Yay, it’s time for another wedding planning update! As y’all know, I found my wedding dress during a whirlwind trip to Houston in June, but along with that, I also made a decision about bridesmaid dresses, which I’m excited to chat about today!
I feel so blessed to have eight gorgeous gals standing with me on my wedding day. There are my two sisters (who are my co-maids of honor–we made a pact years ago that we wouldn’t choose between each other!), Dave’s sister, two of my childhood friends, two of my high school friends, and one of my college friends. These ladies mean the world to me and I’m so happy that each of them is part of my bridal party!
Probably not surprisingly, since my girls are from all different stages of my life, they are spread out across the country, which made any possibility of shopping together pretty impossible. I figured that as long as I was respectful of everyone’s budgets and body types, and I chose something I personally would love to wear (a tip I picked up from Katharine’s bridesmaid dress post!), I couldn’t go wrong. Here’s some of the inspiration I collected as I began my search:
Clockwise from top: Laura Nelson via Snippet and Ink, Jessica Lorren, Jessica Lorren via Once Wed, Melissa Schollaert via Snippet and Ink, Brett Heidebrecht via Style Me Pretty, Lauren Kinsey via Southern Weddings
So pretty, right? As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of the mismatched look–especially dresses in the same shape and fabric, but in all different styles and a lovely palette of colors. Long dresses were a must for me, since I think they add so much to the formality of a wedding. I also loved the idea of some special, unexpected detail–how gorgeous are those black lace backs? My plan was to choose about 10 dresses that I liked, and then ask the girls to pick their favorites–one of my friends did this when she got married, and it worked out wonderfully!
All of this in mind, who’s surprised that I ended up going with the same dress for everyone? I certainly was!
I had a handful of dress options saved that would have contributed to my mismatched look, so in between my bridal salon appointments, my sisters and I swung by a bridesmaid dress store to try one of them on. We all absolutely loved it–I even loved it enough to scrap my original plan so that everyone could wear this dress! It looked fabulous on all of us, if I do say so myself, and the price was extremely reasonable. Done and done!
Are your bridesmaids wearing something like what you originally expected, or did you end up changing your mind like I did? I’d love to know!
In case you missed a post…
I’m Engaged! / The Main Characters / Our Venues / Our Photographer / Our Videographer / Planning Our Engagement Pictures / Our Flowers
I did the same thing. I pinned all kinds of mismatched looks, but am ending up going with the same dress for everyone!
I’m glad I’m not the only one! :)
Such beautiful inspiration photos – I can’t wait to see the dress you ended up choosing. I’m positive it’s marvelous!!
Thank you so much, Stephanie! I’m excited to share in a few months!
Great post! I’m having a bit if difficulty choosing a bridesmaid dress (preferably long). Could you post any links to the dress you chose, or some that you considered? Thanks!
Hi Chelsey! A few places I looked that have gorgeous options are J. Crew, Amsale, JLM Couture Occasions, and Joanna August. I hope this helps! :)
Thanks for sharing our photo! Loving all the inspiration for your wedding. It’s going to be gorgeous :) xoxo
Thanks so much, Laura! :)
so happy mine came in the mail yesterday! Can’t wait to wear it!!!
Yay!!!
I had an inspiration photo of bridesmaids in maxi skirts that were all different shades of blue on my phone for ages . I ended up going with all the same color maxi skirt (navy!), with patterned tops from J Crew!
Oooh, that sounds gorgeous, and so unique!