Weddingbee Blog

You must begin by resolving to make a decision, despite having no concrete ideas. Convince two obliging bridesmaids to spend their Saturday trying on dresses, as well as your madre, who has great taste and the unstoppable desire to take candid photos. Drive at least an hour to a place where your MOH found success for her wedding. Examine swatches:

Scour racks for contenders. Compile possibilities, and remember!—many look better on body than on hanger.

Force dearest friends to secure themselves into dresses using jumper cables. Then force them to smile for the camera. Come up with rating system (1= Get me out of this thing now, 10 = I’m buying this dress whether it’s for your wedding or not.)

Pull aside dresses that rank in the 9–10 range with all parties involved.

Agonize over top two for no less than an hour. Talk the pros and cons to death. Make your friends want to cry because they are stuck over an hour from home with a bride who is having a hard time committing. (Great sign, right?)

Finally, painstakingly, make the call. Take photo for posterity.

Fill out the paperwork, convince yourself the dress isn’t too “Grecian,” and thank your bridesmaids profusely for how wonderful they are to you. Then go out to lunch and frozen custard because both are delicious and because your mom offered to pay. And you are cheap.

There you have it. To be honest, I tried to get out of making a decision. I tried to convince my three companions that I should sleep on it. I mean, the black dress with the ruffle sleeve? Totally dramatic and beautiful—all three of us were in loooove. But that dramatic dress times five bridesmaids? A little much on the frill factor. If I had one…or even two or three bridemaids, I might have gone for it. Plus, the one I decided on (Pretty Maids #22347, on the left) was really comfortable. The chiffon doesn’t wrinkle as easily and isn’t shiny in flash pictures, and my dress has a chiffon overlay, too.

I never, ever thought I’d wind up picking a one-shoulder dress. But my girls loved it, even going so far as to plan slightly off-to-the-side updos and dramatic earrings.

I gotta say—having the decision made and done with feels great.

Did you have any really close contenders for bridesmaids dresses?