Matchy Matchy?

Matchy Matchy?

May 20th, 2010 @ 5:33 pm by Mrs. Frog
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When I first thought about bridesmaids’ dresses I came up with an idea that I never shared… with anyone. I guess I just thought that everyone would think I was a sandwich short of a picnic. I just love that phrase. Ahem, anyway. It was one of those things that seemed too different from what friends and relatives had done in the past that I had a feeling it would be difficult to convince people that it could actually look good. Soooo I wrote it off as crazy bride brain and moved on (we’ll revisit so hang tight).

I’m pretty classic in my taste so I knew I wanted the girls to wear a dress in a color that they could get use out of in the future and a color that would look great on everyone. With our colors being gray, lavender and blue, I chose gray for the bridesmaids’ dresses and I was met with a happy response. I decided to go the J.Crew route. After searching, I narrowed it down to:

(source)

I told the girls that they could choose the dress that appealed most to them…they were the same color, same fabric and same company so I knew they would work well together.

After ordering a few and having some of the girls try them on, I knew that this was going to be much more difficult than I thought. My girls are all different shapes, sizes and heights – they were just not the most flattering dresses on everyone. At that point I knew we had to make a change, my top priority was that all of them felt beautiful and comfortable – I wanted everyone to feel a great as I will so we are all free to have fun and make some incredible memories!

One weekend, I finally gave into my original idea and decided to do some real research to see if I could find photos of what I wanted to do where it was accomplished successfully. And voila… the internets delivered. Behold:

(source)

You guessed it friends… I’m talking about coordinating, not matching dresses. For the longest time I thought about this idea and how much I loved the fact that they would complement each other but not actually match. When I ran the idea past my ‘maids, I was SO relieved when they all responded positively!

Since we are still finalizing ideas and getting dresses ordered, I don’t have the actual dress compilation just yet… but I will be sure to share with all of you as soon as we have the dresses so you can tell me – for real – what you think. I need outside opinions to ensure I’m not suffering, once again, from crazy bride brain.

How did you come to decide on bridesmaid dresses? Did you go with matching or coordinating or something completely different?

Tags: bridesmaid-dress, phoenix |

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41 Responses to “Matchy Matchy?”

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Member

tea (message) 7,295 posts, Bee Keeper

i’m leaning towards coordinating dresses as well. the wedding i’ll be in next year, the bride is letting us pick our own dress in the same color.

5/20/10 @ 5:48 pm (reply)

Member

Coffeecake (message) 345 posts, Helper bee

This had always been the bridemaid dress idea that makes the MOST sense to me. I don’t get why ‘maid’s are subjected to looking like junior princesses in a float, all matchy-identical. I’m glad your friends are happy with it and I’m sure it’ll turn out great!

5/20/10 @ 5:49 pm (reply)

Member

CheeseCrackers (message) 19 posts, Newbee

I love this and totally wanted to do it, but unfortunately, I only have 2 BMs, so that wouldn’t work quite as wll for us.

Off topic, I’ve seen that pic of the gray BMs a ton now, and I absolutely LOVE that center dress. Does anyone know where it’s from/style no.???

5/20/10 @ 5:51 pm (reply)

Member

Lindsy (message) 237 posts, Helper bee

my bridesmaids wore that first dress from j.crew in chocolate brown. they actually chose to wear the same dress and they looked great in it. if i had more bridesmaids i think i would definitely go the coordinating dress route too.

5/20/10 @ 5:55 pm (reply)

Member

nanabella (message) 3 posts, Wannabee

My 3 girls are all wearing the second dress (in the same gray color!) I gave the option of any J Crew dress in the gray, and they all liked the strapless.

It’s weird - they loved the idea of gray, but I have gotten quite a few shocked/rude responses from other family/friends. Whatever - I think it’ll be beautiful!

5/20/10 @ 5:59 pm (reply)

Member

jackie-o (message) 2,389 posts, Buzzing bee

I went with TwoBirds - - 1 dress, 1 color, 1 fabric, 15 different ways to wear it…..Each BM will wear her dress in whatever style she feels most comfortable in!!!!

5/20/10 @ 6:00 pm (reply)

Member

kfowler (message) 44 posts, Newbee

Why I did was have my bridesmaids pick out a bridesmaid dress that was in my wedding color. My colors were pink and brown, so the bridesmaid dresses had to be in brown. I had a skinny bridesmaid and a larger bridesmaid, so having the same dress would have looked right. In the end, having the same color but different style proved to produce a beautiful bridal party!

5/20/10 @ 6:04 pm (reply)

Member

Meowkers (message) 3,466 posts, Sugar bee

I’m a huge proponent of this idea. that way all the girls can feel beautiful and comfortable.

On a slightly related note, I went to high school with most of the girls in the first picture (with the green bridesmaid dresses)! so random.

5/20/10 @ 6:05 pm (reply)

Member

RedCactus (message) 127 posts, Blushing bee

My bridesmaids wore different black dresses. They had the same accessory - jewelry, sash, etc. that matched. But they could all choose dresses that were within their price range and worked best on their body. They looked gorgeous!

5/20/10 @ 6:05 pm (reply)

10.

Member

ncfirechic (message) 36 posts, Newbee

I love the idea of similar/coordinating dresses verses the exact same identical dress. It’s one of the options my MOH and I have discusses. It may help though if I pick a color first…hmmm

5/20/10 @ 6:09 pm (reply)

11.

Member

kamydoo (message) 161 posts, Blushing bee

Funny I found that same picture (the bottom one) when looking for BM dress ideas! Love the “coordinating but not matching” idea!

My 3 BMs and I ended up going to Alfred Angelo, each picked their own shade of green that they liked and then I set them free to find the dress they liked the best. 2 out of 3 ended up picking the same dress — LOL — after giving them all that freedom…

5/20/10 @ 6:13 pm (reply)

12.

Member

laurlalou (message) 5 posts, Newbee

I am super crazy with my bridesmaid dresses and its gonna be gorgeous! I am letting them all pick a totally different dress as long as its knee length and shiny fabric and the color i assigned them I don’t care what it is! (well as long as I like it too!) but my colors are all deep gem tones I have MOH #1 in Plum MOH #2 in Teal BM#1 Olive BM#2 Navy and BM #3 in Copper brown… peacock colors! and then they will all have matching saltwater pearl necklaces and a Peacock feather fascinator. I’m really excited that my idea is working and they are all going to look fantastic! and also they will be able to wear the dress again because its something they picked out!

5/20/10 @ 6:18 pm (reply)

13.

Member

Skywalk (message) 87 posts, Worker bee

I always liked the idea of different dresses and really solidified that as a want for our wedding as soon as we had picked the wedding party. Like you, I have bridesmaids of varying sizes, shapes and heights. In one trip to the dress shop, we found an amazing collection of dresses that had a perfect dress for each of my wonderful girls. I am so excited about them!

5/20/10 @ 6:18 pm (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Cola (message) 2,870 posts, Sugar bee

Those inspiration pictures are great! I can’t wait to see what your ladies end up wearing!

5/20/10 @ 6:20 pm (reply)

15.

Member

ScarletJwl (message) 246 posts, Helper bee

You are not crazy! I want to do the same thing! Unless we are both crazy…

5/20/10 @ 6:28 pm (reply)

16.

Member

libra5979 (message) 173 posts, Blushing bee

WE went with the coordinating idea for the same reasons. Each of my ladies looked beautiful and unique in her dress, while all managing to look great together. I couldn’t have been more pleased with it.

5/20/10 @ 6:30 pm (reply)

17.

Bee

Miss Trail Mix (message) 6,329 posts, Bee Keeper

Love this! It’s gonna look great!

5/20/10 @ 6:33 pm (reply)

18.

Bee

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

My plan exactly. It’s shifted slightly from my original vision, so now I’m DYING to see my girls’ dresses together! Good luck with yours!!!

5/20/10 @ 6:46 pm (reply)

19.

Member

Rosie Girl (message) 4,141 posts, Honey bee

My girls are wearing the same dresses in the graphite! 2 are in strapless and 2 in the tank ones. Love them!

5/20/10 @ 7:21 pm (reply)

20.

Guest

alison

i love that you are doing gray! I did that as well and lovd it. My girls all wore the same dress, but that was only because they are pretty much the same size and i wanted a long dress. difficult to find a long gray dress at an affordable price.
good luck!

5/20/10 @ 8:40 pm (reply)

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