Bride and Bridesmaids Attire

This is probably the MOST exciting part of the wedding planning process thus far. I hear the registry is, but with the registry, you may or may not get some of the things you pick. But the dress... you pick, you buy, you keep :)

Since Cole and I knew that we were getting well before the actual engagement, I had the opportunity to start looking at dresses with Sharon one of my MOH's before she left for her year long trip in Asia. So, I have honestly been looking for a dress since.... September/August? I started out thinking, I wanted something new, modern and A line. something that still looks like a wedding dress, but not a princess dress, and strapless. I probably tried on 30+ dresses and visited 8 different stores, at minimum. I was determined to find THE dress, and didnt want to settle, and in the right price range. I was really hoping for something under $1,000.

This is how it progressed, first A line, Satin,  tube top and above all NO CLEVAGE. THEN I started liking something more sliming, and I loved the Anniston by Maggie Sottero. I loved it! But wanted to keep looking. Then I was searching online and found these beauties by Jim Helm:

But they are suprisingly hard to find, and I was not going to buy a dress I couldnt try on. I was starting to love the soft look of lace and in my head, it looked "bridal" and "elegant". SO I went to Brides by Demetrios in Bellevue. One of my Bridesmaids Stephanie, is also getting married this year, and this is wear she bough her dress!

Well, I happen to find a dress there, that was the best of all the dresses. Has the back of theJim Helm dress on the left and the front trumpet shape of the dress on the left. It has cap sleeves due to the elaborate back and is covered in beautiful lace. There is no pciture of it online or anywhere. So  i have no idea what it looks like on a model....which is good! Bad thing is that it was more than double what I was hoping for. I love it and Im happy. I have decided to add a ribbon to the front like the dress on the right, and my veil is fingertip length and is a double veil. More for the traditional effect of the wedding. Cole likes tradition. :) Lastly, I got a flower made of ivory feathers to put in my hair for after the ceremony. Im so excited! Now that I have spent SO MUCH $$ in that store and I call all the time for no reason, and try on my dress as much as I can, every associate knows me by name. Not just the one who helped me. :) (yes, im THAT crazy girl) I figure, I spent all that money on that dress, im gonna wear it as much as I want until the wedding! None of this "wear it for one day" stuff! hahaha

The only thing left is shoes.... Ivory or Eggplant shoes? hrmm.. the next big decision on attire.

Bridemaids dress has been another beast all on its own. I have 6 wonderful bridesmaids and I of course want them to be happy. So the top considerations is the way it looks, price, discount, rewearable and color. I started off with wavering between a long or short dress. Long is an option because the wedding being in Seattle in the fall. It could rain, which is good luck, or it could be warm still. So it opened up the option for more dresses to be considered.

The only kind of long dress I liked was a sweetheart top, very fitted and slightly mermaid. This dress, was difficult to find and when I did it was close to $400. NOT HAPPENING! More than half of my BM's have to travel for the wedding and I think its unfair to have them afford a dress that expensive when they may never wear it again. So slowly, the idea of the long dress was weeded out.

Now to the short dresses. This notation of having the bridesmaid dress ugly to focus all the attention on the bride is strange to me. Why would I want my closest friends and family to be in ugly dresses and then professionally photographed? Thats just a waste of money. Well, the one thing i knew was trying to find something rewearable was close to impossible since i wanted an eggplant colored dress. I was find myself really attracted to Satin plain dresses but I really wanted a pencil skirt. Now, there is a difference between a pencil skirt, and a straight skirt. A straight skirt comes straight down. a pencil skirt gets tighter around the knees and shows off the beautiful curves of a ladies hips and waist. You could turn almost any dress into a pencil skirt, but its easier if it starts off as a straight down. Well, it turns out, satin rarely comes in eggplant. Instead it comes in Plum, and yes, there is a difference. Plum is a brigther purple than eggplant. (I know... its sad I care)

WE finally found one that was reasonable in price (around $200), came in eggplant, short with a striaght down skirt, and gets a discount!(cause of where I bought my wedding dress).  Heres a picture, its the black one not the yellow one:

I'm pretty happy with the outcome, and I think all the girls are to!