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Miss Trail Mix, New York Age and Occupation: 26, PE Teacher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, MBA Student Engagement Date: March 2009 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Tannery Pond at the Darrow School About Me: I'm a country girl who somehow found herself living in the Big Apple and loving every minute of it. I'm planning a rustic, country-chic wedding in my hometown in upstate New York and it's going to be a Party with a capital P. White wine, flea markets and running keep me happy and my friends, family and fiance are my world. I'm a little bit crafty, a little bit crazy but mostly just crazy in love.
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The Bridesmaids’ Dresses

November 4th, 2009 @ 11:55 am by Miss Trail Mix

I change my mind a lot. Case in point: the bridesmaid’s dress. My girls couldn’t keep up with my emails regarding the dresses, since I kept finding new ones I liked. We decided to look for a chiffon fabric rather than a satin, since I felt it was keeping with the casual, country theme of the wedding. Plus, I’m not a huge fan of bridesmaid’s dresses in general and was hoping to avoid the standard, strapless satin dress. I also really wanted to keep the price reasonable, which I discussed with all the girls beforehand, so everyone was comfortable with the budget.

So, into the wild hinterlands of the wonderful online world of bridesmaid’s dresses I went. Here are a few that I liked after some initial research (most of the websites I was looking at won’t show the dress in another color, so you’ll have to use your imagination and picture them all in a cornflower or sky blue).

This Jenny Yoo dress is cute and I liked the sash, but alas, it was too expensive.

(Source)

You can’t go wrong with Vera Wang, but sadly, not only were her dresses too expensive, but she didn’t have anything remotely close to the color I was hoping for. I love this dress, though…

(Source)

Then I found this dress on the Watters and Watters website and fell in love. A few more clicks revealed it was just at the high point of our dress budget and available at the mother of all bridesmaids stores, RK Bridal, conveniently located about 60 blocks south of me in New York City.

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I was pretty dead set on this one, and even emailed the girls saying I thought this was the one. However, when I went down to see the dress in person, I was…eh. Maybe it was because it had obviously been tried on by a lot of people, but I just wasn’t in love with it. I looked at a few others while I was in that mecca of bridesmaid’s dresses but honestly, didn’t really care for any of them. I was a little shocked, but they really all felt like poor quality fabric, especially for the prices.

So I was back to square one, and really unsure of where to look next. Way at the beginning of my search, I had scoured J Crew, thinking that would be the best and easiest route, but they didn’t have the color I was looking for. However, after my discouraging experiences looking at dresses, I decided to revisit my tried and true standby, and good old Ja Crue did not disappoint. There, in the bridesmaid dress section, I found the perfect dresses. And even better, they were on sale under our budget.

I gave my girls a choice of 4 different styles, but in the end, 2 are wearing a strapless version and 2 are wearing a halter version. The dresses are a satin taffeta, totally different from my original idea of chiffon, but they’re so pretty, I didn’t even care. And so, without further delay, I present my bridesmaid’s dresses, in all their glory:

(Source)

Well, this is only one version. 2 of them picked a version of this dress without the straps, but you get the idea. I love these dresses. I think all the girls will look gorgeous in them. They’re flattering and will look pretty in the pictures. We’re thinking yellow accessories, but that’s another whole post.

Did you have a bridesmaids dress saga? How’d you end up finding your dresses? Can I get a J.Crew shout out?

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26 Responses to “The Bridesmaids’ Dresses”

1.
gibbysgirl21
Member
gibbysgirl21 (message)  123 posts, Blushing bee

Very cute! I totally had the mind change thing going. Really- no one took the reins like I wanted to pick something. We ended up having to buy only a few months to go before the wedding. They were not exactly what I wanted, but for the time and price and basic style- they worked. :D

 
2.
Member Icon
Member
twinky03 (message)  22 posts, Newbee

oooh i LOVE!! especially with the yellow accessories. that will be gorgeous!

 
3.
Maestro
Member
Maestro (message)  188 posts, Blushing bee

Oy! I’ve had my heart set on some Watters bridesmaid dresses just based on their website (and wanting to get a deal for my ‘maids by having them purchase their dresses at the same place I bought mine). We’re looking at a different fabric, so hopefully won’t have a similar experience to yours.

The ones you wound up picking are abso-friggin’-lutely delightful. I LOVE that color.

 
4.
pmerr
Member
pmerr (message)  1,307 posts, Bumble bee

That’s so pretty! Love it!

 
5.
Gilneas
Member
Gilneas (message)  1,029 posts, Bumble bee

I think your choice is very cute, and (dare I say it?) may even be worn again by the bridesmaids!

 
6.
PennyRoulette
Member
PennyRoulette (message)  11 posts, Newbee

the jcrew one is amazing!!

 
7.
Ms. Mojito
Member
Ms. Mojito (message)  230 posts, Helper bee

Adorable! and on sale-yay!
@Gilneas-you just might be right. :-)
I wanted to go with JCrew but it didn’t quite work out in terms of sizing for my girls unfortunately :-( I did end up finding something I liked elsewhere though.

 
8.
BrianneG
Member
BrianneG (message)  45 posts, Newbee

I have no idea where to start with bridesmaid dresses. I just want them to get little black dresses because they have a better chance to wearing them again but I don’t see a lot of options in plus-sizes. Does anyone have experience with finding simple cocktail dresses in plus size?

 
9.
gio
Member
gio (message)  30 posts, Newbee

jcrew!

 
10.
SanDiegoAli
Member
SanDiegoAli (message)  937 posts, Busy bee

I feel in love with that yellow Watters one as well, but didn’t want my gals to spend that much. I ended up going with dresses I found off the rack at Macys for $33!

 
11.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Mouse (message)  3,354 posts, Sugar bee

Oh, pretty! I think it’s casual enough to still fit in with your theme, too.

 
12.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Moonbeam (message)  1,335 posts, Bumble bee

Bridesmaid’s dresses are so much harder than one might think. Lovely choice.

 
13.
ashlle
Member
ashlle (message)  92 posts, Worker bee

Shout-out for J. Crew here! I saw the perfect fall color in their fall ‘09 collection and knew it was the one….but I resisted! I went through tons of other websites, searching for any dress that came in a fabulous shade of rusty orange. Nothing. Nowhere! And all those dresses were the same price as the J. Crew ones. And finally, finally, the dresses went on sale and I’ve had my bridesmaids order them. I never thought it would be so hard!

 
14.
rachel_leigh
Member
rachel_leigh (message)  178 posts, Blushing bee

Shout out to J. Crew! I looked and looked for a cute dress in the right shade of light pink and finally found it: J. Crew Lyndsey dress in peppermint. I was completely sold when it went on sale and I scored mine for $75 or so with shipping. Boo-ya!

 
15.
LatteLove
Hostess
LatteLove (message)  4,120 posts, Honey bee

Love it! My BM”s tried on the second dress, but it didn’t work well.

 
16.
Guest Icon
Guest
tadbee623

I went with Jenny Yoo. They are expensive but every now and then, they have promotions. I got my dresses for $70 off retail price for each dress with volume discount and additional promotion. These dresses have unparalleled quality!

 
17.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss French Fries (message)  737 posts, Busy bee

I love the Crew and those dresses are fab!

 
18.
Member Icon
Member
soontobebever (message)  6 posts, Newbee

Love JCrew and their staff is so helpful! I chose silk taffeta dresses in a color that they are now discontinuing. :( But the wedding specialists made sure all my girls had the dresses they needed in the sizes they wanted and where they couldn’t they have offered to reimburse for alterations.

 
19.
fiftyfootbride
Member
fiftyfootbride (message)  3,809 posts, Honey bee

I love J.Crew dresses, but I’m not sure if they will fit all of my ladies well.

 
20.
Guest Icon
Guest
Rebecca

Yeah J Crew! I picked the same silk taffeta dresses for my bridesmaids, but in a different color. I gave them the option of the style with or without straps, but they all ended up getting the straps. I love the fact that the dress has pockets!!

 
21.
KMSull
Member
KMSull (message)  2,916 posts, Sugar bee

I’ve heard great things about J. Crew, but I’m afraid my girls are too busty :(

 
22.
Jessie516
Hostess
Jessie516 (message)  4,039 posts, Honey bee

I heart The Crew and that’s what my gals wore too! They chose their own black dresses and it worked out great!

 
23.
Miss Poodle
Bee
Miss Poodle (message)  3,020 posts, Sugar bee

Their dresses rock!! some of them where my girl’s inspiration for my first two BM dresses :)

 
24.
jduck84
Member
jduck84 (message)  352 posts, Helper bee

We ordered a dress from J. Crew for my MOH, but it ended up being too big in the bust. It was really weird, because normally she has trouble zipping up strapless dresses. We had to return it, and are still hunting for the one. :(

 
25.
Member Icon
Member
CrstnBeach (message)  61 posts, Worker bee

We used the same JCrew bridesmaid dresses for our wedding! Everyone went with the strapped version, by choice. They’ve said that they were super comfortable on the day and were happy with the pockets too! We got married in Florida in May, so having something airy and not constrictive was important.

We paid full price, but nobody had to get theirs altered, which was nice. Every time I’ve been a bridesmaid, I’ve paid out the ear for the dress and then for alterations too. I was glad that these all did not require altering, which I think was helped by the flowy-ness of the bottom.

Love it!

 
26.
Member Icon
Member
CrstnBeach (message)  61 posts, Worker bee

Oh! And quick reminder that you can save either 10 or 15 percent with a student ID at JCrew - so for NYC-ers, you can go to the store in Rockefeller Center, where they’ll order ANY bridal/bridesmaid dress into the store for you to try on (saves you on shipping!) and if you have a student ID, you can save you and the maids some moo-la!

 


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Miss Trail Mix Miss Trail Mix, New York Age and Occupation: 26, PE Teacher Fiance's Age and Occupation: 27, MBA Student Engagement Date: March 2009 Wedding Date: June 2010 Venue: Tannery Pond at the Darrow School About Me: I'm a country girl who somehow found herself living in the Big Apple and loving every minute of it. I'm planning a rustic, country-chic wedding in my hometown in upstate New York and it's going to be a Party with a capital P. White wine, flea markets and running keep me happy and my friends, family and fiance are my world. I'm a little bit crafty, a little bit crazy but mostly just crazy in love.
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