Wedding Details: Mismatched Bridesmaids

I’m a fan of aqua and I’m absolutely loving all the aqua posts here on EAD! When I was planning my wedding, I knew I wanted to use it for my bridesmaids dresses, but there were just so many variations on the color depending where I went and it was hard to pick which one was the right one for me. Here are a bunch of bridesmaids who are dressed in shades of aqua ranging from pale and icy to bright and fun just in case you’re running into similar problems!

Your bridesmaids are the girls that keep you sane.  Wait. It’s not just keeping you sane, but keeping you happy and keeping you focused on you.  They help you remember that your wedding is about you and your love and your life – not ultimately about the welcome baskets or the cake plates or the weather or any people that happen to drive you crazy… They are your saviors.

Last Sunday it really hit me. Not so much the “wow, we’re getting married” part…it was more a realization of how many people are going to be a part of the day. Sometimes I still get so wrapped up in the planning that I forget how cool this whole wedding thing is.

Now that I’ve chosen my bridesmaids (finally!), this weekend I went with one of them to start looking for dresses. I wanted to go the retail route rather than the bridal store route…thought I’d find dresses that we liked better for the price. Not to mention I can’t wait 6 months for dresses to come in.

In contemplating bridesmaid dresses, I’d always had my heart at least half set on champagne dresses. I toyed with the idea of going with a stunning shade of blue, but ultimately loved the sweet sophistication of champagne dresses. My mother initially protested, fearful that it would in someway “detract” from a bride in white/ivory, but swaying her to my side was a rather simple process. After all, it’s pretty hard to deny how chic and classy champagne satin is without even trying. Being a July wedding in Upstate NY, the weather is bound to be insanely hot and with NY summers comes a relentless humidity that is outright miserable at times. Needless to say, I never even considered a full length dress and knew immediately that my fabulous ladies would be fashioned in a knee-length frock of some kind. And with those thoughts in mind, we went shopping.

In our second color week, we are featuring blue.  As I said before, we are concentrating on blue tones only, not gorgeous blue-greens such as aqua and turquoise, or blue-reds such as royal blue or periwinkle.  I’m sure there will be more on those other amazing colors in a future color week!

We cannot get enough of the brand-new SIBO Designs 2013 Lookbook, captured beautifully by Caroline Tran! Wilmarose of Lovely Jubilee Event Design & Styling created a book-lover’s paradise in the woods as a backdrop for the Sarah Seven and Ivy & Aster gowns from Lovely Bridal and gorgeous bridal accessories from SIBO Designs. The model’s porcelain skin and softly curled hair by Theresa Huang Makeup & Hair Design are perfectly understated so the ethereal accessories and gowns take center stage. So stunning!

How about a dose of sunshine and a splash of lemonade at your wedding? These pretty hues are sure to brighten the day, no matter what the weather is. I’m loving the cheery yet subdued yellows of these bridesmaids. Not too bright, they’ve got just the right amount of lemon to make your wedding cool and sweet!

Does anyone ever really wear a bridesmaid dress again? {Crickets chirp}

I know, I know…cart, horse, whichever isn’t supposed to come first, whatever. I just couldn’t help but post about the dresses that I’ve been looking at so far as contenders. Really, it’s more the look of these dresses and the colors that stick out to me.

Alright…we had the beautiful plum v-neck dresses from Nordstrom that didn’t make the cut… and then came the super cute purple and violet dresses from Amanda Archer that won my heart at first sight.

Mr. had a hard time with the fact that I did NOT want a diamond. He thought I was only trying to be nice and “settling” for an aquamarine since a diamond was too expensive. Not at all. I completely trusted his judgment on what he wanted to spend. Even if I could have any ring in the world, regardless of price, I would *still* choose an aqua. Aside from the fact that I love the color, I love having something a little bit different, and it means a lot to me that my aunt has an aqua engagement ring as well. Finally I was able to convince him and I’m so happy with the final product!

I realize I have yet to tell the story of my own dress-finding adventure…but you’ll have to wait a little bit longer because right now I’m ALL about making my ladies look fabulous!

I thought I would share with you what the bridesmaids and groomsmen will be wearing on the big day.  It took us a while to figure it all out, but I think it’s going to look great on the big day!

Is anyone who has bridesmaids letting them wear whatever they want? And what I mean by whatever they want, I don’t mean in a color scheme, I mean, they show up in any dress/suit/skirt they have and just stand up there with you? That was my initial thought for my two sisters, who will be standing up there with me at the ceremony. I’m the youngest, and it just felt contrary to my youngest sibling status to dictate what they would wear.

I’m going to tell it like it is: nothing made me feel less in the mood to get married than shopping for The Dress. Some girls get goosebumps just stepping into a bridal salon. Some girls hear chords from above when they try on The One. I was not one of those girls. Dress-shopping was the opposite of a fairy-tale for me. More like a morality tale featuring evil, judgmental salespeople trying their best to make me feel too large (“curvy” and “broad,” they said, shaking their heads and sighing) and unsophisticated to wear their gowns. I finally flew my sister down from North Carolina to help me make the final decision, desperately in need for a second opinion and someone who actually knew me to be in the room. I already had a favorite by the time she arrived, and when I stepped out into it – after a morning of trying on dozens of other gowns for her – she called it like she saw it: “This is the only dress that’s made you grin all day.”

I know most of you have already discovered the amazingness that is Etsy. But aside from a jewelry tree I bought for my mother almost two years ago, I hadn’t made any purchases … that is until I started to plan my wedding.

Some of you may remember way back at the beginning of the blog, when I decided not to choose dresses for my three bridesmaids. I made a bridesmaid lookbook and was so effing proud of myself for… something. Well, pride goeth before a bridal fail.

Pretty Maids All in a Row:

Since the [intlink id=”4452″ type=”post”]bridesmaid lookbook[/intlink], two of the three bridesmaids have found their dresses.  I was honestly really afraid this would go badly.  Maybe they wouldn’t like the color options, or they’d insist on matching dresses, or my style experts (the bridesmaids) would say this was a terrible idea.  Unfounded worries, all of them.