Plans for Natalie and Joe’s wedding are coming along wonderfully. In fact, this week we made a big decision: bridesmaid dresses! From the beginning, Natalie knew she wanted something long. She didn’t need all three dresses to match, but she wanted at least one person to represent emerald, the anchor color in their palette. With that in mind, we collected inspiration for a few months, including these lovely examples… Photo by onelove via Style Me Pretty (dresses by Alfred Angelo) J. Crew Katch Silva via Style Me Pretty When He Found Her via Wedding Chicks J. Crew via Vogue True emerald dresses are hard to find! We requested swatches from several companies, but were totally perplexed when some didn’t come labeled with which swatch was which color — how is that helpful when you’re comparing similar shades?? Another (happy) wrench was thrown in our plans when we found out Marget (lady of honor) will be eight months pregnant at the wedding!! Because a standard gown won’t really be an option for her at that point, we tentatively decided to find one (emerald) dress for her to wear, and then a different, teal-ish dress for the other bridesmaid and me to wear. Marget is pretty settled on a Two Birds dress, since she’ll be able to wear it even when she’s not pregnant. We think the rich peacock shade from J. Crew will be a good complement, so I ordered the Nadia (love that style!) and I think Kate is going to order the Megan. Hopefully we’ll look a little something like this all together: I just knew we should wait for a Weddings sale event to bring the price down, so I patiently checked my inbox every morning. And oh happy day, the sales email arrived this week!! 25% off

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

I am lucky enough to have four beautiful ladies standing beside me on my wedding day. Two are my sisters, and two are my future sisters :) Now that I know what I’m going to wear, I’ve been turning my attention to their attire. Yep, they’re all going to be wearing the same thing, and it’s likely going to be floor-length, chiffon, and slate gray… though that’s not 100% certain yet. I’d also like their dress to have a natural waist and a sweetheart neckline. We’re thinking a little something like this: Credits: Jenny Yoo dress photo by Charlotte Jenks Lewis via Style Me Pretty; Jasmine Bridal dress photo by Virgil Bunao via Southern Weddings; lilac dress photo by A Bryan Photo With the above inspiration in mind, I set out to find a few budget-conscious possibilities that fit my desired look. I waded through an abundance of options to find a few I thought were both stylish AND reasonably priced, then turned things over to the ladies. Together, we’ve since narrowed it down to three options. Here they are: From left to right, that’s Bill Levkoff Style 193, Allure Bridal Style 1221, and Bill Levkoff Style 537! My bridesmaids live in four different states (and I live in a fifth), so sadly, a group shopping trip is not in the cards. Instead, they’ll each visit a salon near them, try on the options, and then report back to the group. Hopefully we’ll have consensus at that point, and you can be sure I’ll check back in with our final pick! In the meantime, let us know in the comments which dress is your favorite!