Losing it… All over Bridesmaid Dresses

“There will always be one thing you will drive yourself crazy over… mine was invitations. Apparently, yours is bridesmaid dresses.” Ginger, one of my matrons of honor said this to me just a few weeks ago, and I totally believe it. For some reason, since Tres and I got engaged I have been obsessed with finding the perfect bridesmaids dresses for my girls. I know for a FACT I have looked at more pictures of bridesmaid dresses then I ever looked at of wedding gowns. Not to mention, I have already dragged Ginger bridesmaids dress shopping once, and I plan on doing it again this weekend!

I have been to every bridesmaids dress site that I know about, stared at hundreds of pictures online and in magazines, and even looked at some in person. Conclusion? I HATE THEM ALL! There is no nice way to put this, but bridesmaid dresses are just ugly. I don’t know if they intentionally make them that way to make the bride look good or what, but it’s disturbing to me. I am grateful to have a pretty group of girls who will stand at the altar with me, and I intend for them to all look STUNNING!

FROM SHORT...

The dress (above) was the dress that I thought was "the one"... until my girls tried it on.
I really still like it a lot because it's so "vintage Jackie-O," which is what I was going for with my maids.
I think I can figure out a way to make the long ones vintage and classy too though!

This dress (above) is just sassy and fun, so I had to throw it in!

So the conclusion to that is… I have completely driven myself crazy – all over bridesmaid dresses. Ultimately, my idea was to go short and untraditional – even if I had to settle on a semi-formal wedding as opposed to a formal one – I was DETERMINED to have short, untraditional dresses. Why? Because in case I failed to mention it, I hate bridesmaid dresses and the long ones usually make me cringe. I was totally willing to turn my planned formal wedding upside down – all over bridesmaid dresses!

When I first started looking, I refused to look at any actual bridesmaid dress websites. I went straight to Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus, Sacs Fifth Avenue, and Macy’s hoping to be the one and only bride EVER to find a dress my girls would actually wear again. I discovered this is a total joke… you just can’t do it! 1) If you are set on a particular color and it’s not black – good luck finding a basic, classy, plain dress in the color you’re aiming for and 2) even if you do find a dress your girls could actually wear again, if they are all friends, then none of them will actually do it! I mean, who wants to show up at the next cocktail party in Suzie-Q’s bridesmaids dress?! … I didn’t think so.

TO LONG...
I like this one (above) the best so far - based on a picture.
I think it's very untraditional for a bridesmaid dress.

This one (above) is timeless and classic and the fabric is gorgeous!

These two I like because they are sooooo different, yet they still have that vintage, old vibe!

So after thinking I found the perfect one (short and untraditional... first picture on this post) and having two of my girls try it on, I was completely let down. I learned to never take a five foot tall friend to try on a dress you saw a 6’2 model in a magazine ad wear. Now while Melissa and Ginger are way prettier than that model ever thought of being, they just aren’t the same height, and it just didn’t look the same. So after about 8 more short dresses, Ginger timidly suggested she try on some long ones. I agreed… at this point I would have let her try on a pants suit if she thought that may look better – I was completely over the short dress look! Once she started trying on long ones, I got kind of hooked on them. I found more than one I liked, and it put a smile on my face because now we can go Black Tie Optional for our wedding, which in my opinion we couldn’t do with short dresses :) Now while it’s exciting that long dresses don’t make me cringe anymore, I still haven’t the “perfect” bridesmaid dress. This could be an on-going struggle, but one thing I have learned: NEVER SAY NEVER! Almost everything I said I would “never do” in this wedding I have done so far, so…… I think I’m done with that word! I like the long ones I have posted above. Please give me your opinions!