Bridesmaids

"Popping the question" 

As with most things in my life, I put a lot of thought into who I wanted in my bridal party, and chose people who played a significant role in my life. I wanted to ask my girls in a way that reflected that, and decided to make a photo collage and poem for each of them, as well as a "Top 10" list of reasons they should say yes. I put them all together in a DIY frame done in the wedding colors, and also gave them some notepads. Below are some pictures of everything. I love how it all came together, but I have to admit, this "DIY" thing is waaayy over-rated.

Dresses

The bridesmaids' dresses were ordered on 10-17-09!  But not before a mini-panic attack on my part. I had decided to come up to NJ for a few days to do some wedding planning. I timed it for when all my girls would be available to be measured for their dresses.  Picking a bridesmaid's dress proved to be very stressful for me. I was down in NC, while all my girls live in NY and NJ. Bridal shops are few and far in NC, so I spent most of my time looking on dress sites and then asking my girls to try specific dresses on, take pictures and send them to me. Making it even more complicated was that not all manufacturers have the right shade of raspberry fabric. Finally, after tons of dresses, I decided on Alexia 2944, based solely on pictures.  When I arrived in NJ, I decided to go to the bridal shop to see the dress for myself before my bridesmaids got measure. As soon as I saw it, I knew it was wrong. The fabric looked cheap in person and while it looked great in pictures, and everyone was telling me that after the wedding, all we would have would be pictures, I didn't want my girls wearing that dress the day of. Holy crap! Back to square one. I started looking through the racks of dresses and spotted a short Bill Levkoff dress that I had just seen in a bridal magazine and loved. I was really hung up on my girls wearing long dresses and wasn't prepared to change my vision. Then my Mom spotted Impression dress 1735 that I had seen on their web site. On the website, it was just okay, but in person, it was really very interesting and different. The saleswoman told me it was stunning on and compliments all body shapes. So....the next day, I discussed my concerns with my sister, who has a fashion merchandising college degree and understands more about fashion than anyone I know. She agreed to go to the bridal shop a few hours before the rest of the bridal party to try it on. As soon as I saw my sister in the Impression dress, I knew I had found their dresses. It was the perfect compliment to my dress. The top layer of the dress is chiffon, and it's folded over to give the 'striped' effect. Impression allows you to pick any color for the satin lining, which proved to be *interesting*. We found that the dress looked entirely different, depending on which under layer we put it with. While we seriously toyed with using fushia chiffon with an under layer of orange (giving the dress an irridescent look to it), we realized it could turn out to be a disaster. After much debate, I decided to go the safe route and go with fuschia/fuschia. I'm a bit disappointed that the stripes won't 'pop', but we should still be able to see them as a textural element. All my girls tried the dress on, along with the short Bill Levkoff, and the decision was unanimous. The sample is black chiffon over a white liner.

Their Dresses Are Here!

Shoes & Accessories

The girls will be wearing the fake pink Uggs to the left. Just kidding!  How hideous are those??? The girls will be allowed to wear any shoe/heel height of their choosing, as long as it's silver. I want them to be comfortable and on their feet dancing all night. Same goes for their hair and jewelry. My sister, the MOH, is going to be wearing a flower and/or feather in her hair to set her apart from the bridesmaids. I've given her full choice in whatever she wants. She works in Manhattan, so will have access to tons of accessory stores.

Flowergirls

My two little sisters will be my flowergirls. They'll only be 4 and 3ish at the time of the wedding, so I want them in 'true' little girl dresses, not mini-versions of my bridesmaids' dresses. I absolutely love the orange and raspberry dress on the left, but can not find it anywhere. Sweet Beginnings, on the right, has similar organza dresses that can be made in the same colors, and I can always go to etsy for the flower for the back of the bow. I love the sequins on the Sweet Beginnings dress. Not sure if I want to add sleeves or go to the expense of adding the raspberry band on the bottom, but I will have them hemmed to 'ankle' lengh 

And Here They Are!

Talk about a leap of faith. Here I was...trying to copy a dress I found off the internet....and I'm not a fashion person.  After they were ordered, the dress shop owner called to confirm the color choices. Uh oh. Maybe I was making a mistake. Finally....the call came....they were in. As luck would have it....they came in just a few days before I was flying up for my bridal shower and I couldn't wait to see them.  When the clerk brought them out....I froze.  What the heck is that fushcia squiggly thing all over the top??? It was supposed to be clear sequins, not fuschia. The dress shop owner advised that the sequins could be removed and suggested I wait until the girls tried the dresses on before making any decision. Below is a picture of my little sisters in the dresses and I love them just the way they are! They will perfectly compliment my bridesmaids' dresses of solid fuschia.

Shoes

On the Sunday before the wedding, we found out that the shoes the girls were originally going to wear did not fit either girl. Monday was spent frantically trying to find them shoes and we finally decided on the Striderites below. We only had one shot at getting them right, so we ordered 6 different sizes from Endless and crossed our fingers. Luckily, we found out the morning of the wedding that they in fact, fit the girls perfectly. Whew!  I had joked that otherwise, they were walking down the aisle in barefeet.  On the right are organza flowers made from the material of their dresses for their hair and their shoes. They were made by Mary from Frills, located in Matawan, NJ (sorry...no internet or email access).  Mary is the one who made my bridal garter. She does lots of custom work, including veils and such, and while she's a bit quirky, is immensely talented and rather inexpensive, all things considered.

Mothers

Below is the dress my Mom ordered on 1/26/10, exactly 5 months before the wedding. It is Jade Couture, K2237. She ordered it in Navy, which is very close to the sample picture.

Below are pictures of Craig's Mom's dress. Color is cranberry.