Bridesmaid Dress Drama

resa1026

My wedding is in 9 weeks and we have yet to even try on bridesmaid dresses! First it was that I couldn't get everyone together at the same time, but now I've had one rogue bridesmaid go on her own and she now has her sister (another BM) and her mother (my sister) pressuring me to go with the dress she found on her own. The style is similar to what I wanted for them, so that's not the issue. The issues for me are A) I have not seen bodies in dresses to even decide if it fits with what I want for my wedding or not and her mother is pushing me to have these dresses made in cotton broadcloth. We have a retro/rockabilly glam theme for our wedding and the style of the dress is perfect, I will admit that; however, I'm just not sure that I want them made out of cotton broadcloth and if we go with a satin similar to my own gown, it drives the price of the dresses from around $100 to more like $200. I'm sure there is a suitable fabric somewhere in the middle ground, but I feel like I'm being bullied into this cotton broadcloth just because it is cheap. I'm paying for 2 of these dresses myself and I don't expect any of these ladies to spend a ton on a dress for my wedding. I opted for black, a-line dresses so that they would suit every body type we have in our wedding party and so that they could re-use the dress if they so choose. Is it going to make my wedding look less formal if their dresses are cotton? Does it make me a bridezilla if I put my foot down and say no to the broadcloth?

Viczaesar

resa1026 said:

My wedding is in 9 weeks and we have yet to even try on bridesmaid dresses! First it was that I couldn't get everyone together at the same time, but now I've had one rogue bridesmaid go on her own and she now has her sister (another BM) and her mother (my sister) pressuring me to go with the dress she found on her own. The style is similar to what I wanted for them, so that's not the issue. The issues for me are A) I have not seen bodies in dresses to even decide if it fits with what I want for my wedding or not and her mother is pushing me to have these dresses made in cotton broadcloth. We have a retro/rockabilly glam theme for our wedding and the style of the dress is perfect, I will admit that; however, I'm just not sure that I want them made out of cotton broadcloth and if we go with a satin similar to my own gown, it drives the price of the dresses from around $100 to more like $200. I'm sure there is a suitable fabric somewhere in the middle ground, but I feel like I'm being bullied into this cotton broadcloth just because it is cheap. I'm paying for 2 of these dresses myself and I don't expect any of these ladies to spend a ton on a dress for my wedding. I opted for black, a-line dresses so that they would suit every body type we have in our wedding party and so that they could re-use the dress if they so choose. Is it going to make my wedding look less formal if their dresses are cotton? Does it make me a bridezilla if I put my foot down and say no to the broadcloth?

With only 9 weeks to go don't have dresses made.  At this point the easiest and probably best thing to do is to give your ladies a color, fabric, and length and let them each find something that they like and that suits them.

resa1026

We have an appointment coming up at a bridal shop where we could have the dresses in our hands within 2 weeks if we find what we want there, so right now, I'm pushing them to just settle down until we go to that appointment. The dressmaker she spoke to needs 4-5 weeks to make the 5 dresses we need if that's the route we take. I'm not ruling out what she wants, I just would like to consider the options we have and make the best decision for MYwedding.  She can do the same thing when it is HER wedding.

chibiyui

Black A lines are easy to find in department stores, I also second letting them buy their own off the rack.

Rockabilly isn't a crazy formal style, so I wouldn't worry about cotton BM dresses bringing the formality down.