Friday, February 15, 2008

Bridesmaid Dresses: Friend or Foe

I think I have mentioned before that Adelay and I are going to be in my friend's wedding this September. This will be my first time as a member of a wedding party, my own aside. Because I am cool and got married at nineteen, thereby beating all my friends to the punch.
Anyways, particularly with that one movie coming out- you know, about bridesmaid dresses, starring that one chic from Grey's Anatomy (yes, I did my research before sitting down to type)- I have been thinking about my excitement over wearing a fancy-pants dress, and how relieved I am that I didn't hate this particular dress.
My question for you is four-fold: How many weddings have you been in, besides your own? Did you like the dress(es) you had to wear? Can you describe the bridesmaid dresses worn by your own attendants? Do you have any regrets about the choice you made?
I have already answered the first two questions, but as for the last ones, my bridesmaids wore strapless, silvery-purple colored dresses that were floor length, had beaded corset bodices, and were kind of a shimmery satin fabric. I still like them a lot, and in fact wish I had gotten to wear one as well as my actual wedding gown. Definitely no regrets.
And you?

P.S. Does this new template make me look fat?

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been in 2 besides my own, but the first doesn't count really because it was so informal.

I hated the ones at the recent wedding - you know why. I got to wear whatever I wanted to my older sister's - so I wore a simple black dress that I still wear to this day.

You saw them - black, chiffon, long - girls got to pick whatever straps they wanted with them, which helped those with insecurities about the chest. Because it was a winter wedding, they also got to wear a wrap during the ceremony, which helped with those who were insecure about their upper arms. Overall, I think my girls were happy. In fact, my maid of honor said she wore hers again a few months later on a cruise. That made me feel good.

The dress you have to wear is cute. The sash should help with any tummy insecurity anyone has.

Flibberty said...

I've been in 4 weddings and I haven't like any of the dresses I've had to wear. Most interesting of the bunch was my sister's request: she had us wear ball skirts, an icelandic sweater and hiking boots. I'll have to hunt down a picture of the wedding party just so you all can see the weirdnes.

P.S. I think the dress you will be wearing is very pretty.

Tess said...

I've been in five besides my own. I liked the dresses for all except one (someone MADE the dresses. Disaster).

I only had my sister as an attendant and she wore a bridesmaids dress from another wedding. It was very pretty though, kind of shimmery blue floor length, light fabric with a sheer sash that hung to the floor.

The Penguin said...

I have only been in my own wedding so far, and attended 2 others of which I was not part of the bridal party, plus 2 more coming up over the next year or tow. So I can't really comment about having had a bridesmaids dress.

As for my own, my girls (2 of them initially) had a say in the dress. I chose a selection of about 4 that I liked, and I told them to choose the one that they thought was the nicest and that they could see themselves wearing more than once. Or to let me know if they didn't like them at all, and then we'd look for some other styles. As it so happened they both picked the dress that I liked the most.

It was a floor length, slimline dress (they were both super skinny) with a slit up the back, a cross-over bust and a rouched band under the bust / around the waist. My colours were midnight blue and silver, so the idea was to have them wear silver shoes and the dresses were made in a beautiful deep blue soft satin (called mermaid satin as it had a lovely sheen on it). One of the girls pulled out 2 months before the wedding, but my Matron of Honour still stood with me and she looked so beautiful in the dress it was amazing. The dress was simple enough to wear out to dinner at a nice restaurant, but also elegant enough to dress it up for functions etc. I have some pictures of the dress in my facebook profile - I don't know how to post a link here, so if you want to see, email me and I'll send you the link.

I have no regrets about the dress that she wore at all. I would happily wear a dress like that myself!!

CAQuincy said...

OK, THIS is fun!

1) My mom's 2nd wedding: I wore a PEACH dress with huge puffy sleeves and a giant skirt which needed one of those huge taffeta slips underneath to fluff out (it was the 80s). Thank goodness it was a rental. I was only 14, so I didn't quite fit it in the bust (probably still wouldn't, actually!).

2) My brother's wedding: I was an "emergency" bridesmaid. The bride-zilla got in a huge fight with her maid of honor a week before the wedding--and the girl dropped out. I got asked in at three days to go. The dress was red satin, short, with these white veil-like, puffy sleeves. What made it even WORSE is that the dress was custom-made--for a different girl! So the ONLY place it fit was the waist--everything else was HUGE on me. Horrid! And the bride kept it to use as a party dress (thank God!).

3) My bff: Floor-length navy-blue with sequins on the top. Empire waist because three of the four bridesmaids were pregnant (I was only 9 wks, so it wasn't such a big deal for me as the 7 mos girl!). It sounds bad to type here, but it really wasn't. We all looked really nice. My bff paid attention to what all her bridesmaids wanted in a dress, and we got it. I still have the dress. Now if only I had an occasion to wear it (after I alter the length a bit, though).

4) My mother's THIRD wedding: it was a more casual affair, so I got to wear what I wanted. I bought a floral shirt and skirt from "Dots" (cheap clothing 'R' us), but it fit great. And I found the PERFECT shoes to match. I STILL get compliments on that outfit. It really accents my figure.

ME: Um....my hubby and I went to the J. of P. We were new to town and didn't have a lot of acquaintances yet (and eight hours from the closest family/friends), so one of the clerks in the office was our witness. I wore a beautiful cream/floral dress that I had worn to our college graduation.

LoriD said...

I've been in 4 weddings. All of the dresses were nice enough, but definitely bridesmaidy - could not be worn again (I was 9 months pregnant at my sister's so that definitely won't be worn again).

My own bridesmaids wore navy blue cocktail-length dresses, sleeveless with a high neck. It was a lightweight fabric, not shiny. They were very flattering, but not at all bridesmaidy. I borrowed my sister's later in the summer for a wedding I was attending! No regrets.

clueless but hopeful mama said...

1. I've been in 2 other weddings. For my brother's wedding, I wore a simple pink satin floor length dress which actually wasn't horrible (given my SIL's taste, this is shocking!). In my best friend's wedding (hey, that could be a movie title!), Zoe was 3 months old and it was informal so I wore a Target wrap dress that was a DISASTER. I had to read in the wedding and I started crying. When I looked down to grab a kleenex from my pocket, I realized that I was flashing the entire audience. Note to self: Just say NO to wrap dresses.

I LOVED the dresses that my bridesmaids wore. I chose a dark purple/dark rose layered fabric and let them chose the styles. They chose three different styles and, though I'm sure they've never actually worn them again, they all really seemed to like them. No regrets.

Swistle said...

1) I love the new template.

2) I love the dress! What a great dress.

3) I've never been a bridesmaid.

4) I didn't have any bridesmaids.

5) The end!

Anonymous said...

I was in 2 weddings. The first dress was shiny silver and ill fitting, showing off my saddle bag arse. The bride thought she'd chosen a matte lilac color, but alas NO! it was hideous.

The second dress was navy and very nice. Good on all body types.

For my wedding, I chose pink dresses with thick straps over the shoulder so that my bigger busted friends could wear a bra. See how nice I am!! Of course I had to be nice considering I was making them wear pink dresses.

Swistle said...

Flibberty- I'm going to nag until I see a photo of that.

mamashine said...

I love these questions. But it will take a lot of space to answer them. Sorry!

I got married at 21 and was the first person I knew to do so. I did have somebody make the dresses because we were trying to keep everything low budget, but I think they turned out nice, and a few of them said they wouldn't be opposed to wearing it again if they had an occasion. It was a burgundy sleeveless satin with an overskirt shimmery thing. It was prettier than I make it sound.

I had five bridesmaids and since then I have been in all five of their weddings.

1. Matron of honor- all the bridesmaids wore cutesy fitting blue things with tiny straps and I, as the token fat girl, looked horrible in it, so I got to wear a completely different silver number. I thought I liked it and helped choose it, but now that I look at the pictures I really hate it. I hope I didn't look as bad as I think I did.

2. Matron of honor and only attendant- allowed to wear whatever I wanted. AWESOME. Wore a two piece outfit with floor length black skirt and a strapless brocade bodice. I loved it then and still love the pictures.

3. Navy blue floor length sleeveless. Pretty. Had to get a size bigger than I've ever worn in any other clothes, ever, because of the way it was cut, and then they charged me $20 more than everybody else for the "extra material". I referred to it as the fatty fee and it sort of tainted my idea of the dress. But it really was pretty. Especially on everybody else.

4. Horrible, horrible early 90s prom type dress, purple velvet on top and satin on bottom. I might as well have had my hair in a side ponytail.

5. 7 months pregnant, two piece celery green sleeveless top and long skirt. Actually one of my favorites because I was expecting that I would just look like a blimp and there would be no saving it. Not true. I glowed and looked cute. At least that's the story I'm sticking to.

And there you have it, in too much detail. I think the next person to get married should have Swistle as one of their bridesmaids!!

Jess said...

I like the new template. Now, the four questions.

1. One. I was the maid of honor in my sister's wedding.
2. Yes. We picked it out together. It was purple and floor length.
3. They haven't been selected yet, but I told them to each get whatever purple dress they wanted.
4. Not yet, but since the wedding hasn't happened yet, the regrets wouldn't be for awhile.

Mary O said...

I've been in five weddings besides my own. I've liked probably four of those five bridesmaid dresses. To be fair, the one that I didn't like was a maternity dress (I was 8 1/2 months pregnant) so I wouldn't have liked anything on me at that point anyway.
My bridesmaids wore long black dresses with some white detail along the waist and bust. Very simple, exactly what I wanted and looked great on all six of my bridesmaids.
Good subject! Wedding talk is fun.

Mommy Daisy said...

Oh I like this. The dress you're wearing for your friend's wedding is awesome!

1. I've been in 2 other weddings- both of my sisters. I got married days after turning 20, and then it was another 5 years before either of my sisters got married.
2. For Mary's wedding, she had my aunt make these navy blue, floor-length dresses. I seem to remember them being halter-style tops. I can't remember for sure. I know it was tight, and I felt squeezed in. I found out within the next week that I was pregnant, and my aunt laughed about me squeezing into that dress when here I was pregnant and didn't know. Anyway, then I was just barely post-birth when Rachel got married the next year. Her bridemaids dresses were a purple-ish color, pretty, but I can't remember the name or the color. I had a strapless, floor-length dress with the top parted gathered to the side. It was pretty.
3. My aunt also made the dresses for my wedding. They were lilac, floor-length, spaghetti-strap, flowy skirts, and very pretty.
4. No regrets.

Anonymous said...

i have been in two besides my own. i loved the first dress (we got them from b.moss so you can totally wear them any time), but i hated the second. i shouldn't have hated the second because we could pick any dress we wanted as long as it was green (ew, green?!), but there were absolutely NO GREEN DRESSES AT ANY FREAKIN DEPARTMENT STORE. so, i ended up with an ugly dress that was that horrid length right between tea length and floor length. it was bad. i don't even like looking at pictures from that wedding.

i LOVED the dress i picked out for my bridesmaids. i want one for myself. i think it's so pretty and classy.

Anonymous said...

No, it does not make you look fat. I like the new look.

I've been in two weddings. Neither dress was hideous, both were sort of basic black but nothing I would choose for myself. I didn't have any bridesmaids because we got married in Hawaii with just our immediate families. I have NO regrets about that.

Saly said...

I love the new template!!

I have been in 4 weddings--in the first I was about 5 and was a flower girl.

I was the maid of honor for my best friend in 2001 and the dresses were tank style with little embellishment and were eggplant purple. We all wore silky shawls.

I stood up in my cousin's wedding one week before my own in 2002 and the dresses were spaghetti strap and purple---I can't remember the details but i know I got to wear my purple shoes from the previous wedding which was a bonus.

In my brother's wedding this summer all of the girls wore these dresses which were ok. (That's me, my old blog)

Finally.....when I got married my girls wore dark red tank style dresses, that looked like they were 2-piece but they were not. Ther was beading along the straps and bust-line. I wish I would have been able to wear one.

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