Dressing the Ladies

As soon as we settled on our colors, I knew I wanted navy blue bridesmaid dresses.  I quickly fell in love with this dress by Adrianna Papell -

Image via Nordstrom

I became obsessed within seconds.  I am partial to dresses with one shoulder and I absolutely loved the lace.  This had to be the dress!!  I emailed it to my bridesmaids and within hours my dream died.  The dress sold out in some sizes, including smaller ones that I knew we would need.  Argh!!  (Of course it now seems to be available in more sizes.)

In my quest to recreate this dress, I stumbled upon the Watters Camellia dress -

Image via perfect bridesmaid dresses

 I could create it in all navy on the Watters website and it looked beautiful.

Watters Camellia / Image via Watters

No store in Tallahassee carried it but fortunately I had a bridesmaid dress shopping trip already planned in Jacksonville with my bridesmaid (and fellow bride!) BOC.

Bridesmaid Runner met us at the store and she and BOC tried on dresses I liked.  While we were there I narrowed it down to four dresses.  I did take pictures of the gilrs in each dress but I will refrain from posting them on the internet, as none fit them correctly.  The Camellia was a front runner but I liked three other similar styles as well -


Watters Posey / Image via Watters

Watters Heather / Image via bestbridalprices.com

Watters Gardenia / Image via Watters

I was fine with my bridesmaids wearing mismatching dresses as long as they were very similar, which these were.  I decided to poll the group and see where people were leaning and there was a very (very!) clear winner - the Camellia!  8 out of 10 preferred this dress and the other two liked it, too - decision made!  I ordered through the store where I bought my wedding dress, Vocelles, and my bridesmaids received 10% off. 

I like these dresses so much that I am thinking about buying one in ivory to wear to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner.  I will probably go with Posey since it seems the most classic.  I love Heather but it is a bit more expensive than the others.

I somehow got 10 women to order their dresses on time and they should be here in a few months.  I can't wait to see everyone in them!  Was anyone else planning on allowing their bridesmaids to choose their own dresses, only to discover they all liked the same one?  Am I crazy for thinking/hoping my girls wll really want to wear these again?