Weddingbee

Unfortunately for my bridesmaids, I found the dress I wanted them to wear before I even got a chance to formally invite them. (Way back in December.) This was a bit distressing to me because I wanted to do things “the right way,” but I had to move to buy the dresses right away because they were in a color that was being phased out with the winter stock.

( Sophia silk dress in Vintage Burgundy )

I ended up having to tell them about the dresses and put their sizes on hold before I put their wedding party invite in the mail. How gauche, right? Well, it wasn’t really as big a deal as I’m making it… they all knew they’d be in the wedding party anyway.

Even before I started looking, I knew that my first choice for bridesmaids dresses would be in silk tricotine from JCrew. As a bridesmaid at my best friend’s wedding in 2005, I wore the Sophia long silk dress in black. It was a wonderful dress, both beautiful and practical. In my experience, JCrew’s “occasions” dresses are not only very high quality, they’re also something that deserves wearing repeatedly. I have no stomach (outside of purchasing my wedding dress) for one-night stands with dresses and I can’t stand the shiny, gauzy, poorly made dresses that flood the bridal market and scream “HAY GUYS, I’M A BRIDESMAID TEEHEE!!”

I definitely wasn’t intending to create a rush on the bridesmaids’ dresses but when I saw the lovely “Vintage Burgundy” color online and emailed their consultant about it, they told me it was already in very limited stock and on its way to being discontinued. I had planned to offer my bridesmaids a choice of dress styles in one uniform color, which is usually possible with JCrew’s dresses, but the only style that had any sizes in left in burgundy was the Sophia short silk dress, so Sophia it was. ( I’m not complaining, the Sophia is my favorite style anyway.)

I made sure to explore my options and asked the consultant what colors were offered as constants and what colors they were introducing for the next season. She told me that in February, they were replacing the Burgundy with one VERY orange-red called “Flame” and a magenta “Crisp Beet.” The JCrew consultant was kind enough to send me a fabric swatch of the burgundy to compare with next season’s colors even before they came out!

( Yes, the burgundy looks a bit redder in person than in the photo above )
My second choice for color was the “Espresso” brown, which is available year-round. But I was definitely more excited about the burgundy because it was a nice, bright autumn color and everyone loved it, so I set to the task of snapping up what seemed to be all the rest of the burgundy Sophia short silk dresses on the face of the planet.

This took a bit of work on all of our parts. Three of the dresses came in at once, but two weren’t available in the proper sizes or in petite versus regular. There was some wailing and gnashing of teeth but JCrew and their “wish list” (read: “waiting list”) came through eventually and everyone ended up with a dress in the size that fit best… even though my MOH just got her petite size in the mail a few weeks ago!

It felt somewhat backwards to have my bridesmaids clothed before I had found a dress for myself. But it was a relief that I had taken care of something so early that is usually put off toward the later half of planning.Now I have to figure out shoes and accessories for my maids. I’m lost when it comes to this stuff! I would like to let them choose their own jewelry and shoes (unless I decide to gift them something), but I also want to provide direction.

I’m probably going to wear pearls, and I’d like to find some pearl earrings or necklaces I can recommend and possibly give as a gift. We’re all on shoestring budgets here, but I’ve seen some lovely handcrafted jewelry on Etsy that won’t break the bank. Can you recommend anything that might look nice?

For shoes, I’m thinking cream (like the color in the dress model photos) so I think I’ll look for something similar online and recommend a few pairs to them. Gold and cream is also a nice combination. But the toughest part is finding something nice WITHOUT an aggressive heel– we’ll be outside on varied terrain and I don’t want anyone breaking an ankle!

So please, help me outfit my ladies. We’ll all appreciate your advice!