Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Wedding Wednesday: Bridesmaids (The Gowns)

I'm so glad you guys enjoyed meeting my bridesmaids!  Sarah and Ellie are beautiful girls inside and out, and their participation will make our wedding the most amazing day.  I can't wait to introduce you to our groomsmen in a few weeks, but first the gowns!

[ from left: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 ]

When Jon and I talked about our aesthetic, I promised that we wouldn't go overboard on the pink.  We liked the idea of gray bridesmaids dresses; the darker shades, like those above, would be equally flattering with Sarah's  glowing olive skin and Ellie's peaches and cream complexion.

We flirted for a minute with picking cocktail-length dresses.  I thought that maybe they'd be more versatile, but wasn't sure they'd match the formality of the morning suits that the boys will be wearing.  (More on that in a future post!)  Sarah and Ellie didn't feel strongly either way, though Jon preferred long gowns.  In the end, we decided to go with floor-length frocks so that their elegance would pair well with the rest of the wedding party.  Also, Sarah and Ellie both have tons of shorter fancy dresses that they wear all the time - gowns are a bit more special!

A quick note on money: I don't know if you remember my budget spreadsheet, where I included a line for "clothes and beauty for bride and maids," but one of the differences between US and UK weddings is that the bride pays for the bridesmaids' dresses.  (Maybe this is why most weddings in the UK have smaller bridal parties, like Megan said!)  I'm sure every bride swears this, but I was very happy to put aside a decent chunk of money for them because I really want the girls to be able to wear their gowns after the wedding for any future black-tie events they might attend.

So, because of that, I decided to go with a brand that Sarah and I know and love: J.Crew.  Once we'd filtered our search to gray and long, we were left with four options, all silk chiffon.  (There's a fifth dress online now, the Rosa, that wasn't available a few months ago.)  I love the look of bridesmaids wearing styles that work for their individual bodies and personalities, so I told the girls that they could pick whichever they wanted.  When I went to visit Jon in September, I brought Ellie her top two choices to try on, and when we saw her in them we all agreed that there was a clear winner.  Sarah ordered her two favorite dresses to try on, too, and texted me a picture of her final selection - and it was the same dress that Ellie had chosen!

We haven't talked about anything else for the girls yet - accessories and shoes and things will be decided down the line - but they look stunning in this dress and I can't wait to see everything come together in August!  I can't say enough in praise of the J.Crew weddings team, who mailed me swatches and answered my questions and sent me a follow-up email and even gave me notice about the discount (25% if you spend $150 or more, which made a big difference!) that was about to kick in.  The experience of choosing our bridesmaids' dresses, which I'm sure can be a minefield of hurt feelings and awkwardness, really was a joy.  It's encouraged me for my own search!

linking up with something charming today


28 comments:

  1. I love J.Crew's bridal and bridal party offerings! Great choice!


    :D
    KC
    ahappyeverafter.com

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  2. This dress is GORGEOUS! Our 3 bridesmaids wore the same dress but chose their own shoes, accessories, hair, and makeup. My man-of-honor ended up wearing a combination of the groomsmen's clothes and the bridesmaid's color (yellow!). xoxo, eliza

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  3. Beautiful dress!! We also went with long, silk chiffon dresses (by Amsale) in a dusty rose/rhubarb color and each of my 4 girls had a different style. They looked perfect together but unique, too! Loved the final dress choice, it's stunning. Wouldn't it be dramatic with black accessories? It sounds like your wedding is going to be so fancy and lovely!

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  4. Gorgeous! I love long dresses, my bridesmaids wore long black ones. They will look fabulous!

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  5. I'm choosing long charcoal gray dresses for my bridesmaids too!!! (although they won't be from J.Crew, as much as I love them, I feel horrible asking my bridesmaids to spend that much on a dress!!!) I guess its different if you pay for them, you can pick whatever you want!! They are fabulous!! :) What are your other wedding colors?
    www.jaxandmarbles.blogspot.com

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  6. Wow, these dresses are absolutely gorgeous. I bet the girls are going to look stunning in them.
    xo, Maria

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  7. Ooh I love them! And I bet the girls love you for buying them for them :)

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  8. I may have been planning my bridemaids outfits since JCrew launched the collection... way before I even knew Jon... #sorryimnotsorry

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  9. yeah, they'll choose their own things - but I'd like to maybe think about some guidelines? though I don't want to be bridezilla!

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  10. ooh yes! I was actually thinking that skinny black sashes might work with the dresses - what do you think?

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  11. Yes! Love it! Black heels and maybe onyx drop earrings would complete the look. Soo pretty.

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  12. well, to be honest, my parents would be paying for my sister's dress anyway - and Ellie's almost family, too, plus it's tradition over there, so it just made sense to fold it in! we're doing white and gray and pinks and greens :) see more here! http://betsytransatlantically.blogspot.com/2012/08/wedding-wednesday-defining-aesthetic.html

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  13. I teared up when I saw them in the dresses!

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  14. Such a gorgeous dress! Definitely something they can get a lot of use out of!

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  15. I love the J.Crew dresses. We wore the silk chiffon dresses in dusty shale in cocktail length for my best friend's wedding last June. We each picked our own style (many more people so many styles represented). I went with the Arabella. It was hands down my absolute favorite bridesmaid's dress, and I'm planning to wear it to another friend's wedding this coming summer. So romantic, gorgeous, and definitely re-wearable.

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  16. I seriously love those dresses! So beautiful! I wanted to go with J. Crew, but felt bad asking my bridesmaids to pay to come to Mexico and then pay a lot for a dress, so that went out the window. I'll just live vicariously through your bridesmaids!

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  17. oh GOOD that's exactly what I wanted to hear :) thank you!

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  18. those dresses are beautiful! i personally love number 3 :) and it is so gracious and generous of you to pay for them!

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  19. Beautiful pick for the bridesmaid dresses! I think I am going with black floor length, chiffon gowns for my bridesmaids! I can't believe you have to pay for all the bridesmaid dresses...I guess it makes sense, but that would definitely cut down my BM list ;)

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  20. You were right, should have stayed away from your blog today.

    Kidding, kidding!! The J.Crew dress is gorgeous, and definitely something that can be worn again. I think it would be really pretty and super versatile shortened after the wedding as well!

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  21. haha I get that! thank goodness we only have two and they're family, I guess :)

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  22. haha yes I do wonder if one affects the other in the UK :)

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  23. :P to you! now you do a Pinspired post and I'll read it and we'll be even. hehe :)

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  24. I wanted J. Crew bridesmaids dresses for my bridesmaids so much! But because most of them were still in college or recently graduated, they weren't able to afford them. Very sad, but we ended up with a pretty great choice! I love this color too, it's gorgeous!

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  25. The four different bridesmaid dress with same gray color is amazing. There are many designs of bridesmaid dress are available and they have to stick with one design when they are going for the wedding dress shopping. To find the vendors nearby area or some where else, the android wedding app is the great option for easy search.

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