District Weddings

Today Julia, our bride blogger, loops us into her bridal attire decisions… so much to consider, so many options…

I did some research online before delving into the decision making of what everyone in our bridal party was going to wear.  I thought that perhaps I would stumble upon some site that took into consideration your colors and taste and spit back recommends.  I was wrong.  In the end, I think the research only provided pointers and really, that it was all up to personal choice. 

First, I scoured every as many designer sites that I found on theknot.com and saved pictures and links of the dresses I liked.  Second, I searched the internet and blogs for bridal party photos that I liked.  And lastly, I set up an inspiration board to compare all of the pictures side by side.  That was the best way to envision what would look best together.

I then sent out the options to my girls and asked if they liked any of the dresses or if they wanted to suggest others.  This may not have been the best way to do it, but I was trying to be really democratic about it all so that no one was unhappy.  The last thing I wanted was for my best-est friends to spend a fortune on a hideous dress.  Unfortunately, the girls all had ideas of their own and it was hard to wrangle them. 

Ultimately I asked my sister (and MOH) to decide on the dress and let the girls know.  Now, I realize many brides just won’t be able to let the decision out of their own hands, but for me, I decided that was the best way to make everyone happy.  Here are some of the dresses that I loved: 

Alvina Valenta, Jim Hjelm Occasions

Alfred Angelo, Adrianna Papell

And here are some of the dresses that the girls loved: 

Bari Jay, Ali B Maids

What did we end up picking?  A simple J. Crew dress in black that is the perfect addition to all of the girls’ LBD collections.  It’s simple, but that’s ok. They are all planning on wearing sexy heels to spice it up. And best of all, my sister was a J.Crew spy and had the girls order the dress when it was on sale for $69! 

Now, in retrospect, I wished I would have waited slightly longer to pick the bridesmaids dresses.  I just could not slow down, I was so excited to start making decisions.  Although the dress works in every season, we were choosing dresses while the Spring collections were out and now that the Winter collections are in stores, there is so many more dresses that I love that are wintery. 

Another good reason to have waited is that one of my BM’s had a baby last month (who did not know she was pregnant when we picked out dresses) and another one just found out she is 2 months pregnant.  I think everything will work out, but this may present some extra challenges as we get closer to the wedding date.

Next up, the men.  I did not have to worry about the men because my fiancé was taking care of that decision.  I had overheard a conversation of friends at a dinner party years ago talking about how a bride had insisted on going to with her groom to manage the choosing of the men’s attire and how she was such a controlling bridezilla.  I made a mental note then – so this was just another reason to leave them on their own (of course we both talked about it before he went to the store.)

He went to Men’s Wearhouse and decided on black suits with black shirts, a white tie/vest for himself, ice blue tie/vest for the groomsmen/ushers and silver tie/vest for the dads. 

Men's Warehouse

Secretly, I can tell the blogosphere that I always dreamed of being with a man that would want to buy his own couture suit and have a private dresser help him dress the day of the wedding.  But, who am I kidding?  My fiancé would rather spend his days wearing Nike golf shirts and shorts, flip flops, and visors!  (Another reason I love his laid-back attitude.)

Last decision up; the flower girl dresses.  My fiancé has 3 nieces; ages 6, 3 and 2.  I cannot tell you how cute I think they will look walking down the aisle. 

We took the oldest niece to the store to try on dresses and she was in fully enthralled into princess-land.  She was mesmerized by the tiaras and the shawls and the purses (Oh my!)  She loved every dress, but thought this dress made her look like Wendy from Peter Pan.  

David's Bridal

Thanks, Julia!  It looks like you made great decisions, were thoughtful throughout the process and ultimately your entire bridal party will look great on the big day!