Choosing bridesmaids dresses has been the most difficult aspect of the wedding planning thus far. I have seven lovely ladies in my bridal party and as wonderful and accomodating as they have been I am mindful that they are making both a huge financial and time commitment by being a part of the wedding. I wanted to respect their budgets and also give them some choice in the matter. One of the girls had expressed her annoyance in being maid of honour last summer and being told to "pick up and pay" for the dress without having an input in the matter. I took her complaint to heart and decided I don't want them to feel like they have no say. The bridesmaids dresses at the boutiques and salons I visited were upwards of $400 which was just too much, in my opinion. I set a budget of $150 max and managed to stay within ten dollars of my budget with my final decision.
The photo below was the initial inspiration for my dress search. It inspired the navy colour scheme and my original desire to have long dresses with a sweetheart neckline. To me, this is the picture of elegance from the manicure to the perfect posture.
I looked high and low for the perfect dress. The closest I could find in our budget in an actual store was at David's Bridal. There are countless online shopping options for bridesmaids dresses but I didn't feel comfortable asking the girls to spend such a large amount of money on a website I'd never ordered from before.
If you are looking for this type of dress and have a bridal party with a bigger budget I recommend checking out J Crew. My favourite dress in the search was from their birdal line for $425. It is an absolutely stunning dress:
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Source: J Crew
(Arabelle long dress in silk chiffon) |
My MOH tried on the long chiffon sweetheart neckline dress at David's Bridal. It was stunning on her. Unfortunately, our sales girl told us that at 5'10" these dresses hover above the ground and if someone tall-er is wearing heels they have the same issue. DB has no "extra long" option. With one bridesmaid who is over 5'10" and two around 5'8" this helped me decided to go with short dresses.
As much as short dresses weren't in my sights when I first started looking I came around to the idea pretty quickly. When I saw the girls trying them on I loved them. I love that we're going to go with mismatched styles so they can each choose what suits them best. The dresses are young, fun and summery. The girls won't have to pay to get them hemmed which is also a major bonus.
Here are some photos from Pinterest (source: Pinterest search results for Short Navy Bridesmaids Dresses) to help me get a grip on how the ladies will look! I am going to give them the choice of heels or flats in any nude colour.
So this has been my first lesson in compromise and change in my overall wedding plan. The dresses won't be what I originally envisioned but I think they will be better all around for everyone... my girls are so gorgeous I don't think the dresses will make or break any part of the wedding day. They all seem excited about picking out their dresses and I am happy that they get to have that choice! :)
A few of the David's Bridal short bridesmaid dresses in Marine. The dresses are so cute and have great detail. They range from $120-159. (Source: google image search).
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