We have dresses...

...for the 'maids!

And I'm so glad my part of the process is essentially over. I'll explain what I mean later, but for now I'm going to start at the beginning.

So a couple weeks ago I came to the realization that I'd have four of my six 'maids in town and that it would be a prime opportunity to try some dresses on and get a feel for what would actually work. All the ladies agreed and Dani arranged for us to have an appointment at our local Alfred Angelo salon to start this dress process.

When we arrived at the salon, it was pretty empty. Which should have been great if it werent for our Alfred Angelo helper Belini* who really made the process a little more arduous than it needed to be. Yes, I understand that they are supposed to assist you and help you, but between the 7 of us (1 bride, 4 'maids, 2 moms) we have almost 13 degrees - we are perfectly capable of selecting our own dresses. That didnt happen and Belini took half-assed direction and started retrieving gowns.

Now, for some visuals:

We started out by just choosing some dresses we were interested in. I hadn't fully decided on floor length or tea length dresses yet so I was open to what they liked and kind of going with what looked good.

Per our request, these were some of the first dresses that Bellini pulled:

Ohmigosh, Melissa and Naima really loved this dress. I made a mental note and had them try on some other stuff. But we kept coming back to this dress and everytime I said "put on the one you like" they were all grins and kept throwing that thing in record time - lol.

When Dani arrived (yes, she had a legit excuse) we immediately put her in this one:

...and she didn't want to take it off. Prior to our visit, she had done some research on the site and she and Kristin both ear marked this as one of their favorites. Also duly noted.

At one point, Bellini brought us this two-tone number:

Thankfully, prior to yesterday, I had not wasted any mental faculties on figuring out the color mechanics of a two-tone 'maid dress. I didn't hate it (the 'maids did - look at their faces), but I definitely wasn't wild about it. I cant help but feel like the girls look like bopsy twins. I like a matching dress as much as the next person, but definitely not this dress. Brides, take note: if you want them to wear the same dress, see if you can physically see the dress on them before you order it. It may alter how you feel.

Please believe me when I say the ladies tried on many other dresses. Probably too many dresses. Some of them looked like prom rejects (to me) and others made me question whether bridal designers were helping to perpetuate that bride's put their 'maids in fugly dresses by continuing to make them. Yes, that fugly.

So what did we go with? Well, my maid and matron of honor will be wearing this floor length gown

and my other 'maids will be in this:


As you can see, despite being two different materials, both dresses have a modified sweetheart neckline, an empire waist, and very forgiving gathers across the front. The best part(s)? We all ♥ the dresses.

As I mentioned earlier, my part of the process is essentially over. Honestly, I've been really laizes faire about the whole 'maids dress thing - really flexy about the dress, shoes, accessories, etc. Once we decided on those dresses, we (mostly the 'maids) decided that they really should wear the same shoe. Melissa volunteered to spearhead the shoe process and I'm hoping she will spearhead accessories as well. I still want Kristin to manage the dress aquisition process. Someone will need to make sure everyone is informed about the proceedure for ordering the dresses and their associated timeframe. I have ideas about when they should be ordered, but no accompanying desire to manage that myself.

Thank God for bridesmaids.

So I know you're wondering how I feel at this point. Honestly? When I left the store I was very tired. Not physically, but psychologically. We kept running into impasses where I would as the 'maids what they thought and their standard response was "its not what we think its what you think." I know they were trying to help, but I am fully aware of my bride status. I don't need to be reminded that I have the last say. I live my everyday life that way...why would my wedding be any different? When I ask people what they think, I really am interested in their thoughts. Think about it, there are times (many) that I don't ask because I really don't care. Those times that I do ask, I do and I'd appreciate an honest response. Eventually I got more creative with the questions and got more appropriate feedback. My bad that it was important to me that they like their dresses. My bad.

It was a very productive outing. I was exhausted afterward and was a little sad that it was not as fun as I anticipated. It was probably more frustrating than anything.

I'm really glad its over.
♥

* No, her name was not actually Bellini, but that was Melissa's interpretaion of her actual name.