Wedding Blog
In my previous post, I told you all about my J.Crew letdown that left my special ladies without special dresses. So we decided to go the old-fashioned route and actually went to a store to try some dresses on. I wish I could tell you that we went to 1 place, found our dresses and were done, but c’mon, this is the Latte wedding. Remember me? The one with the 4.5 part dress saga???
Yup, I dragged my poor BMs to 6 shops before finally deciding on some dresses. I know, I’m one meanie bride. But it gets worse. I dragged them out in the snow. And changed my mind. A lot.
Honestly, I would’ve been happy with any of the dresses we tried on. But I really wanted them to like, no, LOVE their dresses. I know what you’re thinking… that’s impossible! No BM loves her dress! And who cares… she’s never going to wear the dress again anyway! Well, I think it IS possible and I care! I want them to feel special and beautiful on my wedding day, and ladies, we all know that when you look good, you feel good!
Now the challenge was finding a dress they would all love and feel beautiful in. And although we fought the good fight, we lost. My BMs have different body types and style preferences, so finding one dress that would be perfect for all of them was next to impossible. So we changed up our game plan, and decided to look for two styles in the same color and fabric. The search continued… but finding two coordinating styles was harder that we thought!
That is, until we walked into Allegria Bridal in Belmont, MA. With the help of THE most wonderful consultant, Barb*, we found four perfectly coordinating styles! They all have similarities that tie them together (empire waists, strapless, full skirts) but are different enough to fit each girl’s style and body shape. BM H doesn’t like strapless, so she can add spaghetti straps. My MOH can have the rouched top that she loves.
They are all from the Jim Hjelm Occasions line so we are assured that the color and fabric will be the same. So without further adieu, here they are!
(Yes, I Photoshopped the dresses together. I’m a visual person.)
They’ll all be in a chocolate satin-faced taffeta. It’s hard to tell what they’ll actually look like from this pastel explosion of a picture, but if you try really hard (sometimes squinting helps!) you may be able to see the full picture. Can you see it???
We’re not sure how to incorporate the satin rosette belts, but I know my special ladies are going to be stunners in these dresses, and I can’t wait to see them all prettied up!!!
Did you opt for different styles for your bridesmaids? If not, did you find one dress that worked for all of your special ladies?
*Barb was awesome to work with. She was so patient and understanding, even when we walked in without an appointment, right before they closed on a Saturday… oops! And that was after seeing her two times the day before. Oh the shame.
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Share this post: 4 Ladies + 4 Dresses = Stylin’ Bridesmaids
love the colors! i like the different colors of the same or similar styled dresses for bridesmaids.
My three ladies are wearing dresses of their choosing. I gave them each a colour and told them whether it’s printed or one solid colour doesn’t matter much to me!
The only snag I have run into is that, like you, I want them to feel beautiful, gorgeous and wonderful on my wedding day, but ultimately, they don’t care quite as much about that as I do. We all have very busy lives, and they’re so happy to be involved in the wedding at all that getting them to take on the hunt with enthusiasm has been a little challenging!
I really wish I was able to do more with finding dresses for my sisters. With my sister overseas (( and Preggers YEAH!!!!!!)). It just proved too difficult to find any location with the styles I found over here …. over there! I’m really glad you found dresses they like and will use. This was also really important for me!
The dresses are very pretty! I almost bought dresses from Allegria, but I found them for a lower price elsewhere.
We are doing something very similar! One (or two!) of my bridesmaids will likely be preggers and showing at my wedding, so I picked the fabric and color and every BM is getting to pick a dress that she feels comfortable with. I have one question…was there ever an issue of two BMs wanting the same dress?
These are beyond lovely! You & your maids’ hard work paid off! 
i love jim hjelm dresses. my bridesmaids will very likely be wearing some of his dresses.
I love Jim Hjelm! My sister wore Jim Hjelm when she got married.
As far as bm dresses, they will be J crew little black dress in same fabric but in whatever style best suits their figure.
Your choices for Hjelm dresses are incredible! Very pretty dresses.
i love them. which was your favorite? i am having the hardest time deciding on dresses!
My girls all have Jim Hjelm dresses as well. They all chose their own dress. Since they all have different body types and tastes there was no issue of two girls wanting the same dress.
I love all of those dresses and it is no surprise that they are Jim Hjelm!!!! All of the wedding dresses that I’ve tried and loved have been JH.
LOVE LOVE LOVE Jim Hjelm!!
All my gals have very different body types but are wearing the same dress that looked great on all of them. My MOH will wear a different one since 1) she didn’t like the other style as much 2) she can b/c she’s the MOH!!
My girls are each picking their own dress as well. These are 4 gorgeous dresses that REALLY go well together! =)
My bridesmaids wore #3 in the light blue and honeydew colors, and they were so cute and flattering on all of them. The bonus with that dress is the hidden pockets that the girls loved for stashing kleenex and my MOH kept the ring in there. : ) Great choices!
I love Jim Hjelm, that’s what my girls wore, too. Great choices!
love the dresses!!! i don’t even need a dress but i had to check the site out 
My girls are all wearing different Alfred Angelo dresses, but all in tea length Celadon satin. I love Jim Hjelm dresses and wore one for a friend’s wedding (we all got to choose our own dresses too), but I wanted to lessen the cost burden on my girls, so I went with a designer that was closer to the $150 price range than $250-300. Of yours, I really like #3 (they need to make more dresses with pockets!).
very pretty! i like all your styles. your ladies will look so elegant!
each girl chose a diff style, but same fabric, and color by the same designer. they looked great and matched yet were unique in their own way.
beautiful!
have you considered using the belts as headbands? i haven’t seen the size of the belt in person, so i’m not sure if it would look totally whack, but i can picture it looking cute with the right hair style.
I love, love, love all of your choices, They will look great together!
I am in my sisters wedding next fall and she is letting us all wear different syles. I love it because we each have dresses flattering to us. I haven’t officially started looking with my girls, but there is a Melissa Sweet dress that I love that looks good on pretty much every body type. I am hoping to have them wear it. Three of my bridesmaids love it, the others haven’t seen it yet.
so pretty–can’t wait to see them in the yummy chocolate brown color!
the dresses are really pretty! i am also looking into jim hjelm dresses…. do you mind me asking how much they are?
@msduck: You can usually order most Jim Hjelm designs from Pearl’s Place, so that would help them be a bit less expensive!
@Magpie: oh really?? I inquired about some at different stores in my area and it seemed like all the dresses were well over $200 each =x
The dresses and the belts are fabulous individually, but I’ve never seen a belt with an empire waist, which means if they do work, that’s pretty awesome. Headbands might work as PP said.
so so so pretty! I agree with the headband idea. Even if you just used the rosettes from the belt, it would be lovely.
Jim Hjelm dresses are great!! I like #1 & #3. I was going to go with his dresses. I ended up going with Bari Jay (all bridesmaids had the same) because the material and style was flattering and comfortable.
my six ladies all get to choose between three dresses. All in the same color & material. I wanted them to find a dress they loved, and they all seem to be pretty excited about the dresses we’ve picked
We just had to do some crazy imagining with bridesmaid dresses today. I’d taken 3 of my maids out before and settled on the jersey knit halter from Alfred Angelo in olive http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/ProductDisplay.aspx?productID=b21ec3d0-6851-4094-b0a5-49d409de5444&categoryID=b7a59a7c-2934-461a-9e5f-8478ce891ddf&pg=1 . Today I went out with my MoH and the dress just looked bad on her, so we poked around until we found a dress that looked awesome http://www.alfredangelo.com/Collections/ProductDisplay.aspx?productID=8cef50ae-c622-4e5f-b8db-23b4ec2c98e0&categoryID=7c3ca069-092f-49d8-a227-b469d1b1f227&pg=1 . Unfortunately it doesn’t come in anything near olive, so we spend about half an hour comparing colors on dresses in the wrong fabric and trying to imagine what a whole dress would look like. Hopefully we got it right! We can only cross our fingers and wait until May to see.
Those are so great!! Your ladies are going to look lovely!
Maybe if the belts don’t work ON the actual dresses, you could get a little crafty and repurpose them as bouquet wraps or headbands. Okay, the headbands might take a bit more work… but it could be cute!
These dresses are beautiful! My choice was easy, I only have a MOH and I told her she can pick whatever dress she wants. Done. No worries on my part
So cute!
I bought my gown from Allegria! I hope you got yourself some rancatore’s as a reward!
Beautiful! As a bridesmaid in two upcoming weddings, I would kill to be wearing one of those dresses.
Gorgeous! I’m glad you found something that works for everyone!
I got my dress from Priscilla of Boston so on Sat my bridesmaids finally went to see their dresses. Since only 3 of them are in NY we were the “designated” decision makers. I’m crossing my fingers and hoping the one we picked out is the one!
I love how the dresses are similar in style but each one is slightly different!! They are going to look great!
@linzella: No, it worked out that the ladies chose different dresses! They definitely work for different body types.
@AnnieBelle: #3 is sooo cute! And yes, I love that it has pockets!
@JanieLeigh: I think the belt may work as a headband…but I have those flower clips that I wanted to use too. I must find a use for the belt!!!
@msduck: They were actuallyb a little bit cheaper than J.Crew’s full retail prices. And we got them during a Jim Hjelm trunk show so we got a discount on them.
@HistoryBride: We also looked at Alfred Angelo dresses but found out that they can’t do a chocolate brown taffeta. But his styles were so pretty.
@lizzyh113: Definitely going to get some Rancatore’s when we pick up the dresses in a couple of months!!!
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Mrs. Latte, Boston/NYC
Age and Occupation: 29, College Admissions Counselor
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 30, Elementary School Teacher
Engagement Date: August 23, 2008
Wedding Date: July 2009
Venue: Stage 6 at Steiner Studios
About Me: I am an East Coast girl marrying a West Coast boy. After 2 years of over 3,000 miles between us, Mr. Latte and I are looking forward to finally living in the same time zone/coast/city/home and living “normal couple” lives. I am a crafter at heart and enjoy dragging my friends into new craft projects. I love my Mac, baking cupcakes, wrapping presents, my BlackBerry, naps, good NY style pizza, Jack Bauer and of course, Mr. Latte. I love him a latte. :)
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