.

We set an appointment for all of the bridesmaids order their dresses on November 23rd. The appointment is at 1:00. I figure, if they could swing it, the local bridesmaids will come and those out of town can order over the phone. They will get a discount if the order is in that day. They will have to get their measurements from another bridal boutique... or do it themselves. Allison and I are pleased!