XP: BM Dress Dilemma-Color over fit?-Long

SharEtoBe

Hi ladies! I have never posted on this board but I have a bm dress dilemma and thought this was the place to come for a little advice.

So I'm really torn. My bridesmaids and I went dress shopping yesterday. After trying on what seemed like a million dresses (but was probably about 20) the ladies found a dress they liked. The five bridesmaids that were there (I have 6 total) all tried on this particular dress and liked it very much. It looked nice on all of them (and they are all different body types) and they loved that it has pockets, lol.  

My color scheme is gray and ivory with some accents of color in the flowers. (I'm going for a vintage feel.)  The problem? The dress doesn't come in gray. It only comes in about 10 colors and the only color I thought might work is black. I'm not sold on black though. FIrst, I was thinking gray because it's a neutral that all the girls could wear and it's a little softer than black. Second, (and this is probably ridiculous) my cousin, who is also my closest friend and Matron of Honor, is getting married in May and her dresses are black. People joke that we do everything together, which is pretty true, including getting married in the same year. I want my wedding to be a little different from hers which is why I was leaning towards gray.

Finally, the dresses are pretty expensive. The bridesmaids said they were fine with the cost but being the people pleaser that I am, I hate to ask them to spend so much money for a dress they may only wear once. Although, if the dress is black, they may have other opportunities to wear the dress again. 

Thoughts?Suggestions? Advice? Tell me I'm being silly and that it's ok for my ladies to wear black five months after my cousin's wedding? Help!!!

Here's a picture of the dress:

Thanks! Sorry this is so long.

cwaggoner07

I had the same problem with asking them to spend a lot of money on dresses, and also, my colors are vintage-neutral, light gray, ivory, and little bits of yellow. First off, any floor-length bridesmaid dress is almost 0% chance of wearing them again. These are the dresses we ended up going with (They came out to 147 after using an online promo code)
http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/product.do?cid=69884&vid=1&pid=429814
I really feel like they can wear these again, too, since they aren't marketed as BM dresses.

Another tip I have is, I took all of my bridesmaids dress shopping and it was pretty much a disaster wrangling everyone together. Everyone was super nice and helpful, but it was easier for me to do it on my own.
They will NEVER look at these pictures again, but you will have to look at them the rest of your life, so make SURE you are happy with them.

Grits8812

I like what cwaggoner said at the bottom.  They don't have to hang up your wedding photos on their wall like you will want to.  So make sure that the dresses you pick are something that you are happy with that is in their budget.  While the dress should make them feel comfortable, keep in mind that it is your wedding.  If you want grey dresses, get grey dresses.

Also, like cwaggoner also said, a floor length dress may never be worn again.  Even in black.  If it is they will probably get it altered unless they go to very formal events on a regular basis.

Good luck on your dresses!

SharEtoBe

Thanks so much for the advice ladies. I realize that I shouldn't settle and after some research by one of my awesome bridesmaids we found a dress that is pretty similar, comes in grey and is half the price! Woohoo! Thanks again!