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Mrs. Spaniel, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 28, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Psychologist Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Calamigos Ranch About Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
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Dresses for the Ladies

December 4th, 2009 @ 3:04 pm by Mrs. Spaniel

Dresses for the Ladies :  wedding bridesmaid dress 71312

(source)

I didn’t want all of my bridesmaids in identical dresses. I love the pictures I see of non-matching bridesmaid dresses: I like that each girl can express her style through her dress, wear what flatters her, and be happy in what she is wearing. But even without requiring everyone to wear the same dress, I wanted the same fabric, color and length (I can’t help it; I like uniformity a little), but if I could have had them each in a different silhouette, neckline and strap/sleeve I would have. Assuming, of course, that was what they wanted, because I also wanted a non-bank-breaking price as well as that illusive re-wearability.

In other words, not this:

Dresses for the Ladies :  wedding bridesmaid dress Dresses02

(source)

Because I wanted the dresses to coordinate pretty well (and stay under $200), I actually couldn’t offer as many options as I’d originally hoped. Most of the styles that pretty much worked only came in two necklines—a strapless straight neck and a cap-sleeve or thick-strapped v-neck. So there were no artfully mis-matched bridesmaids, but at least I could give them a choice, since I knew that at least two of the girls wanted straps, and two preferred strapless.

My favorite was a set of Dessy satin and lace dresses, which, after a few instances of waffling, I eventually decided on:

Dresses for the Ladies :  wedding bridesmaid dress 2509bli

Dessy 2509

Dresses for the Ladies :  wedding bridesmaid dress 2053bli

Dessy 2053

(source)

So can you imagine my surprise when suddenly every single one of my girls chose the strapless dress? I am having matchy-matchy bridesmaids after all!

I suppose it is to be expected: I only gave them two choices, after all, and the strapless one is kind of the cuter dress. But here I thought I was helping them out by giving them a more comfortable choice, and nobody wanted it!

I can’t wait to see how they all look in them!

Did you consider non-matching dresses, only to find your bridesmaids gravitating towards only one style?

Tags: bridesmaid-dress |
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15 Responses to “Dresses for the Ladies”

1.
Ms. Library
Member
Ms. Library (message)  1,250 posts, Bumble bee

Totally! I set the color and the length and told my girls to pick what they wanted. They all ended up picking the same dress! They even asked if it was okay to coordinate. Oh bridesmaids… they always do what you think they won’t! I love it.

 
2.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Guinea Pig (message)  1,377 posts, Bumble bee

Oh I love those dresses, I looked at them too in a brief fit of “I don’t care that it’s not blue” during my bridesmaids dress search :) So funny they all chose the same dress - it’ll look great!

 
3.
ggsb
Member
ggsb (message)  1,245 posts, Bumble bee

OMG! I think I know that “dresses NOT” example photo…I’m 80% certain it is a wedding my mom did the cake for when I was a kid. I’m so digging up her old catering photos over Christmas!!

I wanted to go the mismatched route also but I ended up with 2 in one dress and 2 in another…so it worked out even if it wasn’t what I’d originally envisioned.

 
4.
smitha5
Member
smitha5 (message)  301 posts, Helper bee

I just gave my bridesmaids the option of like 15 dresses! They were all knee length and same color and fabric but different styles! I tild them to all email me back asap what style they wanted and if someone picked the same style someone would have to re-pick! They all picked different dreeses! So excited! :)

 
5.
MissLeah
Member
MissLeah (message)  143 posts, Blushing bee

That’s almost exactly what happened to me! We all went to DB together to figure out dresses. I didn’t think I wanted them to match (for the same reasons– comfort, style w/body type, budget, etc.), but knew I wanted my 2 MOHs in longer dresses and the other 3 girls in shorter dresses. The 3 girls all picked the same dress to try on, and both MOHs picked the longer version to try on! It looks fabulous (they’re all the same color and neck/waist lines, but different fabrics and lengths).

 
6.
tea
Member
tea (message)  7,263 posts, Bee Keeper

this is what happened to my bestie. she wanted to give us a chance to pick our own dress but we all ended up liking the same one. lol. we did get to put a little bit of us into it by picking our own shoes and purses.

 
7.
Miss French Fries
Bee
Miss French Fries (message)  2,217 posts, Buzzing bee

Cute!!! :) I’m giving my b-maids the option to pick what they want, but I would be really surprised if they all picked the same thing.

 
8.
Miss Cardigan
Bee
Miss Cardigan (message)  8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

Those BM dresses are great!

 
9.
Miss Pretzel
Bee
Miss Pretzel (message)  1,891 posts, Buzzing bee

:-) I wonder if it had anything to do with the fact that the first model doesn’t look too happy :-) I drooled over these dresses at Dessy… they are going to be so pretty!

 
10.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Cola (message)  2,868 posts, Sugar bee

How funny that they all picked the same one! I think I would have picked that one too though, it’s super cute!

 
11.
Mrs. Mouse
Bee
Mrs. Mouse (message)  5,844 posts, Bee Keeper

The dresses are so pretty! Is there anything else you can do to make them look less coordinated (if that’s still what you’re going for)? Maybe they could have different colored sashes, or they could wear different colored boleros with them or something?

 
12.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Parfait (message)  1,755 posts, Buzzing bee

I’m wondering if that’ll happen with my girls, too! I’d love for everyone to have a different dress, but I’ll have to wait and see what they choose.

 
13.
Member Icon
Member
KMSull (message)  6,442 posts, Bee Keeper

I think I’m telling them to choose dresses that are black, knee-ish length and not strapless and being done with it! I don’t want to annoy anyone too much since they’re all far away!

 
14.
ChillyBear
Member
ChillyBear (message)  175 posts, Blushing bee

Originally thats what i thought i wanted too - all different dresses all variations of one shade - coordinating but not matching. Most of my Brides maids were like whatever you want but one and my dad (of all people) were like i dont get it how will people know their bridesmaids?

I ended up falling in love with a belsoie dress that they are all wearing

 
15.
Miss Poodle
Bee
Miss Poodle (message)  3,387 posts, Sugar bee

Those dresses are soo cute!

 

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Mrs. Spaniel
Mrs. Spaniel

Mrs. Spaniel, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 28, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Psychologist Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Calamigos Ranch About Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)

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