Bridesmaid dress shopping question?

[lliang_chi]

I''m about 9+ months out from my wedding date, and I''m trying to figure out how to approach the bridesmaid dresses. All my bridesmaids are in different cities. I''m sure there are other people who are in this same situation. What are you all doing for the dresses? Getting them from J. Crew or something? Is there any other online retailers like J Crew that does BM dresses? What do you do with the bridesmaid dress designers (e.g. Jenny Yoo, Bari Jay etc). Do you have the BMs go to a bridal salon and try different styles on? How does this work?

P.S. I really couldn''t care less about matching dresses or matching dye-lots. Should I just send them a color swatch and tell them to get a dress that matches it?

Thanks,
Lisa

 

[diamondgirl4382]

I am in the same situation. I was able to take two of my six bridesmaids shopping with me. I just ordered the one we picked all from my local dress shop--the bridesmaids called in with their measurements and their payment information. The shop is going to ship the dresses for $15 once they come in, and they will just go to their local seamstresses for alterations. I think most dress shops will work with you like that.

 

[musincy]

Date: 1/15/2009 3:48:31 PM
Author:lliang_chi
I''m about 9+ months out from my wedding date, and I''m trying to figure out how to approach the bridesmaid dresses. All my bridesmaids are in different cities. I''m sure there are other people who are in this same situation. What are you all doing for the dresses? Getting them from J. Crew or something? Is there any other online retailers like J Crew that does BM dresses? What do you do with the bridesmaid dress designers (e.g. Jenny Yoo, Bari Jay etc). Do you have the BMs go to a bridal salon and try different styles on? How does this work?

P.S. I really couldn''t care less about matching dresses or matching dye-lots. Should I just send them a color swatch and tell them to get a dress that matches it?

Thanks,
Lisa

I had a similar problem. We ended up getting ours from Ann Taylor. They have a "Celebrations" line, which they only carry in select Ann Taylor stores and online. That worked well for my girls because they could go to the store closest to them and choose a dress in the color I wanted. I think stores like that would make it easiest, or something online.

Also, if you like David''s Bridal dresses they have stores everywhere, so that might be easy too. You could also have the girls find a bridal salon near them that carries a specific designer''s dress that you like. I think it would hard to find a dress based on a color swatch depending on the color you want.

 

[Clairitek]

Date: 1/15/2009 4:04:09 PM
Author: musincy

Date: 1/15/2009 3:48:31 PM
Author:lliang_chi
I''m about 9+ months out from my wedding date, and I''m trying to figure out how to approach the bridesmaid dresses. All my bridesmaids are in different cities. I''m sure there are other people who are in this same situation. What are you all doing for the dresses? Getting them from J. Crew or something? Is there any other online retailers like J Crew that does BM dresses? What do you do with the bridesmaid dress designers (e.g. Jenny Yoo, Bari Jay etc). Do you have the BMs go to a bridal salon and try different styles on? How does this work?

P.S. I really couldn''t care less about matching dresses or matching dye-lots. Should I just send them a color swatch and tell them to get a dress that matches it?

Thanks,
Lisa

I had a similar problem. We ended up getting ours from Ann Taylor. They have a ''Celebrations'' line, which they only carry in select Ann Taylor stores and online. That worked well for my girls because they could go to the store closest to them and choose a dress in the color I wanted. I think stores like that would make it easiest, or something online.

Also, if you like David''s Bridal dresses they have stores everywhere, so that might be easy too. You could also have the girls find a bridal salon near them that carries a specific designer''s dress that you like. I think it would hard to find a dress based on a color swatch depending on the color you want.

I''ll echo the suggestion of Ann Taylor. They sell the dresses online too for those girls who can''t get into a store to try them on. The website says that they have a free returns by mail for their Celebrations line. They don''t have a ton of dresses on their website right now because I feel like they are between seasons. Earlier in the winter they had tons of cute options in lovely colors. Hopefully they will add more soon.

 

[teapot]

I would go to a retailer that has easy returns (if your BM''s can''t try on the dress beforehand) or a designer that your girls can try on in their area. I would also find out if you get a discount from your dress shop if you purchase the BM dresses through them. I know many provide discounts so you girls could go to a local shop to try on the dresses and then you could order them through your shop.

Of course, I think the Ann Taylor and JCrew dresses are beautiful and assuming you are not buying clearance, they are very flexible for returns, so they would be ideal options (budget willing)

 

[Sparkalicious]

I''m in the same situation!

I just went into a local bridal salon that offered the line of dresses (Jim Hjelm) that I would like my bm''s to wear. My bm''s either have to forward their info (measurements etc) to me or to the bridal salon directly and once all of their info & pymts are in, they will place the order with the designer. It seems fairly easy peasy to me, thankfully! A couple of years ago my friend did the same when I was a bm in her wedding. I just sent my measurements to the bridal salon, they placed the order and the dress was shipped to me.

My cousin, however, did it a little differently. She told us the designer (Alfred Angelo) she wanted to go with, the material, the length & the color she wanted. The rest was up to us. Each bm went to an authorized retailer of this line, locally, and ordered their dress, therefore, the dye lots and the dress styles were not the same, however, the bridal party looked fantastic and matched just fine!

 

[havernell]

I got my bridesmaids dresses from the Ann Taylor Celebrations line, so I'll echo the recommendation for AT. They seem to have some new dresses/colors every few months, so if they don't have anything you like now you can call their customer service line and ask when the new collection will come out and what colors it will feature.

Also, department stores have lots of "special occasion" dresses online that could work for bridesmaids dresses. Nordstrom had an especially wide selection, Macy's was pretty good too as I recall. Chadwicks.com also had a decent selection of potential bridesmaids dresses when I looked. All of your ladies could just order online from these places no matter where the live.

It was just a lot easier for my girls and I to have them all buy "off the rack" as they could try on a variety of sizes right in the store and take home the dress right away rather than having to guess on a dress size based on measurements and wait months for the dresses to be delivered (both of which you have to endure if you buy through a regular bridal salon). Also, it seemed to me that the quality of the dresses (fabric, construction) at Ann Taylor and Nordstroms are better than most traditional bridesmaid dress lines (perhaps because they are designed to be dresses you wear multiple times instead of only once like bridesmaids dresses?)

Good luck finding dresses that suit everyone!

 

[musey]

Date: 1/15/2009 3:48:31 PM
Author:lliang_chi

P.S. I really couldn''t care less about matching dresses or matching dye-lots. Should I just send them a color swatch and tell them to get a dress that matches it?

If you REALLY "couldn''t care less about matching dresses," then you don''t need to send them a swatch... just give them a color family and tell them to choose something OR tell them they can wear whatever they want.

 

[AmberGretchen]

My girls all wore black Sophia dresses from J Crew. They looked gorgeous, and they all loved the dresses and still wear them.

ETA: I'd worry a bit about Ann Taylor going out of business, and I've also found that their quality recently has gone way down hill...

 

[lliang_chi]

Date: 1/15/2009 9:41:11 PM
Author: musey

If you REALLY ''couldn''t care less about matching dresses,'' then you don''t need to send them a swatch... just give them a color family and tell them to choose something OR tell them they can wear whatever they want.

I really don''t care about matching dresses and dye-lots, but I figure sending them a color would be the most accurate way keep the same general color. E.g. The same color can be interpreted as: lilac, lavender, periwinkle, silvery-blue. I''m thinking of a plum color, which can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. In general to give NO guidance what-so-ever makes a any task so much harder than having some basic guidelines. Nothing needs to match perfectly but I''d just like a basic cohesiveness.

 

[musey]

Date: 1/16/2009 12:43:30 AM
Author: lliang_chi

Date: 1/15/2009 9:41:11 PM

Author: musey


If you REALLY ''couldn''t care less about matching dresses,'' then you don''t need to send them a swatch... just give them a color family and tell them to choose something OR tell them they can wear whatever they want.

I really don''t care about matching dresses and dye-lots, but I figure sending them a color would be the most accurate way keep the same general color. E.g. The same color can be interpreted as: lilac, lavender, periwinkle, silvery-blue. I''m thinking of a plum color, which can be interpreted in a variety of different ways. In general to give NO guidance what-so-ever makes a any task so much harder than having some basic guidelines. Nothing needs to match perfectly but I''d just like a basic cohesiveness.

So you do want them to match... it just doesn''t have to be exactly.

The reason I''m trying to differentiate here is that some brides literally say "our colors are brown and yellow, anything you think works with that is good," or "wear something pastel." Those are the women that really don''t care - you do. You do want it to look planned... yes?

 

[musey]

Date: 1/15/2009 3:48:31 PM
Author:lliang_chi
P.S. I really couldn't care less about matching dresses or matching dye-lots. Should I just send them a color swatch and tell them to get a dress that matches it?

This is what I thought you meant when you said you couldn't care less about matching:

 

[jerseygrl]

Hi Liang- I am in a similar situation with bridesmaids in different cities. I was considering J crew and when they had that huge sale before Xmas I jumped on it and ordered the dresses (with many extras for sizes). I highly recommend J crew because they always have 20% off, or free shipping if you spent a certain amount.

The dresses I got were the Sophia. Looked awesome on 6/8 of the girls, one is too busty for it and the other is too petite, so they are having them altered. The silk tricotine fabric is AMAZING and J crew''s customer service (they have a few people who only deal with the weddings and parties line) was phenomenal. They have a 60 day return policy on weddings/parties dresses.

If I could do it over again, I would have probably picked a color and a fabric from J crew. Their quality and customer service is unbeatable! Good luck!