Bridesmaid Dress Decision

Since The One and I are getting married aboard a cruise ship, there really aren't tons of decisions we have to make. A lot of the things are dictated to us, like the photographer, reception menu, alcohol choices, cake, table settings, centerpieces, etc. Then there are a few things that we have minimal choices over, unless we want to bring aboard our own alternatives, like music, tuxes, flowers (we can only bring on silk arrangements), etc. And I'm totally OK with that, in general the details really don't matter to me all that much. I'd rather not have the work of making all the decisions; I'm really more of a show up and party kind of girl.

So, among the few things I do have to decide on is the dress for my bridesmaids. This has been a tough decision because while I didn't have a specific style in mind, I did have some specific requirements for the dresses. First, I really wanted to have my Matron of honor in a different color than the other bridesmaids. Second, I really wanted dresses that have the option of two colors: the main dress color and an accent color. Third, I wanted a bridesmaid dress style that complimented my wedding dress style.

When I first started looking at dresses I hadn't purchased my wedding dress yet, so I was trying to find some styles I liked but wasn't sure exactly what would go with the dress I would ultimately be wearing. I had picked out a few that I really liked, but once I had found my dress I ended up eliminated them for one reason or another.

I told myself that I was going to have a dress picked by the end of November (oops!), and ask the girls to try to have them ordered by January 1st. I know that the stores usually pad the delivery time to give themselves some wiggle room, but everyone keeps saying to order 6 - 8 months ahead of the wedding, and December 17th will be 8 months.

I spent some time this week looking through all of the designers' websites and writing down styles I liked. Today I was hoping I could make a final decision on a bridesmaids dress, so I head off to the bridal store. I went with a specific dress in mind that I had found online, and I loved it when I tried in on, but when I looked at the color choices I wasn't in love with the options. So, I started looking at other dresses, and colors, etc.

I thought I was going to quickly pop into the store, try on the dress, pick the colors, and be out the door in half an hour. When that didn't happen, and I was bombarded with catalogs and color swatches, and sample dresss galore, I got a bit overwhelmed and called The One to meet me at the store to help me make some decisions. On his way to his car on campus, he ran into Sissy, and grabbed her to come along.

She tried on the dress I was originally thinking of, but as soon as a normal person had it on I didn't really like it. (Normal as opposed to odd ball me, with a super short torso. It fit me fine, but it was too low cut on her, and probably would have been on everyone else, too.)

So, I had her try on a few others that I had already tried on myself, and viewed the colors, and we found one we both liked. It is super cute on! Here is the best I can do for a photo of it:



Of course, it would be my color scheme, which is blue, and I want to remove the bow. The option would be to remove it entirely, or to remove it and attach it to the back of the dress to hang down the back, but that can be decided later.

I am so happy and relieved to have finally made this decision! There are only a few major ones left. Next up, invitations!