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On most wedding decisions I haven’t been wishy-washy. OK with one exception—bridesmaid dresses. I wanted each girl to pick a dress from Dessy in the color assigned to her. At first I wanted solid dresses. Dessy has a lot of dresses where you can have an accent color and I got seduced by the idea of tying the different colored dresses together with a common accent. So, it became colored dresses with grey accents, then colored dresses with colored accents, then grey dresses with colored accents. Somewhere in there I entertained the idea of black dresses with colored accents.
If I were one of my bridesmaids I would have smacked me.
Ultimately, I have gone back to simplicity—solid colored dresses. But with all of the back and forth I was sure I had caused confusion and I wanted to send my girls their color swatches (and paint chips!). Miss Snow inspired me to do something more than place a fabric swatch in an envelope and mail it.
Months ago I found some bright blank note cards in the $1 bin at Jo-Ann’s. I pulled these out, measured them and designed a quick card and envelope in MS Word using the Ma Sexy font from Dafont. I ran the cards and envelopes through my laser printer. I affixed a small fabric swatch (cut with pinking shears) and paint chip to each card.
I slipped in a note explaining the final direction on dresses and how we are going to go about ordering, sealed them and sent them on their way.
5 note cards= $1
Fabric Swatches = Free
Paint Chips= Free
Postage= 3 x .44 = $1.32 (I hand delivered 2 of the cards)
Total= $2.32 or $0.46 each
They arrived at their destinations and got the girls looking at dress styles again. It appears that Dessy has added a whole slew of new dress styles. I will leave you with a sampling of some of the new dress styles.
How did you let your girls know what dresses/styles/colors to pick?
Cool! I think choosing bridesmaids dresses is one of THE HARDEST wedding decisions. You want them to match your style, but at the same time you want your girls to be happy in them.
It’s also been so super hard for me too! I feel so guilty telling someone to wear something. I get all nervous and flustered.
This has been the hardest decision…I agree with fifty about not wanting to just tell them what to wear- actually today I just decided to pick out the dresses for them. I feel bad doing it-because I want them to like it (3/5 saw it & would buy it) but I do want to make it easy on them. 2/5 haven’t even gone in so MOH & I decided.
It is definitely one of the hardest decisions! I went back and forth for so long and then found Aria Dress which is a great company if you are doing same color/different styles or same style/different colors. Since I had 8 bridesmaids I decided on the same color with different styles. I had them all email me their top 3 choices. I made sure my 2 MOHs got their first choices (which were different) but after that it worked out that the other 6 girls all got their 1st or 2nd choice anyway. They looked so great on all of the girls and they were very happy in them!
Honestly, it’s so hard to try to satisfy your style while staying true to your girls, but you really do have so many options!
You’re so smart with the paint chips! Our first try was to have everyone purchase their own Navy or Gray dresses. But one of my bridesmaids was looking at a dress I thought was Green, even though the tag said gray. To avoid any future confusion, I just took them all to David’s and they all purchased their dresses there. I wish I’d been able to give them some more freedom, but that green was freaking this bride out!
As a bridesmaid I would love to be given this much direction on what to choose! I just narrowed it down to 4 options for my ladies to all agree on.
I love how detailed you are. I haven’t gotten that far but I was thinking of just choosing a color and then noting whether they should look for a style that is formal or semi-formal and they can choose whatever they want from wherever they want. That way they’re likely to wear it again.
Now I’m thinking I’m better off pointing them in a direction. It might be less of a headache for them than running around trying to find a flattering dress in a particular shade… decisions, decisions!
Honest, Ms. P, I tried to log in, but Wedding Bee has booted me out at least 6 times 
Here’s my 2 cents, ladies…Ms. P has already heard it, I’m her MOH
The color changes were a bit maddening…I’m very happy she has decided…The dress choices are overwhelming, especially since Dessy sample sizes in my town tend to be a size 8 or smaller…I haven’t been a size 8 in, well, a long time…However, I’m glad to have some leeway since I’m not a typical MOH (I’ll be 40 in 13 months–ack!) Seriously, Miss P, can you see me in the dress on the 1st row, 3rd from the right?
All my girls live around here, so we get to go shopping for bridesmaid dresses together! That doesn’t mean we’ve made a decision yet…we’ve just had some fun times playing dress-up. : )
[...] wishy washy Dress Direction (currently on Rev [...]
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Mrs. Pretzel, Seattle Age and Occupation: 32 Learning, Training, and Development Specialist Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28 Manufacturing Engineer Engagement Date: September 2, 2009 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Catholic Church & The Engine Room at Georgetown Studios About Me: I’m just a thirty-something girl who never dreamed of weddings, poofy dresses, or ritzy receptions. I am a rabid knitter, except recently, wedding projects have replaced my yarn and needles. I’ve been fiercely independent since the age of 2 and 30 years later I think my family and friends had given up on me settling down and getting married. Ironically, I had to go all the way to Seattle to find a boy from Purdue. We fell in love over Seattle Beers and cooking together. I love NASCAR, he loves Legos. I can talk like a Muppet and he can fit a whole McDonald’s cheeseburger in his mouth. We are a two reception couple, currently planning a brewery inspired bash.
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