I’m going to take a short break from my South Carolina trip recaps to bring you my May goals! I didn’t post any April goals this year, though I did manage to make progress on several 101 in 1001 projects last month, so that’s something :)

Once Wed

So: May goals. I’ll be traveling for a full week this month, so I’m keeping things simple!

— Design and print address labels for the Em for Marvelous shop
— Research local Parks & Rec dance classes to hopefully kick off no. 86!
— Read my thesis again :)
— Buy a straw tumbler. Thank you all again for the recommendations!

You can see all of my 101 in 1001 goals right here!

After stopping at the Old Sheldon Church Ruins, it was on to Beaufort, proper! Our first agenda item was to check into our accommodations, the City Loft Hotel. CLH is a boutique hotel in Beaufort’s historic district. John found it on Trip Advisor, and I’m so glad he did!

The hotel is really neat on the outside – it’s an old-school motel-type place that’s been completely remodeled, but they kept intact some of the more charming features. I loved the sun umbrellas, louvered shutters, and breezy curtains!

The inside furnishings, too, are modern, both in style and features. We loved the slick tub, awesome shower, and iPod lamp!

One of our favorite features of the City Loft Hotel was the cruiser bikes provided for guest use, free of charge! We happily took them for a spin, making our way through the beautiful historic neighborhoods surrounding the hotel and downtown area.

I would highly recommend a trip to Beaufort, SC, and if you do go, the City Loft Hotel, too! Up next: where we ate!

All photos by moi

John and I were lucky enough to travel south for a mini vacation a few weeks back, and we saw and experienced so many neat things that I’d love to tell you about! Expect several posts over the next few days from our South Carolina adventure :)

Our first major stop was at the Old Sheldon Church Ruins, which John first heard about on Trip Advisor. The Ruins are a historic site just outside of Beaufort, SC (that’s Byew-furt, for my Northern readers, distinct from Beafort (Bow-furt), NC, where John and I got engaged). There is no admission fee. The original church on the site was built between 1745 and 1753, then burned down by the British in 1779 during the Revolutionary War. It was rebuilt in 1826, then burned again in 1865, this time by General Sherman in the Civil War. The ruins remain on the site, surrounded by beautiful live oaks.

They actually hold events, including church services, and I think weddings, on the property. How crazy would it be to get married here??

All photos by moi

Here it is, the post you’ve all (maybe?) been waiting for: my recap of our own personal bridesmaid dress drama. It’s over, it’s finished: we have placed the order, and there’s no going back now. Deep breaths.

A brief aside: I have heard a lot of brides complain about shopping for bridesmaid dresses. And honestly? I didn’t really get it. It’s not that hard, little old me thought. You just pick a dress that’s in the right price range, and place the order. Done and done.

WELL.

Perhaps it was that easy for someone out there, but it certainly wasn’t for me. Here are just a few of the things that made bridesmaid dress shopping a challenge for me and my crew:

1. It’s very difficult to compare pricing, as prices are set individually by salons – so, a Bill Levkoff gown that costs $220 at one salon might cost $245 at another. For someone like me, who was desperate to get the best price, this made research a never ending nightmare.

2. It’s hard to gather feedback when you and your bridesmaids live in five different cities. If we all wanted to look at a dress in person, we had to make five different appointments, wait until everyone had fit a trip into their schedule, and then discuss over email. That is a long process.

3. It’s a strange and uncomfortable position to be in, dictating what someone will wear and how much they’ll spend. As nice as my bridesmaids are, I still cringed every time I emailed them a new set of dresses I wanted them to see in person, or asked whether a certain price would be palatable. I feel like I was more distraught over spending their money and time than I would have been over my own.

4. It’s rare that four gals will like the same dress from four different options. And then how do you choose??

5. Even once you’ve chosen a dress, there’s anxiety about ordering the correct size. At least there was for us. Not one of my bridesmaid’s measurements aligned perfectly with the sizing chart, and so we felt a bit like we were taking a stab in the dark when we chose sizes for each.

So yes, it was a long and difficult process, stretching from approximately October to April. But we’re done! Here’s how it ended:

Back in October, I told you that we would likely be making a decision on bridesmaid dresses in November. Ha! Not even close. Then in January, I told you we’d narrowed it down to three options. The gals tried on as many of the three as they could, and we decided that Bill Levkoff 537 was the group pick. I decided to order a swatch of our color – pewter – just to make sure I liked it. It was almost an afterthought, but I’m glad I did, because once I saw it in person, I immediately saw that it was much more of a lavender gray than a true charcoal gray. I think this photo, which is of 537, demonstrates it well:

Lauren Brooks via Style Me Pretty

Unfortunately, we were looking for something more along the lines of this:

Stephen DeVries

So, in despair (yes, despair), I headed back to the drawing board. My first stop was at Dessy, because I knew they were a large chain and it would probably be easy for my ladies to find a store near them should they choose to try the new crop on. Yes, this time I didn’t even expect them to visit the choices in person, though I gave them the option of doing so. Due to schedules, two ended up trying on the four new potentials – 2846, 2834, 2859, and After Six 6639 — and two did not. Of course, the feedback was across the board, although no one liked 2859 much, 6639 looked awful on one gal, and everyone generally liked 2846 and 2834. In the end, I made an executive decision, and we went with 2834 in charcoal gray, a color I saw in person and liked.

Oh yes, and I forgot to mention that somewhere in there I went on a short-lived but crazy tangent (egged on by my younger sister) and briefly considered the J. Crew Arabelle in dusty shale. I went back to the straight and narrow gray path pretty quickly, but photos like these still make my heart skip a beat:

yazyjo via Style Me Pretty

After that, we rounded up everyone’s measurements, and did our best to fit them into the Dessy sizing chart (a process that involved much consultation and many back-and-forth emails). The final price ended up being $187 per dress from RK Bridal, which is a bit more than I wanted to spend, but not bad considering it’s a floor-length gown. Mostly, I was just happy to be finished, as I’m sure my gals were, too. The delivery is scheduled for July 14, which should give us plenty of time for any necessary alterations.

There’s no way alterations could be as painful as this, right? Right?!

:)