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Mrs. Pin Cushion, Oakland, CA Age and Occupation: 25, Nurse Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, PhD Student Engagement Date: November 23, 2008 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Radonich Ranch, Los Gatos About Me: I'm the 3 Cs: crafty, creative and quirky (oh, that's not a C? Close enough!). I'm also a recycling fanatic, fluent in bad accents and I have the loudest laughter this side of the Mississippi. I have not just one sweet tooth, but a whole mouth full of sweet teeth. I cry at 97.4% of all movies I see, but my fiance's always there to hand me a tissue. My geek-chic fiance and I are planning a wedding full of color, cookies and handmade goodness and I can't wait to spill the beans on all of our crazy ideas!
About Mrs. Pin Cushion

The Pin Cushion Wedding Party has a bit of a gender bias. We’ve snagged ourselves a lot of ladies, and seem to scare off the men. In fact, we have 6 females in our bridal party (3 on my side, 3 on Mr. PC’s) and only 2 males (1 on each side). We love our bridal crew, lopsidedness and all.

Our bridesmaids and groomswomen deserve to wear awesome dresses at our wedding (though perhaps a slightly less awesome dress than my own would be acceptable). The six ladies have fabulously different bodies. And different skin tones. And different hair color. And very different heights (two people under 5″ [I chose ’em to make me look taller in comparison]).

It was a daunting challenge to pick out a dress that would flatter all of the ’maids. But when I face a challenge, I buck up, square my shoulders and attack it head on… no… wait. That must be some other bee. This bee tends to slump over, wave a white flag and pass the challenge off to some unsuspecting victim. Like my bridesmaids and groomswomen.

I asked the ladies to choose their own dresses. I gave them the loose guidelines of 1) stay within our wedding colors, 2) no long dresses, 3) please don’t look like you work at A) a strip club or B) a nunnery. That was pretty much it. And, watching the ’maids’ reactions, you would have thought it was some great act of selflessness on my part, and not a brilliant scheme to pawn off my difficult decision on someone else.

Here are the decisions that I didn’t have to make, I mean, here are the dresses they’ve bought so far:

Happily Waving a White Flag :  wedding bridesmaid dress oakland Screen03  Happily Waving a White Flag :  wedding bridesmaid dress oakland Screen04

Groomswoman L has a smokin’ red dress from here (with detachable empire waist for baby-nursing [or showing off your goodies {though that breaks guideline 3}).

Bridesmaid J bought a sweet eyelet dress from here.

Happily Waving a White Flag :  wedding bridesmaid dress oakland Screen05  Happily Waving a White Flag :  wedding bridesmaid dress oakland Screen06

Groomswoman Q bought a sexy satin dress from here.

And Bridesmaid S picked a fab flowy green dress from here.

As I assume most of you are over the age of 5, and thus, can add single digits, you probably noticed there are only 4 dresses shown and we have 6 bridal party ladies (if you are under the age of 5, I congratulate you on your extraordinary ability to read and navigate the internet). That is because two of our female attendants are still looking for their perfect dress. And though we are only a few weeks out, knowing those 2 are still dress-less doesn’t raise my blood pressure even 1 point (okay, maybe 1 or 2, but that’s it!). The gorgeous dress choices that the others have made leaves me confident that the last two dresses will be amazing as well. (And if not, all the better my own dress will look in comparison, right? [I’m just asking for bad wedding karma here]).

The decision to hand off the dress picks to the ladies has been win-win. I have less to worry about and the girls might actually find something they will wear again, and in a price range that doesn’t give them a heart attack (I’m just thinking about my friends’ health here, people).

How did you pick the dresses for your bridal party ladies? Or are you joining me in waving a white flag on that decision and giving up full control?

Tags: bridesmaid-dress, oakland |
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22 Responses to “Happily Waving a White Flag”

1 2 

1.
Miss Cardigan
Bee
Miss Cardigan (message)  8,645 posts, Bee Keeper

They made some great choices! Very, very cute!

 
2.
Guest Icon
Guest
LA Bride

I am conducting a Choose-Your-Own as well. I just got engaged, but am planning on sending a Bridesmaid Update card, complete with paint swatch (courtesy of your local home impreovement store) for color matching.

My ‘maids all have amazing taste, and I have full confidence that by allowing them to choose their dress, they will be comfoy and happy -and that, in turn, will make for better wedding-day pictures!

 
3.
jordynrose
Member
jordynrose (message)  6,351 posts, Bee Keeper

I too waived the white flag and said so long as it was knee length, navy, and not super shiny I would be a fan. So far it has been nothing but lovely.

 
4.
Dragonsus
Member
Dragonsus (message)  1,194 posts, Bumble bee

I gave them a color and told them to pick what they wanted, except for my little sister - she is hopeless at clothes and asked for help, so I picked out her dress and shoes. they all had wonderful dresses and told me how much they loved the freedom to choose what they wanted and thought they’d wear.

 
5.
missbiscuit
Member
missbiscuit (message)  1,050 posts, Bumble bee

I, too, will be going the choose your own route. I haven’t thought of what my guidelines will be yet except I’ll probably pick a color or two to limit the choices to. I like the idea of letting them chose something that they like, will wear again, and most importantly can AFFORD!

 
6.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Snow (message)  916 posts, Busy bee

I did the same thing! Although I don’t necessarily think my gals will wear their dresses again, I love that they all look like themselves b/c they’re wearing dresses they like.

 
7.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Spaniel (message)  6,792 posts, Bee Keeper

Under 5 inches (”)??? Wow, that is REALLY short! ;)

I love the idea of handing off dress selections… but I’m too much of a control freak. ;) Can’t wait to see yours all together! They’re all pretty dresses! :)

 
8.
kirabee
Member
kirabee (message)  1,402 posts, Bumble bee

Oh man Cushion, you’re hilarious. Also, that is not a very good nickname for you, you should come up with a better one. I cracked up at “With detachable empire waist for baby-nursing [or showing off your goodies {though that breaks guideline 3}]” and even moreso at “If you are under the age of 5, I congratulate you on your extraordinary ability to read and navigate the internet.” Love it!

 
9.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Cola (message)  2,868 posts, Sugar bee

I like all those dresses, very pretty! And I’m sure your ladies all appreciate getting to pick themselves!

 
10.
CCSR
Member
CCSR (message)  573 posts, Busy bee

I told them to wear a long dress (in Brazil weddings are pretty formal) in blue, but try not to wear the same shade of blue as the other girls. Also, to pick silver sandals.

I don’t care about the fabric or the style, they just need to get what looks good for them. And the shoes? Heel, no heel, it doesn’t matter.

 
11.
Guest Icon
Guest
Alaynah Boyd

I think letting your bridesmaids choose their own dress, within your guidelines, is a great idea. It lets them show off who they are physically and internally, which is exactly why you chose them! It also lets people spend something that is budget appropriate for them, which is very considerate of you. Good idea - the dresses look great, I’m sure your girls will look lovely, all of them!

 
12.
Member Icon
Member
Ms. Kookie (message)  244 posts, Helper bee

I am actually paying for my BM’s dresses since I want them to match and etc. etc. and feel bad for making them purchase a dress which they will never wear again. Easy Peasy right?? NOT. They drove me nuts anyways.

 
13.
Guest Icon
Guest
Hillary

How I’d love to wear a dress like the one on the left side, a sexy satin dress.

 
14.
Bee Icon
Bee
Miss Pin Cushion (message)  1,012 posts, Bumble bee

@Mrs. Spaniel: Ha ha ha!! Yah, I wasn’t joking when I said they were short-they’re all siblings of Thumbelina!
@Ms. Kookie: That is so nice of you to pay for them!!
@CCSR: Long blue dresses? Sounds lovely!

 
15.
Guest Icon
Guest
wedding songs

I like handing off dress selections idea.
left side, satin dress is good.
Thanks for sharing
Julia

 
16.
Guest Icon
Guest
C. Bee

I have 5 bridesmaids, who also have varying heights, body types, and hair colors. I’m just stipulating knee-length dresses in any shade of darkish brown, and I’ll probably choose a shoe color like gold. My mother and I are making lightweight cotton belts in a sage green/cream toile pattern to give the girls a bit of continuity for the day of the wedding. That way they can pick a dress they like and can afford, but everyone will be able to tell they’re the bridesmaids.

 
17.
Guest Icon
Guest
MsFireworks

I also have 4 bridesmaids with 4 different bodies, skin tones, and hair colors. At first I was looking for a different dress for each one of them, but they wanted to all have the same dress. This made looking for the perfect dress pretty difficult. We decided to go with Alfred Angelo’s 7002 and have each altered for it to reach their knees. The dress also comes in maternity, so that worked perfectly.

HOWEVER, the shoes… are up to them.

 
18.
Miss Hermit Crab
Bee
Miss Hermit Crab (message)  3,562 posts, Sugar bee

I did the same thing but you would have thought that it was a form of torture…they looked amazing on the day, but man! did they complain about finding the right dress! It’s ok I guess, alls well that ends well!

 
19.
Bee Icon
Bee
Mrs. Parfait (message)  1,755 posts, Buzzing bee

I’d totally appreciate getting to choose my own dress. That pink satin one is super cute!

 
20.
missmouse29
Member
missmouse29 (message)  2,998 posts, Sugar bee

I am doing the same thing, and am using (basically) the same loose guidelines.
As long as the ladies are happy & gorgeous without breaking the bank, I am happy :)

 
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Mrs. Pin Cushion
Mrs. Pin Cushion

Mrs. Pin Cushion, Oakland, CA Age and Occupation: 25, Nurse Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, PhD Student Engagement Date: November 23, 2008 Wedding Date: July 2010 Venue: Radonich Ranch, Los Gatos About Me: I'm the 3 Cs: crafty, creative and quirky (oh, that's not a C? Close enough!). I'm also a recycling fanatic, fluent in bad accents and I have the loudest laughter this side of the Mississippi. I have not just one sweet tooth, but a whole mouth full of sweet teeth. I cry at 97.4% of all movies I see, but my fiance's always there to hand me a tissue. My geek-chic fiance and I are planning a wedding full of color, cookies and handmade goodness and I can't wait to spill the beans on all of our crazy ideas!

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