Wedding Blog
MOH Erin is visiting this week after her return from a month-long European vacation (jealous? So am I!). I haven’t seen her in over a year due to crazy schedules in both of our lives and a 200 mile stretch of freeway between us. Although I am beyond excited to see her, her upcoming visit has really turned up the pressure to get all of my wedding thoughts and ideas organized. I want to make the most out of her few days here because I’m not sure when we’ll be able to get together next. Our first order of business was figuring out the bridesmaids’ dress situation.
Just the phrase, “bridesmaid’s dress” is off-putting, isn’t it? I didn’t want to put my bridesmaids through that. After all, they’re my nearest and dearest! I want them to love me after the wedding’s over!
So, I began my search. I found this first dress back in April, right after Mr. Doxie and I got engaged:
It’s by Charsa, whose website no longer works. (Have they gone out of business? Does anyone know?)
I was drawn to its retro vibe and imagined it paired with a pair of cute red flats. It was the first BM dress I was excited about… until one of my more amply bosomed maids expressed her concerns about the logistics of keeping her girls modestly covered.
So, I searched some more.
And I found Vivien Leigh by Siri.
Isn’t it lovely? Siri conveniently doesn’t list prices on their website, so I called the closest bridal salon that carries the line. The woman says, “That dress is so pretty! It’s one of the pricier bridesmaid dresses…” $360. And that’s including the discount for ordering more than three dresses!
My maids all agreed that the dress was great and they’d be willing to fork over the cash for it… but I’d still feel bad making them spend that much. I’m keeping it in mind, though… it’s just so great! But I did continue to look around.
Yesterday I found an amazing designer on Etsy. I’m not sure how I’ve missed her before, she’s been featured in SMP, Offbeat Bride, Martha Stewart Weddings, and tons of other wedding blogs.
She’s Amanda Archer, and she makes adorable dresses.
See for yourself!
Pleats, pockets, ruffles, oh my!
And a super cute strapless dress, for good measure:
She takes custom requests; I’d like all of these dresses in a pale aqua cotton fabric. Her cotton dresses run around $160, so they’re definitely a better bargain than the beautiful Vivien Leigh! I’m thinking of having each bridesmaid choose a style and having them made in the same fabrics. What do you think? Fabric swatches have been mailed out and should be here sometime next week, hopefully before MOH goes home; I’d really like her opinion.
Where did you find your bridesmaids’ dresses? Will they all be wearing the same style dress?
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Share this post: Dressing Our Party: The Girls
Gah! The top Amanda Archer one is the one I want for my sisters. There is no way it’s going to fly with penny pincher older sister though. If we save enough money over the next bit maybe I’ll pay the difference!
Wow, those are adorable!
I’m going with the palette idea, so I’m giving my girls a paint chip palette and telling them to get something in one of those colors, that they can afford, that looks good on them, and that they’ll wear again.
I love the Vivien Leigh, but $360 is a lot of money!! Amanda Archer’s dresses are totally cute–I say go for it!
i love amanda archer, I’m doing dresses through her as well. They are adorable and so inexpensive, my girls were sold!
If you’re going for a more retro feel though, I think that if the girls can afford it, the Vivian Leigh dress is stunning!
a mix of the 1st and 3rd design by amanda archer would be the cutest way to outfit your bridal party. can’t wait to see what fabric you pick!
They’re all gorgeous! The Vivian leigh seems similar to a David’s bridal style that I picked out for one of my maids. I ended up picking a color and setting them loose at Db with instructions that whatever they wore had to make them feel fabulous (though I sent along pics of my favs!) So far, my sister and one BM have their dresses and they are thrilled! I’m waiting to hear back from my last maid about which style she chose….
I LOVE the vivian leigh, but that price is a bit much. I say go with Amanda Archer. Her dresses are adorable AND affordable. Win, win!
I love the Amanda Archer! The first and third are fantastic!
I say amanda archer for sure! I love her dresses and have for quite a while. $360 is a lot, especially if they have to do any alterations on top of that. I always have to alter my dresses because i’m small, but busty 
I love some of these dresses just for the everyday, the navy blue and plaid dresses in particular! Great choices!
BTW - Doxy(ie) - 18th century (or thereabouts) term for a lower class mistress. Mr. Doxie = my inner etymologist laughing hysterically. Yes, yes, I know it’s a popular diminutive of Dachshund, but still, the IE laughs…
@Miss Frozen Yogurt: I know, that’s what I was worried about. The great thing about Amanda Archer is that she makes the dresses to the girls’ measurements, so alterations would be minimal.
I love that Charsa dress as well, it reminds me of the one my maids wore (by Jim Hjelm). I like the Amanda Archer idea tho! Very good idea.
I really like the idea of letting them choose the style after you pick the fabric…but I have to be honest I like it even more now that I’ve lived it. While I didn’t use an etsy vendor b/c I was afraid of them not fitting correctly I did use a local seamstress for the same concept. I picked out the fabric and then each girl worked with the seamstress to make a style they liked. I just got my photos back and I think it turned out great!
In retrospect I wish I’d picked a nice cotton so it would be more rewearable (we used duponi silk). Great choices and I think I might need that plaid dress….for just…..you know….something!
OH….my free advice is to see if you can have Amanda send you a drawing of where to take the measurements from. One thing we learned was that different seamstresses take measurements different ways. It made one of the dresses need more adjustments whereas the ones taken to her drawing of where and how to measure all fit perfectly at the first fittting.
I bought the navy blue dress from Amanda Archer. She was very nice and easy to work with and the dress came as described and fits well. I will warn you though, the dress is MUCH thinner than I thought it would be, and made it feel cheap. I would suggest if you get them, ask her to line the dresses. I think I would have totally been in love with my dress, had I gotten that done.
@guest: Thanks for the tip! The fabric I chose requires a liner because it’s so light colored, so hopefully that won’t be an issue.
Yes, Charsa sadly went out of business. We ordered bridesmaid dresses from them, and got them in record time. Later, we found out it was because they needed to fulfill all their open orders before closing shop.
that last one is such a cute dress! I love Amanda’s dresses! The idea of each one having different styles with the same fabric is what I ended up doing and I love it!!!
Are you thinking on having all of them on just one fabric color o some red and some aqua?
I love that Amanda Archer’s dresses are so unique and fun. Your dresses are going to look so cute with the red shoes!
I want the Amanda Archer dress for my BMs too… the dresses are so great/unique & they are less than $200!!
Good tip about lining the dress 
I love that Amanda Archer dress! The only thing that concerns me is if it’s going to be dressy enough for our wedding. :-/
Also, I wonder what her custom prices are, because not all of my BMs fit into her sizes.
@fiftyfootbride: She quoted me $200 for any of those styles, plus one additional that’s not pictured. I think the normal prices are closer to $160… the extra charge is for the lining for a light colored dress. However, after reading the comment above, it might be a good idea to have them lined regardless of the color.
those are really nice! can’t wait to see what you end up choosing.
I like the last option! It’d be SUPER cute to pick a fabric and then have your BMs to choose whichever style they liked!
I’m loving the Etsy designer! My girls are all in the same dress, but in different colors. (my colors are orange and yellow, so they picked whichever works best for them) But blue is flattering on everyone. You should definitely let your girls choose their own dress. Who knows, they might wear it again!
omg!!! i’m in LOVE with the $360 one. of course it’s expensive!
I’ve bought two dresses from her. One was a color that I had her find (kelly green) and the other is the midnight blue she offers. They are a bit lighter fabric, i.e. not as “fancy”, but I LOVE them… especially b/c you can give her your specific measurements. I wore the kelly green one to my shower and got tons of compliments.
Would it be possible to have somebody custom-make the Siri dress for you? It’s also expensive because of that silk…and the label. I love it because of the straps and the back! Gorgeous dress.
just make sure they arrive early so you can be sure. remember ms cowboy boots’ experience with her etsy BM dresses? eeeek
Those Amanda Archer dresses are really cute. My gals each chose their own dresses from JCrew, which worked out well for us. They’re all in different locations in the country and different sizes, so it worked out for them to choose on their own what worked best for them.
Ohhh I love the Amanda Archer dresses! I have them saved on my Etsy favorites…I kind of want one for myself…selfishly!
I ordered the Amanda Archer dress in green olive and LOVE it!! It fits like a dream and Amanda was so helpful, it was custom sized for me. I’m wearing the dress for my engagement photos and still considering ordering another in ivory for my bridal shower!
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Miss Dachshund, Fresno, CA
Age and Occupation: 24, Legal Office Assistant
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Computer Technician
Engagement Date: April 18, 2009
Wedding Date: May 2010
Venue: Victorian Gardens of Two Sisters
About Me: I’m a 24-year-old Californian bride-to-be who found love in the most unlikely of places - an online video game! I’m a farmer’s daughter living in rural Central California, but will always have a special place in my heart for the city. My future husband is a 27-year-old extraordinarily tall, exceptionally cute, and undoubtedly Canadian boy who was able to sweep me off my feet and take me for his bride. I love color, folksy songs that make me smile, interior design, kettle corn, my one-year-old puppy, Juno, and my fiance, of course! We’re planning a DIY garden wedding with a laundry-list of projects, all while dealing with the bureaucracy that is American Immigration!
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