tying it all together: the ladies

While I am having seven people standing up with me, only five of those people are bridesmaids. We'll get to the boys another day, because one decision I spent a lot Google time on was the bridesmaids dresses.

Being in a wedding is expensive. Especially for the ladies. I really didn't feel comfortable asking my bridesmaids to spend a lot of money on dresses.

The problem? Bridesmaid dresses are pretty expensive.

The other problem? I had a vision.

When I have a vision, I'm pretty set on making it happen. I had fallen in love with these dresses on Pinterest.

the jenny yoo nabi dress

I loved the convertible chiffon. I was in love with the almost-taupe colour of the dress.  The problem is that I didn't love the price of Jenny Yoo dresses. I refused to make my bridesmaids spend anything over $200 on a dress. 

So, with that photo as inspiration I started exploring different options. I thought of giving a paint chip to them and telling my girls to have fun shopping. I love the look of mixed dresses. 

mixed beauties // Image from Green Wedding Shoes // Image by Kati Rosado Photography

The problem with mixed dresses was that I didn't want to put the pressure on my bridesmaids to find a dress and then have them end up going to a bridal salon and dropping crazy money on a dress. I also personally know of horror stories of going this route. 

So, somewhere down the Google rabbit hole I found a solution. On Etsy. 

I found a designer on Etsy that was making a range of reasonably priced bridesmaids dresses with incredible reviews. I contacted Aiguo from harsuccthing about my vision of a taupe coloured dress and ordered a swatch sample. She was really prompt in her communication and shipped me (in less than a week from China!!) a huge package of swatches. 

so many colours! // personal photo

After looking at the swatches in a few different light settings, I decided on swatch F, it was perfectly close to the taupe colour I had in mind. 

I told my ladies to pick any long dress from Aiguo's Etsy shop and asked them to order by February. The great thing is that they all picked a range of styles, so it'll be a fun mix between them all. 

Now, you might remember that turquoise is my thing. I mean, it did help me decide on my wedding dress. Long before the day I chose my wedding dress because of a turquoise bracelet, MOH L pretty straight up told me I was crazy not including turquoise in my wedding. I actually hadn't planned on it originally. She told me turquoise was me and it felt wrong that I didn't want to have it. 

The problem was that I didn't want turquoise bridesmaids dresses. They didn't feel like me. So, this is where I came up with the idea that my bridesmaids will all wear their choice of turquoise statement necklaces. I invited them to look at a board of inspiration on Etsy (if you haven't caught on yet, I'm a wee bit obsessed with Etsy), and to choose any turquoise necklace that suits them best. 

turquoise necklace inspiration // personal screen shot

The great thing about the necklaces is that I know they will wear those again, and they really tie together for me what I envisioned for the ladies. I think a true test of whether you're on the right track with your bridal party look is whether you're jealous of what they get to wear! I am so excited to see how their choices come together on our big day. 

How did you decide on bridesmaids dresses?