Weddingbee Blog

Now that I have my dress all figured out, I have to figure out what to dress our Cinnamon Girls in! I have two Cinnamaids, aka my maid and matron of honour. I’ve seen so many inspiring weddings where the ‘maids weren’t wearing the same dresses that I thought about that for a while. I think I’ve decided (and I reserve the right to change my mind!) that as there will only be two girls, mismatched dresses might end up looking like one girl lost her dress or something. If there were 3 or more, it’d be more obvious that it was a choice.

So: find one dress that flatters two ladies. One who is about 5’4″, and one who is about 6’1″. Easy peasy.

My mum told me once that Cinnamaid A and I look like these two when we’re together.

Oh, and both would be more comfortable with straps on their dresses, which is absolutely fine. We can’t all have a bust that doesn’t exist according to certain designer’s size charts.

As I’ve mentioned before, I am looking for a nice teal dress, hopefully something they can wear again.

I started looking where it made sense: bridal designers. I scoured many websites, looking for that perfect shade of teal, and a perfect dress. I came up with a few things:

Top to bottom, left to right:

#1 Alfred Angelo 7014, #2 Alfred Angelo 7053, #3 Alfred Sung D435
#4 Dessy 2780, #5 Lela Rose LR110, #6 Lela Rose LR122
#7 Lela Rose LR124, #8 Watters 4335, #9 Watters 4335
#10 Watters 4826, #11 Watters 7341, #12 Watters 7358

Whew, that’s a lot of dresses! They are for the most part pictured in the right colours. #9 comes in the same teal as #11 and #12 (called ‘Nile’) but there wasn’t a photo. #10 would have an aqua skirt, not yellow. #7 is pretty, but doesn’t come in the right blue, just green.

Looking at these all together like this helped me to distil my thoughts:

• Most of them are floaty, chiffon-y fabrics
• Lots have interesting details, like flowers or lace
• Teal can be called: Tealness (Alfred Angelo), Nile (Watters), Oasis, Marine, Caspian, Ocean Blue (the Dessy Group dresses)
• Aqua can be called Foliage (#8)
• Apple green can be Kiwi (#1), or Clover (#7)

My absolute favourite, hands-down in this bunch is #11. It is fitting that my dress and my favourite of these dresses are the same design house, I think.

Watters 7341 neckline close-up (in Chocolate)

I. Love. This. Dress. It’s floaty, and it has some flower details like my dress does! There was also a dress in the Nile colour on a mannequin in the store when I was trying my dress on, and I made a mental note of the colour because it was so perfect. The thing that is not perfect is that the bridal store does not have this particular bridesmaids dress. As the Canadian distributor for Watters, you’d think they’d have them all, but nope. Not the one I want. Also, close inspection of this neckline makes me think that even though there are straps, you’d still need a strapless bra because of the shape. A halter-style bra would show, because the straps go straight down in the back.

I honestly couldn’t tell you which dress would come in second place out of those 12—that I’d have to leave to the girls.

I’ve had these dresses dancing around in my head for a while, when I decided to search for ‘teal dress’ on Etsy. Jackpot! And, as always happens to me, my top contenders were sellers that were already in my favourites for other things!

Katharina by Lirola on Etsy

Coming Up Roses by Ureshii on Etsy

I’ve been wanting to order a shirt from Ureshii (Canadian company! Yay!) for aaages but have been plagued by my usual indecision. I had a top favourited from Lirola’s store too!

The great thing about these dresses is that they are made from scratch to your measurements. And, extra length can be added! Or taken away! And they’re cheaper than the wedding-designer-dresses.

My favourite here is the Katharina dress. There are a couple different versions in the shop—one is more of a tank shape on the top, but the neckline and armholes are unfinished on that one. I think the finishing on the neckline and the little flutter sleeves on this one make it a bit more polished. It comes to just above the knee, I’d prefer it be at or just below the knee I think, but that’s really about the girls’ comfort level. I think the ruffles are a great echo of the detailing on my dress. I realize that my dress is floral embroidery, which is why I call it an echo, not an imitation. But, at least in the photos, the Ureshii dresses look a bit more finished.

My one concern is that these dresses might be a bit casual. They are jersey, which is a more casual fabric. I have a black jersey dress though, and I love it to pieces: it’s as comfy as PJs and I can wear any accessories with it. I think I could see Katharina dressed up though, with shiny shoes, nice jewelry, maybe even a belt or sash.

How would you accessorize this dress for a wedding? I’m seeing metallic shoes and sparkly belts, and bouquets in apple green and white.