Purple and Pearls

Bridesmaid dress hunt is over!!

A friend of a friend at work recently got married and her colour scheme was purple.  She’s willing to GIVE me her bridesmaids dress for FREE!
Also – get this!  She had 3 adult bridesmaids, so I’ll only need to find a dress for Sophie.

I can’t tell you how pleased I am, this is going to save me so much time and money!  She’s going to bring the dresses in next week for me to have a look at but has sent me a picture of them.  What do you think?  I know the girls are going to LOVE them!

Saturday morning the plan was to, pick up Mom, pick up Natalie, pick up Suzie and be at the bridal shop for 10.45.  Easy…

Problem 1.  I struggled to get out of bed so didn’t arrive to pick up Mom until 10:18.  After throwing a jam sandwich (breakfast) into my mouth we raced off to pick up Natalie.

Problem 2.
Mom “What time did you tell Natalie we would be picking her up?“
Me “Erm I didn’t! I thought you were telling Natalie what time we’d be picking her up…”

Cue lots of frantic phone calls to poor Natalie who was still in bed!  Change of plan, grab Suzie – who was wearing the “Bridesmaid” rhinestone t-shirt I had made her when I first asked if she’d be my bridesmaid (Isn’t she super!) – then shoot round to Natalie who had only had 15 minutes to wake up and get ready!  (Sorry Natalie, next time I promise I’ll give you more notice!  Thanks for being such a star!)

We arrived at Sallie Bee Brides a little late but it didn’t really matter.  The shop was heaving.

Problem 3.  Despite the Mark Lesley website saying that this shop stocked the dress I had originally wanted to see, they didn’t have it in.  A little disappointing, but they did have something very similar.
The owner of the shop Silvia was lovely.  She advised us on colours and styles and after grabbing a few dresses off the racks we were shown to the quieter changing rooms upstairs.

The first dress Natalie tried on was by True and she instantly fell in love with it.  An a-line taffeta dress which ruches at the side and has bead details.  Suzie later tried it on and I have to say it’s a strong contender.
Another dress I really liked was by Mark Lesley, it was a simple taffeta dress with a diamond brooch detail

We’ve booked in to a local bridal shop tomorrow to see their bridesmaid dress collection.

I’ll have Suzie and Natalie with me to offer their opinions and maybe try on a few frocks.

Unfortunately Hayley is working so won’t be able to join us. (I’m sure she’s secretly relieved… standing in a dressing room in your smalls, whilst a lady you’ve never met before thrusts a giant mass of net and dress over your head isn’t really anyone’s idea of fun!)

I’m really liking this dress at the moment from Mark Lesley

style 1096

Hopefully they’ll do it in a variety of purple colours for me to choose from!

I can’t believe how drained I feel after this weekend.  I suppose it’s the first time I’ve been able to relax for a few days and now it’s hit me.  I still feel really emotional.  Has had filmed parts of the wedding day for Suzie and Rob and watching that back made me cry.  I was concentrating so hard on not crying and being strong and supportive to Suzie that I think it’s all coming out now.

When the evening guests arrived on Saturday, my parents asked me if I had been on the Red Bull because I was so hyper!  The truth is the last couple of hours I had been so intense that I hadn’t been able to relax.  I didn’t even realise this until yesterday when all my emotions tumbled out.

I don’t think I really appreciated the work of a bridesmaid before Saturday.  Of course I knew my role was to help and support the bride as much as possible in the run up and on the day itself (Suzie was a kind bride and took her dress off to go to the bathroom so we avoided the dress above the head to pee situation!) but emotionally being a bridesmaid is tough!

If I feel like this, I wonder how Suzie must be feeling?  I’m sure she is still in her blissful newly-wed bubble getting ready to go on honeymoon with her new husband.  One of our married friends told us that when she relaxed on her honeymoon she cried for 3 days purely because all of the stress and emotions were finally being allowed out!  I don’t think I realised how much emotional pressure a wedding can put on people!

Being a bridesmaid before my own wedding has definitely made me look at my own bridesmaids in a different light.  Of course I know they will do their very bests to be there for me, and help me organise the wedding but now I know how emotionally involved they will be.

I’ve had so much fun being Suzie’s bridesmaid, planning, organising and scheming! I just hope she will enjoying being my bridesmaid as much as I have enjoyed being hers.

I’ve mentioned before that my bridesmaids are all very different.  I don’t want to dress or style them in a way that makes them feel uncomfortable.  I know deep down they would all wear a peach taffeta fru-fru dress for me, but why would I put them through that?!

I’ve done little mood boards and “fact sheets” to describe each of their personalities and what sort of bridesmaid I think they’ll be.

Name: Suzie/Moo/Squish
Age: 25
Favourite Colours: Black, Pink
Star Sign: Cancer
Favourite Bands/Music: Incubus, Rage Against The Machine, Less Than Jake, Green Day
Favourite TV:  Peep Show, Big train, Sex and the City, American Dad, Black Books, Young Ones, Bottom, Alan Partridge, Miami / La Ink,
Five words to describe Suzie: Loony, Funny, Loyal, Smiley, Quirky

I need to start asking a few dressmakers a few questions!

I have no idea how long it takes to make a dress or what’s involved.  Mom is off work today so she has kindly offered to speak to a few local dressmakers and ask them when we should start making appointments.

I have a list of questions I want to ask them when I do meet with them:

• How long will it take to make 4 bridesmaids dress (3 adults, 1 Child) in a simple long strapless design.
• Ideally when should we make our first appointment to see you.
• Do all bridesmaids need to attend the first appointment.
• Do you have any examples of prices?
• Do you supply material or do we source this ourselves. (Mention the different shades of purple in the same material)
• What sort of materials can you work in/suggest?
• How many fittings will the bridesmaids need to attend.
• Do you have examples of your work.
• What deposit is required.
• Are there additional charges for alterations and are fittings included in the cost?


Do I need to ask anything else?

I’m worried because one of my bridesmaids Suzie will be other wise engaged with her own wedding and honeymoon for the next few months, so I need to make sure we leave plenty of time for designing, measuring, making and fitting!


Also, I have only had one recommendation for a dressmaker and the other 2 I found just by searching.  Obviously if you go with a shop bought dress you have the added security that you know (and hope) it will look ok, I don’t want to end up with fraying seams or wonky hem lines!  Mine field!

As my last few posts would suggest I’ve been thinking a lot about what the Bridesmaids will look like.  I’m not keen on the matchy samey look and have been looking into ways to get round this.

I keep seeing photos of amazing shoes.