Wed Recap: Let them wear what they want!

This is an image of the dress I originally wanted my bridesmaids to wear (and in this color, too):

Isn't the back adorable?  It's a Dessy (After Six) dress (from their web site).

When I took my six bridesmaids with me to a shop to try it on, I was so excited to see them all fall in love with it.  Perfect for our spring April wedding and to match our turquoise/aqua color.  Unfortunately, they all HATED it!  I mean, not just, "Uh, we're not thrilled about it."  But rather, it is totally unflattering...the bust is horrible...I hate the color...please don't make us wear this, hated it!

I was so bummed.  But I wasn't going to let the attire issue come between me and my girlfriends and relatives.  Then they started going on about how they didn't like the blue colored dress and wanted to go with red instead (the other color of our wedding).  They said they would more likely wear red again and it would be flattering on all skin tones.  I was really bummed out about this because the blue was what I wanted to go with my color scheme!  The red was only the accent color.  So I asked them to show me some options of what they liked.  They came up with two choices:

Photo by Dessy

(This would be in the same color as above)

I was sort of okay with these so I told them they could each pick which of the 2 they liked to wear.  But one of my cousins wasn't there at the time so she went back with me and my daughter to try the 2 different dresses on and guess what?  She hated them both!  And then my daughter tells me that she also didn't like them (even though she was there when all the other girls picked them out).  

Ugh, even the sales lady was telling me they weren't good quality dresses and that pleating rarely looks good on all body types.  I was again so bummed out.  But my cousin and daughter picked out two more dresses that they said they both loved. 

These dresses I loved as well and the color (berry) was PERFECT to match the cranberry color of our wedding.  So I brought all the girls back to the store again and had them try them on.  They all agreed they did love the dress.  But since my daughter was younger and not developed, we realized it wasn't as flattering on her.  But the sales lady showed us a dress by the same designer in the same fabric and very similar style for my daughter.  She loved it and so did I.  So I opted to let her wear a different dress.  But then she said she wanted the dress in the blue color (known as Bahama Breeze).  I was actually excited because I had wanted *ALL* of the girls to wear the blue.  So I decided my daughter got to stand out in a different color. 

Then my cousin realized that her very large endowed chest was not going to fit into this dress.  Again, the sales lady rescued us showing us another dress by the same designer in the same fabric and very similar style that held my cousin's bossom in perfectly!  :)  And much more flattering on her as well.

So we ended up with a bridal party that looked like this: 

Photo by Robert Mullins

Photo By Yan Freedline

Photo By Yan Freedline

I later found out that one of my Bridesmaids actually wanted the dress in the blue color as well.  I had offered for all the girls to wear whatever color they wanted to when we placed the order but they all just went with red.  When I asked her why she didn't go for the blue, she said she didn't want to cause ruffles and be the only one different besides my daughter.  I told her I would have loved for her to be in the blue and I wish she would have spoken up!

And here is my little one in her dress from our post wedding shoot :)

Photo by Rachel Garcia

And how cool is this one of the tiger looking at her?

Photo by Rachel Garcia

I had great BM's...they weren't divas and didn't have to do too much but were important ladies in my life.  I thought they all looked beautiful on the wedding day - some even better than me! ;)  My stylist did great with their hair and makeup too though 2 of them did their own hair/makeup.  Can you guess which ones?

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  If you are one of those brides who wants to let your bridal party be a part of the attire decision making process, then be sure to talk to each of your bridesmaids AWAY from the rest of the bridal party and ask for their desires and feedback regarding their choices and preferences.  They may be intimidated by other girls to truly be honest about decisions you want their input on.  And don't we all want our friends and family feeling beautiful, confident and comfortable while they are celebrating our special day with us?

Wed Recap: It takes an army (tons of pics & video!)

I totally realized that I hadn't scheduled a post about my team of wonderful ladies who helped beautify and dress me on the day of the wedding.  I can't believe I forgot this normal recap because even though I was irritated by all the photos our photographer didn't get, the 'getting ready' shots are truly some of the most beautiful and my favorite shots of the day.  But before you check out the photos, here's a couple minutes of several pieced together videos of my friends and family getting me dressed :)

This is Natalie Buketov.  Natalie did my hair and makeup as well as hair and makeup for four of my bridemaids and my mom.  She showed up at 7:30 in the morning and left just after our first look when we were about to start pictures which was probably at about 2 pm.  My girls looked GORGEOUS!

Yes, I have false eyelashes on here for sure

Getting ready some more.  I was the second to last one to get styled. 

Mom was the last one while my girls were getting me into my gown, shoes, jewelry, etc.

I don't know why, but I love this shot:

And so it begins.  It took an army of mostly my sister and my cousin A who handled the dress part and then my cousin E, bestie L and friend D handled putting on my garter, shoes and jewelry.

Took a while to get that corset laced up but it sure was pretty.

Bridesmaids L & D help me get my bracelet and necklace on.  BM L gave me the earrings I wore that day as my gift when I served as the Maid of Honor in her wedding about 9 years earlier.

Ok, funny story.  I had my designer Jeanette make my bracelet out of a clip on earring I bought at a vintage swap meet.  So you know what a clip on earring looks like on the back?  She added a ring that slipped over the little 'clip' part.  But there was kind of this big space between the two sides of the pearls where the earring was attached.  So Mr Fix It had a great idea to use fishing line to tie together the two rings next to the pearls to pull them under the earring.  He's so resourceful, that man!

This is what my cousin A calls her 'happy clap.'  I'd be happy too if I was almost done trying to get me in this monstrous dress with it's ridculous corset.

Cousin E holds up my gown while friend D places my garter on. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

Once we were all dressed, they asked me to spin around a couple times in my gown.  But I was in the middle of a not so big room with all 6 of my BM's around me.  Wasn't easy but I still love this shot with my reflection in the mirror behind me. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

The girls are tending to my hair and placing my veil in just before our ceremony is about to begin.

And once we were all finished, these are the results we got of some bride shots while walking around the grounds at the venue.  I love this one because of the colors and the sun and shade coming through the trellis.

This one is kind of cool because it shows the cafe in the background.  That deck to the right is where the cocktail hour was held and I am standing down in the back of the ceremony area.

Um, hello bright green trees! 

Photo by Yan Freedline

This next pic was one of those ones I was telling you about that I was pissed about from our photog.  I remember telling him I wanted a shot like this on this blue bench and we posed for it but he didn't deliver it to me at all.  Then my videographer sent me the photos that his wife took and I got this one! 

Thank goodness because I absolutely love it. 

Photo by Yan Freedline

As a matter of fact, here's 2 more favorites I got only from our videographer's wife, Yan

Photo by Yan Freedline

Photo by Yan Freedline

TODAY'S WEDDING TIP:  I've said it before, but I'll say it again.  Be sure to have your bridesmaid or mom or whoever is going to be assisting you with getting into your dress and jewelry practice at least once before the wedding.  It's best for them to go with you to your fittings to practice there but at the very least to give you an idea of how long it's going to take you to get fully dressed so you can plan your wedding day schedule accordingly and not be running late!

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos by Robert Mullins

Raw video footage courtesy of Video Keepsakes of Beverly Hills