J Crew bridesmaids?

[Krissie]

My wedding''s 13 months away, but I was browsing the J Crew weddings collection yesterday and found dresses in the EXACT color I''d been hoping for -- Liberty Blue! I will try to link a photo of the ensemble to this post.

I phoned their customer service line (very helpful, BTW) and they informed me they will only have 2 shipments of dresses in that color - the last shipment coming in 6 weeks. Obviously this puts me in a bit of a bind - I would be asking my lovely friends to buy a dress 13 months ahead of time, and who knows how to account for any sizing discrepancies in the intervening period! J Crew told me that I should have the girls measured in the B&M store, then have the dress order phoned in from there. They advise to order "up" in size, as they would be much easier to take in than let out.

Aside from being in love with the color, there are other factors that make me want to go ahead with these dresses. I have 6 gorgeous attendants scattered around the U.S. -- the convenience factor for them of going in to a J Crew (they all have local stores nearby) would be great for them. All 6 of them profess to love the dress and the color, and all have said they would be willing to purchase now if need be.

The downsides, of course, are the sizing issues. Also, I''m here in London (where there are no J Crew stores) and wouldn''t be able to see the dresses in person -- although they are sending me a fabric sample. The fact I''d be asking my friends to put up the money so soon could be mitigated if I offered to pay for them now and be reimbursed later, I suppose. I''d be willing to do that.

Have any of you ever been in this type of situation? Also, I''d love to hear if you have any experiences with the J Crew bridesmaid collection.

Finally, some details about the wedding: it will be a 2:30 p.m. wedding in a cathedral, with dinner reception to follow in a historic "grand old" hotel (very ornate). The wedding is in mid-October -- it should be temperatures in the low 60''s during the day. I don''t want the traditional "fall" colors, but I just want to make sure these dresses would be appropriate for the wedding and reception we''ve got planned.

Phew - enough from me, now! Thanks in advance!

 

[blondie23]

I am actually have the same problem. I am also getting my BM dresses from JCrew. I love the idea that I can get a beautiful classic dress that the girls can wear again instead of an ugly BM dress from a bridal salon/store that will forever hang in the closest (i have 4 that hang in my closet right now). I think I''m also going to order large and then get them altered if necessary. Hope that helps!

 

[glitterysparkle]

Hey Krissie,
I was in a wedding last year. Originally the dresses were J. Crew...it was a short time period before the wedding(AKA no time for alterations) so my sister and I(who were both in the wedding) ordered 2 dresses in 2 different sizes each to ensure we''d have something that fit by the time the wedding came around. We figured we each could return the other dress and keep the one that fit.

Well, the bride changed her mind AGAIN right before the wedding and decided to forgo the J Crew dresses all togther. J Crew is FABULOUS in terms of customer service. The accepted all 4 dresses for a full refund, even after the 30 day return period.And when ordering the dresses, if you go to the store and they don''t have them in stock, they are more than happy to have them shipped to the store for you so you can pick them up.

It makes the brides and the bridesmaids lives a lot easier!!

HTH!

 

[cara]

I think a year out is too far for a BM dress. There is just no certainty that 6 women will all stay the same size for a year, and asking them all to buy one size too big means they will need to spend a fair bit of money on alterations one way or another. One of the great reasons to go with jcrew is to actually get a dress off the rack in your size and not have to worry about altering it a full size down (as often happens with standard BM dresses).

Its a little different with a wedding gown, where there is only one person involved in staying the same size and the dress is probably going to be altered anyway.

I'm having my BMs wear jcrew dresses (I chose color and fabric, they chose style) and it seems to be working OK. But I had them order dresses in March/April for an August wedding and even that was probably too early for off the rack dresses.

If you love love the dress, you can go for it but if I were you I might buy 1-2 extra dresses on the side as backup fabric in case one of them needs significant alterations. But more likely, the poor girl who puts on a size will just squeeze into her dress on the day of and not tell you.

One of my cousins did that - showed up to the wedding with nothing else appropriate to wear and a dress at least one size too small for her current figure. Needed two people to zip her in, and she couldn't breathe the whole ceremony. It wasn't pretty.

ETA: But I do think the dresses are gorgeous, and appropriate for your wedding especially if you give them a nice warm wrap to go with their dresses. I wouldn't front the money unless you don't want it back - the "expenses" will only go up as they have to buy plane tickets and hotels so they might as well get the dress expense out of the way.

 

[Krissie]

Thank you all for your responses!!

Cara, I think what you said makes sense regarding ordering an extra dress or two for extra fabric should the girls need it.

I''m going to wait until I get the fabric swatch and then perhaps take it to some bridal shops here to see whether there''s anything remotely similar. I''m just so in love with the color!

 

[dtnyc]

I had my bm''s wear J. Crew dresses- I picked 6 dresses (all same color and length) and let them choose which one they wanted to wear. I loved them and even ordered one for myself.
I had 6 girls in my party and 4 of them ordered at least 2 dresses (different styles/sizes) and then chose which one they wanted and returned the unwanted dresses. It worked out well, but my wedding was the end of May and we ordered the dresses in January- so it wasn''t 13 months out.

The dresses actually were already on sale when I picked them out so there were limited sizes available in the different styles, but it all worked out fine. I loved that the dresses are silk and not polyester like the dresses you order in bridal shops (yes, even Vera Wang BM''s are polyester!)

Could you ask J. Crew if they could give you a preview of what the colors will be for their dress collection in the spring?
Perhaps they will be offering another shade of blue you would like.
Also perhaps you could watch and wait for the dresses to go on sale (probably the end of fall) and warn your BM''s that you will pull the trigger on the dresses when the prices drop and that then they will have to act quickly. Really not that big of a deal since you normally have to pay for your BM dress when the bridal shop tells you anyway.


good luck!

 

[Krissie]

Date: 7/27/2007 8:17:13 AM
Author: blondie23
I am actually have the same problem. I am also getting my BM dresses from JCrew. I love the idea that I can get a beautiful classic dress that the girls can wear again instead of an ugly BM dress from a bridal salon/store that will forever hang in the closest (i have 4 that hang in my closet right now). I think I''m also going to order large and then get them altered if necessary. Hope that helps!

Blondie, which style/color are you getting??

 

[blondie23]

I''m still deciding between these two...but the color will be black. i love the chiffon on the first on but i also like the idea that i could add a cute sash to the second one for some color...either way, the dress could be worn again and again instead of a dress made of taffeta or polyester.

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod73893301&catId=cat210138

http://www.jcrew.com/catalog/product.jhtml?id=prod86685301&catId=cat210138