Weddingbee

I have written in the past of my obsession and desire for custom Lynn Lugo dresses for my bridesmaids. And I also wrote of the complete impossibility of getting them given my time constraints. So I gave up that idea and hunted through hundreds of websites looking for something else I liked ready-made.

The reason that I really wanted the Lynn Lugo dresses is because I could not make up my mind when it came to bridesmaids’ dresses. I went back and forth between blue to green, back to blue and then to the brown dress below from Nordstom’s (because it was the safe choice). But I wasn’t really happy with that choice.

So I decided what I really wanted were dresses that reflected all my ’maids personalities, and I wanted to work in all the colors that I love. I decided that I wanted to have a dress in each color. Green for my roommate who loves that color, peacock blue for my close friend who loves color just like me, and brown-gold for my amazing MOH, my sister. So we were back to custom dresses and to internet research.

I have to admit that I was guilty of not thinking locally - which is strange because normally I am a huge proponent of supporting local merchants and it is something that Mr. Robin is also really passionate about. Luckily I have some bridesmaids who weren’t so shortsighted. Strolling along a strip of popular stores on 23^rd Avenue, they found Cocoon.

(my mom checking out the bridesmaids dresses)

At Cocoon Silk there are racks and racks of lovely dresses to choose from. However, that isn’t the best part. Any of the dresses can be made in a wide range of different colored silks, so I was able to set my dearest women loose in the store to choose any style they fancied. My only condition was that the dresses be knee or just below knee length. And after they chose and were measured, we got to sift through these amazing silk swatches and choose each woman’s color and accents.

It was such a great experience because the store seemed to care so much about each woman in my party. The owner made suggestions and was willing to alter the details, such as length and straps on any one of his designs, and was willing to work with my insane one and a half month deadline. And I got exactly what I wanted.

So here they are the first fitting:

I think that because I spend so much time and energy planning and writing about my wedding on the internet, that sometimes I forget there are great finds in my own Portland.

What is your greatest wedding find in your city?

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