Weddingbee Blog

My first bridesmaid’s dress shopping experience was with Sister Starfish when looking for her bridesmaid’s dresses. We went to Priscilla of Boston and I was in love with their dresses. Sister Starfish chose to do a few different styles and the dress I fell in love with was one of them. I told her I loved it so much that I asked if she would mind if I used it for my future bridesmaids, and she said I should go for it.

Michael Sparks Keegan photography

Funny enough, the only girl who ended up wearing it also happens to be in my bridal party: Bridesmaid M. I was in love with the dress because of one amazing detail… the bow in the back. Bridesmaid M is modeling it in the photo above.

I fell in love and was pretty sure it was the dress, but the more we planned, the more our vision became defined. Coastal, laid-back elegance seemed to be the theme, and a shiny satin material just seemed a bit fancy.

I decided to look around. I decided it had to be a navy cocktail-length dress in a more relaxed fabric.

So, I went to check out Ann Taylor, as most of my work clothes end up being from there. They constantly have 40% off one item promotions going on, and I was looking for a deal. I found a gorgeous dress in navy, but it seemed like every time I went to the site, they only had a few sizes. I also realized it was an online-only option, which meant we’d have to pay for shipping to try them out, unless I could find a 40% off and free shipping sale at the same time. It also didn’t have the more relaxed fabric I was looking for, but it stayed on the back burner.

Sources (Clockwise from top left): 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The Ann Taylor dress was such a favorite, it ended up in our attire inspiration board.

As I was debating on the Ann Taylor, Alfred Sung came out with a new spring line. I checked out the Dessy website and fell in love with a few of his new designs.

These were the top three contenders:

Did you have a definite look when picking out your bridesmaid’s dresses, or were you pretty open when going shopping?