Bridesmaid Dress Shopping!

I can't help but start by saying that I have the most amazing group of girls in my bridal party. I only have one Maid of Honor and two Bridesmaids, so it's a small group (although we have four flower girls!), and I love it. Having only a couple of girls is perfect for me, as it feels a bit more manageable and it allows me to treat them to a few more things that I wouldn't be able to afford with a large group of girls. These kick-ass women are totally fun, organized, and easy-going. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls to go through this wedding planning process with! One of my bridesmaids is in town from New Zealand this week, so I took this opportunity to go bridesmaids dress shopping with her. Yay! Since she can't exactly shop at the same stores as the rest of us, seeing as she spends her time in either New Zealand or Canada, I wanted to make sure she got to try on the J. Crew dresses she liked while she was here. I invited my Bay Area bridesmaid along, booked an appointment at J. Crew in San Francisco, which has a little wedding salon, and off we went!

Once we arrived at J. Crew, they sneaked us back into a tiny room with two dressing rooms and a mirror. Basically the way it works for bridesmaids there is much like how it works for brides. They have one of every bridesmaids dress there, and showcase all of the available colors, but they're all in a size 8. So my girls had to try on a dress in the style they liked and a different dress in the color they liked, and have them all clipped to fit them.

I am very happy to report that my out-of-town bridesmaid found her dress and she looks absolutely stunning in it! It's the Miranda dress in cotton cady that I showed you a few weeks ago. I don't think anyone could do this dress better justice than this girl.

My other bridesmaid tried on a few different dresses, but we all agreed that the J. Crew spiced wine color was MADE for her. She was a little apprehensive of it before our visit, but once she tried it on, it was obvious this was the color she needed to wear. Beyond that, the Anita dress in cotton cady was also made for her! She didn't get to try on this dress in the spiced wine, so we'll have to order it and see for ourselves, but I'm pretty sure these two girls are all set, which is exciting!

Now I get to spend a day in San Diego with my Maid of Honor and go shopping with her! I'm thinking this cypress color would look fabulous on her. All three women have brown hair and a similar skin tone.

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When I held up all three colors together, our fabulous attendant, Lizzie, at J. Crew said she hadn't seen these three colors I picked paired together before, but we all agreed they looked great and were perfect for Fall!

I am having way too much fun shopping with these girls. After our visit to J. Crew, we had a to-die-for dinner and drinks at Millennium. (Small tip: If you haven't ever been to Millennium in San Francisco, you must go. Uhhhmazing!!)

Did you go dress shopping with your girls? Or did you let them pick out their own dresses on their own time?

What to Wear? {Bridesmaids Dresses}

Since I found my wedding dress and can no longer stare at millions of photos of long white dresses online anymore, I've shifted my virtual window shopping eyes to my bridesmaids' dresses! I have major girl crushes on my maid of honor and two bridesmaid, and it's important to me that they all like their dresses. They each have amazing, unique personalities, and I want their dresses to represent their personalities... while still fitting my aesthetic, of course. Problem is, every time I look at a photo of bridesmaids standing beside their bride, I think they all look amazing. I'm having such a hard time narrowing it down! But I think I've at least narrowed it down to two options at this point. I think. But now I need your advice! Seriously, I'm stuck.

The first option is having them all pick out a navy dress that they like. Navy looks so beautiful with some brightly colored flowers. Or white flowers. And they look great next to these light gray suits below, like Kyle's groomsmen will likely be wearing.

I love that the girls below each have different, brightly colored shoes on!

So lovely with some nice, colorful flowers.

This one is extra special, since it's my venue :)

one, two, three, four

Depending on the day of the week, I'm also in love with the idea of doing different, colorful dresses for each of them too! Colorful dresses just exude so much personality, which is exactly what I'm going for. Don't these just make you smile?

one, two, three

If I do the different colors, I'm thinking of picking these three warm Fall colors (not necessarily these exact dresses) and pairing them with some nude shoes and white and/or yellow flowers:

one, two, three

So, what do you think? Please help me decide! All navy? Varied colors? What do you think about these three colors?