Bridesmaid Dresses Part 2

As you might remember from this post, the bridesmaid dress situation was still being considered and I decided that it was best to wait until all of the girls were in the same place to choose the dresses that they would wear. This would give us a chance to see what dresses they liked, what dresses would look good together and next to my dress, and what colors were the best choices. The color decision (which you can read about here) was between a variety of yellows and a dark gray. I had some reservations about asking all of my blonde-y bridesmaids to dress in yellow. I was positive that it was not a color that frequented their wardrobe, but it was still worth trying out.

After looking through color swatches at David's Bridal, I found two shades of yellow (Canary and Sunbeam) and one dark gray color (Pewter):

Canary, Pewter, and Sunbeam

As you can see from the picture above, Canary is a much softer yellow while the Sunbeam color is a more vibrant shade. I decided to check out what the yellow colors looked like on a whole dress rather than just a small 2x3 color swatch.

Sunbeam

Canary

Pewter

The Sunbeam color was just a little bit bright for me. In person it definitely gets your attention, but I'm not sure it does in the best way. I could only imagine the look that Amanda would give me if I told her that I wanted her to wear this bright yellow dress! Although the color might make it's appearance in our decorations, there was no question that Sunbeam was out of the running when it came to the dresses. Instead, we would be looking for dresses in either Canary or Pewter.

So, two weeks ago when the girls and I went shopping for my wedding dress, we also chose their bridesmaid dresses. Since all of my bridesmaids were in the same place (something that might be difficult to accomplish later without some travel planning) it was the perfect time to take care of their dresses, too. While I was in the dressing room working my way into each dresss (the dress with the corset back took a while to tie up) Sarah, Amy, and Amanda walked through the bridesmaid dress section and picked some dresses to try on.

After I chose my dress the girls started trying on some dresses of their own. Before I changed back into my regular clothes, we thought that it would be a good idea to check the possible colors (Canary and Pewter) together to see how it looked. So the girl's all tried on a yellow dress and stood with me for a photo. *There will be no pictures of my dress until the big day so for now I'm a pixelated blob.*

Don't mistake those smiles for happiness....we were laughing at this image. The girls looked like baby chicks next to me. The all yellow dresses had an Easter-y look that just wasn't the look we were going for. It was clear that Pewter  was the way to go. The look of relief on Amanda's face was comical. It made me wish (just a little) that I had strung her along for a little while longer and made her believe that I loved the yellow color. :) Also, seeing all the girls next to each other in the same dress really confirmed for me that I wanted them to each wear a different dress. They each have their own personality and character and seeing them all in the same dress just didn't seem right. So with those two decisions made, the girls continued on with the dress search. In the end, these were the dresses they chose:

Sarah's Dress

Amanda's Dress

Amy's Dress

We were excited to have found the dresses however we had neglected to refer to the David's Bridal color chart during our search. Though David's Bridal offers 42 different shades, not all of their dresses are available in every shade. Some of the dresses are only available in 20 shades. Unfortunately, Sarah's dress was not available in Pewter.

This seemed like a bummer situation. It was such a pretty dress and it looked so great with the other dresses, so it would have been a shame if Sarah couldn't wear it. We looked through the racks of dresses to find another one for her to wear. While we did find some that were nice, they weren't the same fabric as the dresses that Amanda and Amy had chosen and consequently they didn't look as nice together. Double checking the dress color chart, we saw that the original dress that Sarah chose was available in Canary. Sarah said that she had no problem with wearing a yellow dress. Having one yellow dress next to two gray dresses eliminated that Easter-y look that we saw when the girls were all wearing a yellow dress.

So in the end we decided that Sarah would wear a dress in Canary while Amanda and Amy would be dressed in Pewter. Not only would both of the wedding colors be represented now but Sarah would also stand out a little which is fitting as she is Maid of Honor. It was a successful shopping day! I'm so glad that my girls were able to find dresses that they liked and I can't wait to have them by my side on the big day. :)

A Special Moment With My Mom

Today I put on a wedding dress for the first time. Although my appointment for dress shopping with the moms and my girls isn't for another week, I shared the special moment of trying on the very first dress with my mom. Being the only daughter, it meant something special for my mom to have a moment alone with me while trying on dresses. Originally I had only thought to make an appointment with all of the girls but later I realized that I was depriving my mother (and myself) of this once in a lifetime moment. She told me that she was excited to go look at dresses with everyone but that having a day with just me and her meant so much.

So today we had a mother daughter day that began with dress shopping at Luftenburg's downtown and ended with a bit of a shopping spree at Fashion Fair Mall. I'm really glad that I had this day with my mother. I get so busy with school and work; we were overdue for a fun day. We had a great time looking at dresses. I found a few that I really liked, but none that really "wow-ed" me. (I still have my eye on a few that I want to try on with the girls next week.) It was not only nice to have this experience with my mom, but also to dip my toe in the dress shopping pond and get a feel for what I like and don't like. I hope next Friday to find THE dress.

After trying on dresses, my mom and I enjoyed a heart to heart over some lunch before heading to the mall to look for outfits for next weekend. I found a cute top and a necklace to wear to the engagement dinner next Friday, and could't pass up buying two pairs of shoes! My mom was nice enough to buy me a third pair of heels when we were in Forever 21. She told me that they were too cute to pass up. Needless to say, I will have some happy feet this summer.....well at least some cute feet (they might get angry at me for the heels :P)

The newest additions to my shoe closet.

These are the super cute shoes from Forever 21 that my mom refused to let me pass up. Thanks mom!

A pair of tan heels that will go so well with a few of my summer dresses.

I love, love, love, the ruffles on the front of these shoes!

Aren't they so sassy?!

My mother spoiled me a bit today. After getting me the really cute pair of heels from Forever 21, we stopped into Victoria's Secret. I thought that we were there to pick up a free panty (I had a coupon) but instead my mom was on a mission all her own. A while back I had fallen in love with a bridal robe I spotted while shopping in Victoria's Secret. It was a white silk robe that had the word "Bride" on the back in rhinestones. I thought that it would be cute to wear while getting my hair and makeup done and add a sweet touch to the "getting ready" pictures. So on our mother/daughter day outting my mom surprised me by buying me the robe. It was the very last one on the rack so as my mother said "It was meant to be."

I just love it!

The very first thing to hang on my "Mrs. Chapman" hanger.

I am so thankful to my mom, not just for the robe and the shoes, but for the day. I rarely have a day off of work and school and I couldn't think of a better way to spend it than having a special day with my mom. Thanks mom! I love you!