Just About To Give Up - Bridesmaid Dress Search

Just About To Give Up - Bridesmaid Dress Search

April 30th, 2010 @ 5:43 pm by Mrs. Lobster
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In total, I’ve ordered and returned 15 bridesmaid’s dresses for my girls.

I stress over bridesmaid’s dresses more than I did my wedding dress. Why? Because I’m a people pleaser. I want everyone to like me and my choices. I want my bridesmaids to be happy that I was the *one* bride that could find a dress that was flattering on 6 girls with 6 different skin tones and body shapes.

HA! Who am I kidding? I am no magician.

David “Peekaboo” Copperfield, my childhood “celebrity crush”. He walked through the Great Wall of China for Pete’s sake.

I had some criteria for the BM dresses:

Under $200 (why are BM dresses so expensive??)
In a summer color
Short length
Generally flattering on most body shapes
Only my MoHs (sisters hereafter the Lobsie Twins, they are real twins) get veto power

Apparently #1 and #4 don’t go together (can I get a Big Mac with a side of McNuggets?? Well that combo works—for me.)

I was determined to go the nontraditional route and avoid the bridesmaid shops. This was partly due to principle (I don’t like their return policy and not having samples in the right size and color) but mostly due to laziness (i.e. I want to just shop online and have it all come to me).

Here’s the evolution of the Lobster-maid dress…

Bee for Thought - Mrs. Cowboy Boot

Mrs. Cowboy Boot’s girls looked so faboo. Over the holidays, J.Crew had a huge sale so I bought 8 of the strapless dress in the light pink color like the one on the rightmost bridesmaid. My first thought was, ‘Super score! On sale dresses and it’s only November!’

This is the goal

In Real Life: Bummer. The color was not right on the Lobsie Twins. They did not like it. Sadsies. Cowboy Boot’s BMs pulled it off so beautifully.

I Wanna Be A J.Crew Bride
Then I got stuck on J.Crew because of the ease of ordering online (and sizing) and I get reward points. I saw this dress in “dusty shale” or what I think is really seafoam green which was TOTALLY one of my bridal colors in my daydream wedding. Yay!

Just About To Give Up - Bridesmaid Dress Search : wedding bridesmaid dress brooklyn 1 1

J.Crew Taryn - not meant to be

In Real Life: weirdnesses with the chiffon on top. Babydoll not a flattering fit on all my girlz. I asked one ’maid, “Do you like it?” Her response was, “I’ll wear whatever you want.” Eh.

I Still Wanna Be A J.Crew Bride
This is definitely your classic BM dress and a good fit on all my girls to show off their bodies in a classy way. “Class with Sass,” if you will…

Just About To Give Up - Bridesmaid Dress Search : wedding bridesmaid dress brooklyn 2 2

J.Crew Erica

In Real Life: Didn’t even get that far. Nixed it out of lack of love for the colors.

Another Bee For Thought - Mrs. French Bulldog
Hello yellow. I love Mrs. Frenchie’s yellow bridesmaids’ dresses. All the ladies look so pretty with that pop of color! I was in the shower (where my best brainstorming happens) when all of this dawned on me. I barely dried off when I came busting out of the shower to my computer screaming to Mr. Lobster, “I need my PowerPoint!” This was so I could organize my thoughts in pictures (duh).

Pretty ladies in yellow

In real life: Still TBD. I have to find yellow bridesmaid’s dresses first.

I’m A Drama Momma
Of course, the madness doesn’t end there.

Amidst my strong Sunday morning caffeine buzz and power brainstorming session, I ordered these dresses in various jewel tones:

Nordstrom Dresses

They arrived yesterday! One of my ’maids is doing be a favor and trying them on for me. Results next time. Will any of these work for my girls? Will any dress be good enough? Will the search just leave me alone already??

Did you have major stress over your bridesmaids’ dresses? Or am I just crazy… no, really. You can be honest.

Tags: bridesmaid-dress, brooklyn |

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42 Responses to “Just About To Give Up - Bridesmaid Dress Search”

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Member

peachesandtulips (message) 408 posts, Helper bee

You are NOT crazy. Finding the right BM dresses is so stressful because you have to find something that makes you AND multiple other people happy, flatters different body types and skintones, and coordinates with other colors/formality in your wedding.

I had SEVERAL meltdowns before I landed on JCrew silk taffeta dresses!

4/30/10 @ 5:48 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Seashell (message) 1,713 posts, Bumble bee

I’m right there with you. It was a major headache.

4/30/10 @ 5:57 pm (reply)

Guest

Stelal

I’ve totally had a similar issue, but only with one of my BM’s. I only have 4, and they are all of different sizes and shapes. 3 of them live within driving distance, but the 4th one (who also happens to be the tallest and wears the largest size) lives across the country.

I (through much dramaz) organized a weekend for the 3 of the 4 to go on a Saturday shopping trip, and they found a dress I LOVED (and even different than my original criteria). It came in a color I liked and everyone was OK with the price (it was less than $200 before taxes and such). They were positive BM4 would love it, and theat the style would be just as flattering on her as on the other 3. However, I am now getting anxious texts from her everyday about whether that style will work for her and how short it is.

(A) its not that short, its just the model is 6ft tall and her legs are super long and (B) she hasn’t actually tried one on yet (its difficult to find a sample above a size 20).

She’s supposedly going this weekend, but I’ve decided I don’t care. She can wear it or she can come as a guest and where what she wants. All I care about is her being comfortable and happy and at my wedding. In whatever capacity is her choice.

4/30/10 @ 5:59 pm (reply)

Member

santababs (message) 61 posts, Worker bee

I am trying to un-addict myself to weddingbee, you are making it hard for me, Miss Lobster! I’m enjoying your posts, in part because I have decided we are neighbors (go Tribecs!) and probably living a similar life. AND I had the same criteria and painful BM dress search. I ended settling on everyone choosing their own black knee length dress in a dressy fabric. It felt like defeat but actually made everyone SO happy and looked SO fabulous.

Anyway, on the yellow thought, I just ordered this dress for a wedding and thought it would make a great bridesmaids dress. You could swap out the belt. http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/3093943/0~2376776~2374327~2374331~6014146?mediumthumbnail=Y&origin=category&searchtype=&pbo=6014146&P=1

Good luck!

4/30/10 @ 6:01 pm (reply)

Member

Lauren33 (message) 4 posts, Wannabee

You had the same criteria as me! (I DID go the dress shop route and it was horrible until the last one, so I hope I save you some time). I ended up ordering #2721 from http://www.dessy.com. I have 6 bridesmaids from size 2 to size 22, from size A to DDD cup, from 5′1” to 6′1” and everything in between. They all look fabulous in the dress… most had to have the length shortened to just below the knee, but if you’re looking for short, it would look just fine above the knee too. I hope this helps!

ps. the dress and the shoes were under $210 total including tax from http://www.shopandsomethingblue.com

good luck! (and let me know what you end up finding)

4/30/10 @ 6:08 pm (reply)

Member

crayfish (message) 4,844 posts, Honey bee

This decision is one of the reasons we chose to not have a bridal party. Too hard!

4/30/10 @ 6:16 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Ribbons (message) 2,018 posts, Buzzing bee

Just wanted to say I had a David copperfield crush too after I saw his magic show!

4/30/10 @ 6:24 pm (reply)

Member

Rgeddy (message) 2,186 posts, Buzzing bee

I totally know what you’re going for. I was trying super hard to please everyone - end the end I am a jcrew bride & they are jcrew maids. super yay!

I let everyone of them (6) choose one of the cotton cady dresses - in cypress. There’s 5 to pick from and will all look coordinated with the same color yet each fit their personality/body types!

I’d think about going that route.

4/30/10 @ 6:29 pm (reply)

Guest

Ms. Fireworks

Try Alfred Angelo’s 7002! My 4 bridesmaids all have completely different body types and skin tones and this style worked on ALL of them. They even had it in maternity. It comes in tons of different colors. HINT: Look for it online via other bridal sites and dont get it directly from Alfred Angelo. We paid $103 per dress + $20 shipping!

4/30/10 @ 6:50 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Mrs. French Bulldog (message) 7,730 posts, Bee Keeper

Go yellow, everyone is doing it! Well, all the cool kids at least

4/30/10 @ 6:51 pm (reply)

11.

Member

afbacher (message) 490 posts, Helper bee

I went the easy route with wedding dress shops too
All of my maids will be in DB’s Holly, but they’ll all have different styles of dresses - I have BMs of all shapes and sizes and it just works for us.

4/30/10 @ 7:09 pm (reply)

12.

Member

theresa1078 (message) 194 posts, Blushing bee

Holy cow! I kept changing my mind too, and I finally decided on…various shades of purple on pick-their-own-off-the-rack dresses from Nordstrom, just like your pics at the end there! My girls are so excited about it. If you like the look of mismatched bridesmaid dresses, that’s a great way to accomplish everything on your list, especially 1 and 4.

4/30/10 @ 7:18 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Hamster (message) 4,046 posts, Honey bee

Um, I feel validation in the fact that I wasn’t the only one with a major crush on David C.

4/30/10 @ 7:41 pm (reply)

14.

Member

rawrkitty1022 (message) 516 posts, Busy bee

Those all seem like nice, classy, fun, wearable dresses.

I had zero problem picking bridesmaid dresses. I was scouring the internet, pouring through pages and pages of dresses, my fiance pointed to one and said “that one.” And that was that lol. The end. He picked it, I liked it. Done. I’m totally okay with that!

4/30/10 @ 7:51 pm (reply)

15.

Member

jordynrose (message) 6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

I don’t have major stress because I have turned it over to them completely. The stress might set in when I see what they choose though.

4/30/10 @ 8:46 pm (reply)

16.

Member

tea (message) 7,288 posts, Bee Keeper

ooh, good luck on your search! i know this can be more exasperating than finding the wedding dress.

4/30/10 @ 9:11 pm (reply)

17.

Member

LisaBee (message) 358 posts, Helper bee

We went J crew and I am pretty happy with them. I picked the spiced wine color, which goes perfectly with our fall palette, and they could pick the style - they all chose clementine! The dresses in the store had a different lining than they did when mailed, I liked the one in the store more, but cest le vie. It was the first store we visited and I am very happy with the outcome. easy pesy!!

4/30/10 @ 10:16 pm (reply)

18.

Member

rubybelle (message) 11 posts, Newbee

i have a suggestion, although the color selection is quite small so it might not work with what you have chosen, but in two of my friends weddings this past january and august the bm’s wore the victoria’s secret convertible dresses. i was really skeptical at first because they looked very skimpy (vs website, duh) and i was worried the jersey would be form fitting, but they are SO well made and fit every single persons body type perfectly. in the first wedding everyone wore them in a different style depending on what looked best on them, and in the second wedding we all wore strapless. i absolutely LOVE my dress, it’s reusable for almost any occasion (the best part) and it’s quite affordable. you can also get different lengths.
http://tinyurl.com/363wx5f
we wore that style.

heres a pic of the second wedding when we all wore them the same way.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/49808841@N06/4566528023/

i can NOT for the life of me find any pics from the first wedding when they were all worn different. if i can, i’ll let you know.

4/30/10 @ 10:28 pm (reply)

19.

Guest

Melissa

Great suggestion rubybelle about Victoria Secret! I am wondering, American Apparel also has a convertible jersey dress… would it be too casual? Here’s the link: http://store.americanapparel.ca/rsa8339.html Anyone out there used American Apparel’s dress and have pictures? I like the purple

5/1/10 @ 12:24 am (reply)

20.

Guest

What is that virtual dress up game with all the different clothes and you make it a magazine cover in the end? | 陈

[...] Just About To Give Up – Bridesmaid Dress Search | Weddingbee [...]

5/1/10 @ 6:57 am (reply)

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