Oh, what to do??!!
My wedding is August 20, 2011. All five of my "regular" bridesmaids are on board to buy their dresses in about two weeks. The store will wait until all their orders are placed before ordering the dresses from the manufacturer, but I've asked them to order within a few days of each other, just to make sure the dress style isn't discontinued (which might cause problems if some had already ordered and some had not).
However, I am having problems with my junior bridesmaid and also with our "groomswoman" (a female friend of my fiance who will stand on his side).
The biggest problem is with the Jr. BM (Hallie). She is my FI's sister, and according to my FMIL, she is growing like a weed, both upward and outward (she's 8 years old). FMIL does not want to order Hallie's dress yet because she is afraid that even if she orders it a size too big, Hallie will have outgrown it by August, and FMIL will have wasted money. And if she orders it 2 sizes too big, it gets tricky because that puts her out of the junior bridesmaid sizes and into the regular bridesmaid sizes. However, I'm worried that if she does not order with the other bridesmaids, her dress will be off-color, or the style may be discontinued completely by the time she goes to order. I have had my heart set on these dresses since I got engaged in July, and plus, I know Hallie will be disappointed if she ends up not looking like the "big girls."
The other problem is with the "groomswoman." She is unemployed and can't afford her dress in two weeks (even thought I've given her lots of notice that she will be needing to order this). She seems to have no ambition to find a job, either. I don't need to worry about the dye lot for her dress, because it will be a different color, but it will be the same style, and again, I don't want the style to get discontinued.
I was advised to order them now because they take up to 4 months to come in, so if there is a problem (like if the store orders the wrong color) and it takes 4 more months to get the correct version, that only leaves a month or two for alterations before the wedding.
I have thought about saying that if Hallie's dress doesn't fit her once we get closer to the wedding, then I will personally pay for her to get a new one, but at least we'll have a correct one in case it does fit. I don't know what to do about the groomswoman... I'm sure ALL my bridesmaids would love for me to buy their dresses or loan them some money, but I'm on a tight budget too! Now I'm worried that my wedding will be a clash of different dresses in different shades (which is fine for some people, but not for me). What do I do??!!