Thursday, May 14, 2009

OMG... You're Wearing That???

by Tawny

So we’ve discussed food in great (and hilarious) detail this week in the Lair. And yesterday we moved (thankfully for my waistband) to flowers, in all their glory and significance. It’s almost like a theme. This got me thinking. What do you get when you mix food, flowers and romance? Add a bunch of great friends and fabulous guests. And maybe, just maybe, a wily prankster with a habit of going home with good looking women.

Hmmm... Could it be Wedding Season???

Awww, you knew that was coming, right? C’mon, flowers, food, ice cream (okay okay, so it should be cake, but go with me, I’m building a theme here). Beautiful May weather and a whole side bar of happy ever afters. Yup, we’re gonna talk weddings.
Or, actually, one particular facet of weddings.

The Bridesmaid Dress. *cue spooky music*

You know the ones. The super expensive, never-to-be-worn-again dresses. Some are lovely. Some are generic. Some are even flattering.

And then there are the other ones. The huge poof of pink fluff that made you look like Little Bo Peep. Or the scary striped thing that turns the prettiest woman into a tequila sunrise. Gold lame. Anything with a parasol. A dress that proves cats have claws and aren’t afraid to use them. Or, my personal favorite, one that looks like strawberry shortcake gone wild.

The kind of dress that makes you wonder why the bride asked you to be in her wedding if she secretly hates you. (Of course, that might just be me being paranoid *g*)

Why was I lamenting bridesmaids dresses again? Oh yeah, the theme. This theme was actually inspired by my recent releases, COMING ON STRONG and GOING DOWN HARD. In them, Belle is constantly teasing Sierra about what color bridesmaid dress she’ll have to wear. She even uses the dress as a lovely blackmail tool to get Sierra to agree to whatever she wants... like working with a bodyguard when Sierra’s reluctant. So this got me thinking (okay, I admit, something Belle said in an interview on Jennifer’s Random Musings blog the other day got me thinking) about bridesmaid experiences.

Have you had a bridesmaid dress from hell? Or even one of those expensive, not-really-ugly but can’t ever wear again (not even to RWA’s gala) dresses? What about a lovely, perfect dress that you would wear anywhere? Hey, I’m easy – I just want to hear bridesmaids dress stories *g*

And as a bride, did you use your dress power over your maids? (aka: wielding the Bridezilla muscle) What did your bridesmaid’s dresses look like? I’ll confess mine in the comments.

~*~*~*~*~~*~
And don't forget... the Romance Bandits donated a fabulous basket of goodies to the Brenda Novak Auction!! Be sure to check it out.

205 comments:

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Suzanne Ferrell said...

wow, I guess the GR is gonna hang in Texas today!

Anna Campbell said...

Suzanne, how quick are you? That's two days in a row, I've missed that pesky rooster! Clearly it's Texas rather than Oz for our peripatetic birdie. Congratulations!

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Lovely post, Tawny!

For a while in my life I felt like Katherine Heigel in 27 dresses. I was in lots of cousins, friends and friends of family weddings. My closet looked like a pastel rainbow!

I took pity on my friends and simply had my sister as my only bridesmaid. She wore a lovely shade of peachy orange, that given her blonde coloring, really looked good on her.

Suzanne Ferrell said...

Thank you Anna! I was just checking before going to bed and wha-la!

Tawny said...

Dum Da Dum... and the Rooster is talking dresses at Suz's place today!!! SWEEEEEET.

LOL Suz about the 27 dresses feeling. I still need to see that, and I did look it up for this post since I knew it'd fit in so well *g*

So I have to ask, your sister's dress sounds lovely -and beautiful for her. But... who got to pick it? You? Or her?

*g*

Jane said...

Congrats on the GR, Suzanne.

I've only been a bridesmaid once and the dress was not ugly. The wedding was set only a week in advance so we were able to get away with buying our dresses at Macy's. Our bridesmaid dresses were actually prom dresses off the rack. Luckily the bride didn't object to us wearing cute little black dresses, it was a Vegas wedding anyway.

Tawny said...

Oooh, a cute little black dress. I'm all for that, Jane!! Did you ever wear it again after the wedding?

Tawny said...

So I have to admit...I picked my bridesmaids dresses and in reflection... they were butt ugly. I had a garden wedding, so they were simple floral casual dresses, with hats even. Oh, the guilt I still feel.

Christine Wells said...

Oh, wow. Some of those dresses just mesmerizingly awful, aren't they?

Great blog, Tawny! The last time I was a bridesmaid, I was also 20 weeks pregnant. The dressmaker was terrible and made the dress too low-cut--you can imagine what that did for the fuller figured Madame, especially with some of the poses the photographer made us assume!

Also, when the "finished" dresses arrived (late, as in, the day before the wedding) 2 out of 3 didn't fit and instead of our lovely evening of dinner and pampering before the big event the bridal party spent the eve of the wedding at the dressmakers getting on the spot alterations done. The bride, who had a different dressmaker, looked absolutely stunning, though, which is the main thing. We had a good laugh about it afterwards. I'm never wearing that dress again:)

Woohoo, Suz got the rooster! Why are the banditas winning him all of a sudden??

Tawny said...

Ack, Madame, talk about an unfortunate bridesmaid dress story!!! The bride (and all of you) must have been so stressed!!

Anna Sugden said...

I love 27 Dresses, Tawny - you should see it. Such a fun film!

I've been lucky in the bridesmaid dress stakes - I always had beautiful dresses that I could wear again (if I hadn't put on so much weight). And in my colour - red *g*.

My first wedding, the BM dresses were cocktail dresses in either red or green (they chose). For my second wedding, they just wore their own dresses - which strangely enough co-ordinated!

But, OMG I've seen some real shockers!

Interestingly, the older the people were getting married, the more tasteful the dresses. Wonder if that's a deciding factor?!

Anna Sugden said...

Congrats Suz - is the chook going to hang out with your Foxes?!

Tawny said...

Anna said: Interestingly, the older the people were getting married, the more tasteful the dresses. Wonder if that's a deciding factor?!
...
That's interesting, Anna. Maybe we just get better taste as we get older? (well, not me, but other people might).

Red or green dresses? Was it a holiday wedding? It sounds lovely :-)

Anna Sugden said...

No, it was a September wedding. I just happened to like those colours *g*. (and hate all the pastel colours *g*)

I didn't get married in white or ivory either. Neither really suited my colouring, so my dresses were oyster - which is a very pale pink. And neither were 'meringues', but calf-length formal-type dresses.

Helen said...

Congrats Suz have fun with him

Great post Tawny I loved that bit about the bridesmaid dress in the book.

Well I have never been a bridesmaid.

When I got married I had 3 bridesmaids and we all went to a dressmaker together and picked out the syle that everyone was happy with I had an April wedding and the dreses were a beautiful pale apple green although I gotta say they were never worn again.

Have Fun
Helen

Laurie G said...

I've worn yellow twice, mint green once, mauve once and the absolute worst a floral handmade creation that reminded me of ugly curtains in the early 60's!!
My bridesmaids wore a pretty shade of coral, halter style which could hsve been shortened and worn again BUT I'm not sure if any one ever did.( July 1977)

Laurie G said...

One boyfriend in HS was such a jerk he didn't even have the guts/courtesy to tell me to my face that he wanted to date someone else. He just stopped calling and avoided me. Lucky escape! This was after dating for over a year!!
Once a jerk always a jerk!

Listen to how he talks about himself and others. I don't like conceited people or rude people.

Tawny said...

Anna, since I've seen your shoes, I'm positive your dress was absolutely stunning to go with them ;-) The BM dresses sound so pretty, too.

Tawny said...

Never a BM, Helen?! (*whispers* lucky you, although if my SIL reads this, I think being a BM is the most wonderful experience on earth!!)

Apple green is so pretty - at my brothers wedding we wore a soft shade of sage/pale green. Really simple, lovely dress. I haven't worn it again, either LOL.

BTW I'm personally quite partial to April weddings *g*

Tawny said...

Laurie, wow!! So far, you're winning the ugliest BM dress race!!! A handmade curtain dress... definitely not ala Scarlett O'Hara, huh? But your coral halter BM dress sounds fab -classy and cute.

Ugh on the ex.

Caren Crane said...

Suz, you sneak! I'll bet you were up all night - as usual - but at home instead of work. Enjoy the dubious company o' the chook. *g*

Fortunately, I've only been a bridesmaid required to wear a specific dress once. We're all about cheap weddings in my family. *g*

The only one I had was for my younger sister's wedding. The fabric was gorgeous, sort of a cadette blue faux brocade. It was a wrap style, which flattered the more hip-ulous among us (me). They were also made to order, so they should have been a delight, right? Uh...no.

The place that made them based the size on ONE measurement - the hips. Those of you who know me know that my hips are w-i-d-e and not in proportion to any other part of my body. I ended up with a size 20 dress. Yep, a 20, despite the fact that I've never worn anything like a plus size in my life.

It was so enormous (everywhere except the hips) that I had to pay almost what I paid for the dress to have it altered. My other sisters had to get theirs altered as well, but not to the same extent. The only person it fit perfectly? The apple-bodied maid of honor!

It was an...interesting experience. It also made me glad I didn't torment my friends and family in such a way.

One of my sisters did have a black and gold lame dress for her friend's wedding, but that's a whole 'nother story. *g*

Caren Crane said...

Christine, your story is the sort of horror to which I would have been subjected had my friends, family and I not been so cheap. Actually, I had a number of friends who didn't marry at all or waited until well into their 30s. Luckily, no bridesmaid gigs, since I already had 3 kids when I was 29 and no figure for the dresses. Didn't stop my little sister, but...

Caren Crane said...

Helen, I think the apple green must have been lovely. I love to wear that color!

pjpuppymom said...

Cute blog, Tawny! I've been a bridesmaid twice and neither dress was awful. First time, I was the only attendant and since I was off at college the bride let me pick out my dress. Second time was in the 70's and the dress was a lovely, floaty pale blue. I've worn it many times as part of my Halloween fairy godmother costume. It was perfect!

I didn't have any bridesmaids so no disgruntled former bad dress wearers out there because of me! :)

Kirsten said...

The only wedding I was a bridesmaid in was my sister's, and she has exquisite taste -- she got married in winter, and the bridesmaids wore forest green silk velvet dresses, very simple (she had a dressmaker make them all) princess seams and sweetheart neckline. I didn't mind the dress at all, but except for maybe Christmas Eve service at church, there is really no other occasion they would be right for!! :-) VBG.

My bridesmaids were instructed to buy a particular dress off the rack at Ann Taylor. I thought it was a lovely dress -- soft foresty colors, sleeveless, chiffon overskirt -- and they could return it if they didn't like it.

They all returned it, except one, LOL. I guess those soft foresty colors didn't flatter my pasty white-skinned, blonde sister and equally Nordic looking friends. My best friend, who is Asian, looked GORGEOUS in it, however! She reports having wore the dress on my occasions since! :-)

The best part of my wedding, though, was that I got a sleeveless, low back dress, and my bridesmaid dresses were similarly made for summer, and it SNOWED at the wedding. In June. First time in 200 years it had snowed in June. So we all put fleece jackets over our beautiful dresses anyway. :-)

Susan Sey said...

Hey, Suz, with the GR! TX style bbq for the bird today!

And Tawny, love the topic! I've been incredibly fortunate in regards to bridesmaid dresses. I have three sisters (which means standing up in three weddings) & only one really unflattering dress still hanging in my closet.

It was a November wedding, so the dresses were deep red velvet--beautiful color, really. Like a good red wine. And it was a beautiful dress--curvy sweet-heart neckline, mermaid cut (body hugger until the knees, then a flair) with a mini-train. The problem was my body. My body was COMPLETELY unsuited to such a dress.

This dress was made for a girl with some lush, round curves, a girl built like Kate Winslet or Scarlett Johanssen, or Catherine Zeta Jones. My two other sisters are. They are built exactly like that.

I am not.

When I went to try it on, I cried. The seamstress informed me that this dress needed a body to go in it--a real one, not the substandard set up I was walking around in. I was dismissed to go buy a well-padded bra. I returned, demoralized, to try again. The seamstress again clucked derisively because as any flat-chested girl knows, throwing some padding on an otherwise flat chest doesn't create curves. It only creates theses weird-looking bumps on the bony expanse of your rib cage. Plus every time I bent over, the neckline gaped open to the point that I could see my own underpants. And the secret about the padded bra was totally out.

She rolled her eyes & sold me a roll of double-sided sticky tape that glued the neckline to my bony ribs. Then she turned her attention to my other sisters, who both looked awesome.

The shoes were devices of torture, too.

The second time that sister got married, she ran away to a beach in the virgin island with nobody in tow but her husband. Thank god.

Susan Sey said...

Oh, Caren, I hear you on the hipulousness. I don't have wide hips necessarily, but I do have a curvy, enthusiastic bum that doesn't quite match the rest of the set up. It's a trial.

But I'll tell you what, my bum looked AWESOME in that red velvet bridesmaid dress I mentioned earlier. If only I could have turned my back & just had my posterior view in all the family pictures...

But since that marriage ended in divorce a few years later (& my sister went on to lose a hundred or so pound & marry somebody else who suited her way better,) my sister burned most of those wedding photos anyway. But my sisters still like to tell the double-sided-sticky-tape-go-buy-yourself-some-boobs story.

Man, that seamstress was mean.

Christie Kelley said...

Great post, Tawny!

With three sisters and a few friends, I have had my fun with bridesmaids gowns. The best or rather the worst, was my older sister's wedding. Rose colored (okay, let's get real, it was pink!) dresses with a matching hat. First, I'm really not a pink person. Second, hats do not belong on my head ever.

And btw, I loved the movie 27 Dresses.

Louisa Cornell said...

YEEHAW, GR ! Have fun in Texas! You locked him in the pantry, La Campbell! He's running from you.


The dress I wore in my cousin, Deborah,'s wedding was lime green and we had to wear huge floppy hats with it. I looked like a lime sherbet mushroom. Of course, as the marriage ended in a really ugly divorce after my cousin came home and found her hubby in bed with another man, well, the dress was NOT the worst part about that wedding. I tried to tell her when she let HIM pick out the bridesmaids dresses there was something up with that!

My bridesmaids' dresses were maid to order burgundy silk with a jacket made of a ribbon laced organza fabric. You can see them on my Facebook page in my wedding album. Photos of my darling Roger are in there as well. My bridesmaids liked the dresses and many of them wore them again. A few cut them off to make cocktail dresses.

Now my last appearance in a cousin's wedding was in the most God-awful butt ugly floral print dress I have ever seen. Not a single bridesmaid looked good in it. It was a chiffon tater sack with big blue and purple flowers on it. I knew it was bad when I got dressed for the wedding and husband laughed so hard he cried.

Becke Davis said...

I was 19 when I got married and we nearly eloped to avoid all the fuss. My mom managed the prom shop at Marshall Field's and when she saw a pretty white prom dress in my size, she got permission to hold it for me. It ended up getting marked down a couple times, until it was only $20. With my mom's discount: $12. (I've been married nearly 40 years, so I got my money's worth.)

My two sisters and best friend were my bridesmaids. My younger sister was only 12, and her dress had to be tailored to fit her childish frame. Her dress cost more than mine! The most expensive thing I wore was the flowery headband thingy attached to my veil (or vice versa). The darn thing was heavy and required a couple hundred bobby pins to anchor it in place. Drove me NUTS!

Becke Davis said...

I was really annoyed when my best friend, who got married two months before me (and divorced a few years later) insisted all seven of her bridesmaids get their dresses from the most expensive bridal shop in Chicago. That stupid dress, which I never wore again, cost as much as the dresses for my whole wedding party put together. If it hadn't been my best friend, I would have said 'forget it'.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Good morning all! Have to say I'm giggling over this one. Sorry, but it's sympathetic giggling you know.

I've been a horrified bridesmaid several times. Anyone remember early 80's quianna knit? Ugh. Clingy, awful stuff. Imagine it in Kelly green with fake-o white lace up to a choking neckline. Tight, tight sleeves. Clingy skirt with an-impossible-to-keep-in hem.

FUG-leeeeeee! Add the ginormous bouffant hairdo the bride decreed, along with a hooker-in-waiting feathered THING to put in our ugly hairstyle.

Nightmare. Absolute nightmare. took me days to get the spray and knots out of my hair from the icky hairdo. Disgusting dress, that one.

Then there was the pepto pink, all over lace dress with the 24" wide butt bow. Now, I'm hachet-arsed - Susan got my curves, darn it! hahah. So this dress had a v-back, and that bow would show off a curvy bum beautifully. Problem? no bum to show off. And the pink shoes...dyed to match...urg.

When I got married the first time, custom dresses, but my maid of honor and one of my bridesmaids gained like 40 lbs between the design and the wedding. NOT flattering, other than the color which was a gorgeous periwinkle.

Second time around? My bridesmaids, maid of honor and Ralph's "best woman" all picked their own style fit from a catalog in the same general color family. Worked out all around, and I had discount coupons so no one worried if they didn't get to/want to wear it again!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Louisa said: found her hubby in bed with another man, well, the dress was NOT the worst part about that wedding. I tried to tell her when she let HIM pick out the bridesmaids dresses there was something up with that!

Oh, my Lord! No, but you're right, that should have SO been a clue!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Louisa said: a chiffon tater sack with big blue and purple flowers on it. I knew it was bad when I got dressed for the wedding and husband laughed so hard he cried.


Oh. Lordy. SNORK!!!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

BTW, Tawny, I'm VERY partial to April weddings...just had my 10th anniversary on April 24th. Best. Thing. I. Evah. DID. was to marry ths man! :>

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Becke, that dress cost about 30 cents per year and dropping...heehee.

Congrats on the longevity of your marriage! Whooohoo! Celebrate THAT, no matter what. :>

Terri Osburn said...

I seem to be the odd one out, I've never been a bridesmaid. My sister is the stereotypical spinster, one brother is gay, and the other is yet too young to be married. Before I was married pretty much all my girlfriends were single and determined to stay that way. So, no BM dress horror stories for me. Dang it.

My BM dresses were very pretty. Simple deep burgundy and flattering on all. However, I did make them carry lace fans instead of bouguets. And I do apologize for that. :)

I do admit, I used the 27 Dresses line of "you can cut it off and wear it again" but I'm pretty sure no one ever wore theirs again.

Donna MacMeans said...

Suz - I shouldn't be surprised that you're up at 3:30 AM - but I am. Way to snook the chook.

Tawny - What fun! You must go see 27 Dresses - especially the ending.

I've been in a few weddings, but I can only remember my wedding and one other. I know I was a bridesmaid in my brother's wedding but I can't remember the fancy-schmanzy dress. I only wore it that once and it didn't stay in my closet. The wedding I remember was my best friend's wedding. We all made our dresses (Fortunately, we'd all had home ec). They were a tiered lavendar floral affair - very 70s "love child - hippy" styling. I think I may have worn it to some concerts - but lavendar was not my color.

For my November wedding I had my sister and my dh's sister as bridemaids, and my BFF as maid of honor. They made long skirts out of a pretty tapestry fabric, and wore shiny satin blouses. My mother made velvet cumberbunds and hair bows that served as hats. Very economical, very practical - and based on the photos - rather pretty. Not sure, that's practical anymore though. Heck - not sure where one would find a fabric store these days, much less a sewing machine.

Pissenlit said...

27 dresses was a fun movie!

Luckly, I've only ever been a bridesmaid once(my best friend's not married...yet) for a friend. I did pretty well in the BM dress department. We all had to wear this satin and chiffon Alfred Angelo dress...
http://www.victoriasbridal.net/6137a.jpg ...but it was in "Claret"(which actually looked really bright red). They had to calm and reassure me at the shop that the sizes run REALLY small when they measured me and put me down for dress that was 4 sizes larger than what I normally wear. I believe there was a very loud, high and squeaky "WHAT???" involved. Also, I never did understand that "side chiffon drape" aka. the 6" wide extraneous piece of chiffon that came out of nowhere right under the boobage(yes, that's a word) but oh well, it didn't look too bad. It's taking up some room in my closet now. I can't think of any occasion where I can re-wear it. It looks like a BM dress.

Nancy said...

Suz, maybe the heat in Texas will calm that bird down. Congrats on taking him home!

Tawny, I was mostly lucky in my bridesmaid dresses. There were a couple I actually did wear again, and the ones I didn't were because they were not styles you could wear to a cocktail party--full skirts with flounces. They were nice dresses, just not versatile.

I had one very narrow escape. The bride chose sleeveless dresses with full a-line skirts flowing down from an Empire waist, a sheer floral print over a solid base-color gown. The scoop necks had capes anchored to the neckline so the neckline was clear, which I guess makes them more like draping or trim than actual capes, that extended to the elbow on the right but rose on the left to a giant, diaphanous, self fabric chiffon bow, leaving the left arm bare.

To top it all off, the floral print featured roses the size of cabbages. I stood in front of the mirror and envisioned a group of us walking down the aisle, capes and bows wafting in the breeze of our forward progress, and thought, "We're going to look like an armada of giant floral galleons under full sail."

Thank goodness, the dress was out of production, and she couldn't get enough for the whole wedding party! Saved! We ended up with peach (me, the maid of honor) or mint (bridesmaids), high-waisted gowns with cap sleeves and a-line skirts and a draped inset in the scooped neckline.

I wore that dress to a couple of other weddings, and it was fine. This is getting long, so I'll share my own choice for bridesmaids in a minute.

Nancy said...

As for my wedding--inspired by a friend who had us make our dresses or have them made to save money, I chose a pattern and fabric.

We were married in the morning, so I went with tea-length hems, gathered skirts with blouson tops and elastic waists, boat necks, and sleeves gathered at the top and falling loose to the elbow. The style was in fashion at the time.

Matching ribbon made the belts, and they could wear whatever shoes in black or white (I now forget which ) they wanted. I let them each choose teal or rose, with the maid of honor in deeper rose. The color division worked out to be 50-50.

Several people told me they wore those dresses to parties later, so I felt as if I'd maybe done good.

Of course, people who're good enough friends to be in your wedding never want to hurt your feelings over the dress you make them wear!

Nancy said...

Suz, I thought I'd done quite a few bridesmaid turns, but you clearly did more. Did you ever wear those dresses again?

Nancy said...

Jane, picking a dress off the rack sounds like bridesmaid heaven!

And you reminded me, in a strange, associational thinking way, of a friend who called me at work and said, "What are you doing at five?" When I said I had no plans, she said, "Well, Eric and I are getting married over at the Baptist chuch. Would you stand up with me, and wear a long dress if you have one?"

I recycled my most becoming bridesmaid dress, the one from my college roommate's wedding, a deep pink with a v-neck, gathered fake-wrap front, and a shoulder to waist drape in the back (cap sleeves). She had two friends, he had two friends, and we changed clothes and all went out for pizza after. Easiest wedding I was ever in!

Nancy said...

Tawny, those dresses don't sound butt-ugly. When I think of butt-ugly, I think of the Mary Tyler Moore Show episode when Mary and Rhoda got dragooned into being bridesmaids for a woman they couldn't stand. Those dresses were big, full-skirted, and covered in hideous adornments.

I think Mary's actually may've been purple, a great color but not in that dress!

Nancy said...

Oh, Christine! I'm so sorry! What a disaster.

And here I was feeling sorry for myself because every bridesmaid dress I ever bought had to have "extra length," which frequently cost almost half as much as the dress itself. Y'all had way worse problems.

So why didn't she use the same dressmaker for everybody? Had the bridesmaid dressmaker never heard of fittings?

Nancy said...

Anna S. wrote Interestingly, the older the people were getting married, the more tasteful the dresses. Wonder if that's a deciding factor?!You know, Anna, I've often thought that about the late Princess of Wales. That wedding dress was Fairy Tale Princess, and the carriage ride left it badly wrinkled. Her later styles were so much more flattering and obviously traveled better.

Nancy said...

Helen, that apple green sounds pretty. I bet y'all had fun choosing together!

I have to add that I'm grateful I never had to buy, and have dyed, special shoes. Considering my needle foot, that would've been a blister-prone nightmare, I fear.

Nancy said...

Laurie, looking like curtains is a good description for the dress I narrowly escaped. I wish I'd thought of it at the time.

I dated a guy who didn't have the guts to break it off, too. I think lots of us (men and women) have at least one like that in our pasts.

Hellie Sinclair said...

Only been in two weddings (thank God) and in the first one, it had to be specially made because the bride wanted them to match--and the other bridesmaid was, well, larger. I wasn't a delicate maid either. After much trying on of dresses (I was the guinea pig since there was usually something in my size), they critically decided on something from Simplicity to be sewn up in this burgundy chiffon and taffeta material. It was off the shoulders, a corset/boned top, and a full skirt that gathered at our waists. (NOT the most flattering on figures where our waists are pretty much our least attractive feature.) The bride was very concerned about our cleavage showing too much--"it's tacky and my relatives will comment"--however, in the end, our cleavage ended up on display. I don't know what either the bride or the head bridesmaid were thinking. At one point, the best man walked up to me and tugged up my bodice because it was sliding down. That went down well.

I wouldn't wear that dress again if you paid me a million dollars.

The 2nd wedding, very recent, I got to pick my dress, so long as I wasn't flashing anyone and as long as the dress was black. I got it on sale, it fit, and I looked great in it. We all looked great in our dresses--and we all had different ones. It was a wonderful wedding; and I'd definitely wear my dress again if I got the chance.

Cassondra said...

Oh, sheesh. Bridesmaid dresses. ICK.

I think I've been in a wedding only once--maid of honor--and I had to wear an ugly brown floorlength dress. There's a reason I wear black a lot. I look hideous in warm colors (brown being a warm color usually). Blech. My mom made the dress though, so at least it didn't cost a fortune beyond the fabric.

For my wedding, the bridesmaid dresses were horrid. My mom made those too, but it's not her fault the dresses were awful. She did a good job.....

It was an outdoor wedding on my dad's farm (late June in Ky is HOT), so I did sundresses with ties over the shoulders and a ruffled skirt. Pretty wide-brimmed hats. But I chose peach for my "color" and peach was not popular that year. Read...hardly any peach fabric available. I finally found a light peach crepe, which is a nice idea, but it didn't make up well in the pattern I'd chosen. It didn't hang well. Can you say unflattering--both the color AND the cut of the dresses? *sigh* Ah well...At least they didn't cost a fortune and could be tossed without guilt.

I'm really glad to see a trend where bridesmaids don't have to wear all the same color necessarily, and can choose a nice off-the-rack dress. I've been to a couple of weddings where the bridesmaids wore a color "range" --say any of the pastels, or all shades of mint and pale green--but not all the same dress or the same exact color. They wore gorgeous, flattering gowns they chose themselves. The weddings were so beautiful. I hope that trend continues. I don't guess it'll ever make it to small-town America, but the world would be better off if it did.

Who STARTED this "dress all the same in something ugly" thing anyhow?

Cassondra said...

Jane said:

Luckily the bride didn't object to us wearing cute little black dresses,Now THAT is a good idea right there.

Cassondra said...

Oh, I had to buy something mauve when I sang in a wedding once. EVERYBODY had to coordinate. Even the entertainers--for this wedding. I paid a lotta money for that mauve suit. And never wore it again.

Mauve...blech.

jo robertson said...

Great topic, Tawny! So far, I've managed to avoid the horrible bridesmaid dress syndrome, but mother-of-the-bride dresses can be nearly as horrific. You want to match the color scheme, not clash with the mother of the groom, look un-dumpy, and finally, be able to wear the danged thing again. Very frustrating.

Yay, Suzanne, does that mean fried chicken for the chook, tee hee?

jo robertson said...

Great idea, Jane! You can always use the perennial little black dress.

What a nightmare, Christine! There's nothing worse than having the dress made and ending up ill-fitting. And being pregnant just makes it all the worse.

p226 said...

Ahahaha...

Us guys have the wedding thing so easy.

Rent a tux.

Return the tux.

jo robertson said...

My gosh, Caren, that's a horrific story. At least you didn't have to wear the size 20 dress with pins or basting stitches all over the place. Oy vey, way to ruin a perfectly lovely fabric.

And I love this new word "hip-ulous." It so fits!

jo robertson said...

Now there's an idea, PJ! Recycle your old bridesmaid dresses as Halloween costumes.

Hilarious story, Susan! I can just see that dressmaker clucking around your slender body. The good thing is those full-bodied women are probably like Shirley Booth in her later years and you're still trim and thin. Karma, baby, karma!

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

To top it all off, the floral print featured roses the size of cabbages. I stood in front of the mirror and envisioned a group of us walking down the aisle, capes and bows wafting in the breeze of our forward progress, and thought, "We're going to look like an armada of giant floral galleons under full sail."
SNORK!!! OMG! SNORK!

What happens to brides anyway? Is it some kind of nervous hormonal onset of bad taste?

Nancy, someday, you HAVE to do a romantic comedy. You are so dang funny. You keep denying it, but it's true. you are.

jo robertson said...

Nuh uh, P226. Since I have four sons, I know of what I speak. It goes like this:

rent the tux

wear the tux

lose a stud or two or the cumberbund or something for heaven's sake because returning it just the way it came would be too simple

return the tux.

Maybe it's all the wedding liquor!

Cassondra said...

P226 said:

Ahahaha...

Us guys have the wedding thing so easy.

Rent a tux.

Return the tux.

What? You've never ended up in a mint green tux with a pink cumerbund or some such other horror?

Cassondra said...

I have not seen 27 dresses. Is this a good film? I don't even think I've ever HEARD of this film!

How is this possible?

Pissenlit said...

Cassondra - I have not seen 27 dresses. Is this a good film? I don't even think I've ever HEARD of this film!

Get thee to a dvd store!(or somewhere that would result in you getting to see the movie). Oh the dresses she has in her closet! :)

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: envisioned a group of us walking down the aisle, capes and bows wafting in the breeze of our forward progress, and thought, "We're going to look like an armada of giant floral galleons under full sail."


SNORK! Oh, Lordy, ya'll are keeping me in full giggle mode today. That's a riot nancy!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Yes, Nancy my Sister-in-Crime, I have the same issue.

You said: I have to add that I'm grateful I never had to buy, and have dyed, special shoes. Considering my needle foot, that would've been a blister-prone nightmare, I fear.

9.5 narrow. Special order, then when you have them dyed, they shrink. Urg

Cassondra said...

Jeanne said:

Add the ginormous bouffant hairdo the bride decreed, Okay this right here? That would be the end of a friendship. I don't love anybody enough to wear a bouffant and have my picture made. Nope. I am not that good a friend.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Jo! You are so right about the Mother of the Bride ones. URG! Some of the Bridal shop ones for the moms are Fugggggggly.

Saw one not too long ago in this dreadful silvery brown with fake-o lace. Poor woman. She paid a fortune for it too and it did everything it wasn't supposed to do - dumpy, frumpy, ill-fitting even though she'd had it tailored... felt so bad for her

Pat Cochran said...

Would you believe that I've never
had to undergo that torture! The
torture of THE BRIDESMAID'S DRESS!
I've never been a bridesmaid! Have
assisted with many weddings as a
member of the "House Party." My
forte has always been the reception,
shower, and bachelorette party
planning.

Pat Cochran

Cassondra said...

Pat said:

My
forte has always been the reception,
shower, and bachelorette party
planning.
...
Me too, Pat. I thought about going into business as a wedding nazi, but I get irritated at the crazy way brides behave. It's like they lose their minds or something.... "NO! I MUST HAVE THE (TOTALLY UNAVAILABLE FOR ANY MONEY) SOFT PINK CASHMERE LACE ON THE DRESS CUFFS OR I CAN'T GET MARRIED!"

*sigh*

When I was 25, I could have put up with that. Now, not. Of course NOW, I'd forego the whole wedding fiasco and run away to the beach and get married barefoot on the sand in a pretty dress with my friends around, after which the wedding money would be spent on a giant party and a new sofa for the house.....

But I digress.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Nancy, someday, you HAVE to do a romantic comedy. You are so dang funny. You keep denying it, but it's true. you are.

SO TRUE! She is a HUGE hoot and needs to write that humor into her next fab-o book. Grins.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Cassondra said: Add the ginormous bouffant hairdo the bride decreed, Okay this right here? That would be the end of a friendship. I don't love anybody enough to wear a bouffant and have my picture made. Nope. I am not that good a friend.

Well, this wasn't in the plan when I agreed. You're right in that most brides end up losing at least a part of their minds for this event. The deal was, the dress, we did our own hair, no hats, no feathers, nuthin. We get to the day and that changed. That DAY, it changed. Suddenly, low-budget college student me was expected to pay the hair dresser for a horrible hairstyle AND horrible feathers. In emerald green. URGH.

Nancy said...

Louisa wrote: Not a single bridesmaid looked good in it. It was a chiffon tater sack with big blue and purple flowers on it. I knew it was bad when I got dressed for the wedding and husband laughed so hard he cried. . . .

Oh, yeah. Really bad news. The only consolation to wearing a dress like that is that everyone knows you didn't pick it.

I've been to so many weddings where the bridesmaids' dresses were outright unflattering, or they looked good only on the size 8 bridesmaid and made everyone else look like a bratwurst stuffed into cocktail sausage casing. Why do people do that to their friends? Can't they at least try to pick a dress that will look at least decent on everyone?

Terri Osburn said...

Jo - You reminded me of the debacle my mother suffered at my wedding. She'd ordered a lovely gown in a similar shade of burgundy to match the wedding colors (which was the wrong color for her but I was not consulted) and when we all arrived at the church, my then fiance's aunt was wearing the exact same dress. My mother was crushed.

Happy to see others are in the "never been a bridesmaid" club as well.

Cassondra - I considered opening a wedding consulting business back in the 90s then realized I'd likely beat to death 75% of my customers. LOL! Put that venture under the bed, so to speak.

p226 said...

What? You've never ended up in a mint green tux with a pink cumerbund or some such other horror?..

Nope. My buddies all got married in dress blues. (So we even got to skip the "rent the tux" part)

Hell, *I* got married in dress blues. No tux rental there either.

My one buddy that got married in civvies went with black/white. No pastel cummerbunds.

Guys have the wedding thing soooooo easy. Bwahahahah.

You can't see me, but I'm sticking my tongue out and going nana nana naaaa naaaa.

*ow*

:(

Mrs. P226 saw me typing this and hit me with a shoe.

Nancy said...

Caren, what a bridesmaid nightmare! Very few women I know have matching hip/anything else measurements. Almost nobody's a perfect "standard" size.

And here I was thinking you'd join me in the shelled-out-for-extra-length category, and you escaped it! You lucky!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

FWIW, Cassondra, I think you would be really GREAT as a wedding planner because you would make the hormonal idiots NOT spend the kind of foolish money and time they do. You'd say, "Are you insane?" in just that way you have. They'd realize they ARE insane to consider it, and all would be well.

Perfect wedding planner material. :>

Nancy said...

Kirsten, it snowed in June? Wow! That never happens here. We're more likely to have mosquitos.

But the dresses sound gorgeous.

Nancy said...

MsHellion, the bride lost my vote at "boned." Ugh. And if the bodice was boned and still wouldn't stay up, that doesn't speak well at all for the fit.

I'm so sorry. And that best man is lucky you left him standing.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

P226 said: Mrs. P226 saw me typing this and hit me with a shoe.

Tell her we said Thanks! :> hahahah!

See the dress blues/whites/whatevers for the military get ya'll out of SO much trouble. One of the guys I dated in high school was in the ROTC. He was the most comfortable person at prom 'cause he wore a uniform. I didn't know ROTC had uniforms until I saw him in it, but it was far more comfy than a rent-a-tux in ruffles and satin trim.

Nancy said...

Susan, there again, what was your sister thinking? I was rocking along happily over the color, and then you got to the fit.

And that seamstress needs to have been fired, to talk to a customer that way.

Nancy said...

Cassondra, I feel your pain. The bride who asked us to make our dresses left everything but the pattern and color to us, and she wanted rose. I was perfectly happy with that--except rose wasn't "in" that year.

The only rose fabric I could find in the city, and I went to many, many fabric shops, was satin. For an un-air-conditioned church in NYC in July. Let's just say I knew my particular dress would not have uniform color for very long if I made it in that fabric (I used to sew once upon a time, so I made my dress).

I called the bride, explained the problem, and got a dispensation to wear carnation pink. The dresses ranged from pink-toned brown to rose dotted swiss (bridesmaid from Texas; looked great) to my pink to HOT pink. The bride didn't give us any grief about it, but I know she would've liked us to match.

We run into this in home decorating, too. We wanted a bedspread or quilt to match the blue in our bedroom, but that blue wasn't "in." Nor was anything close to it. So we finally just went with white.

Nancy said...

Treethyme, that's an amazing coup in dress shopping!

As for the friend who chose such expensive dresses, again, what are people thinking?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy, my ex-father-in-law is a minister and he used to tell the FUNNIEST stories about the bridewars - usually between the mother and her daughter - and all the idiot things that would happen. I think Cassondra would be perfect in quelling that situ too, she'd look at the MOTB and give her that LOOK - you know the one - and say, "If you want to look like an idiot, go ahead. I'm just sayin'"

Nancy said...

Jeanne, happy anniversary!

Kelly green would look good on you, but not in that fabric.

And that hair thing? And feathers? O-M-G. What a nightmare. What a bridezilla, to ask that of you. Sounds sort of like that blue thing Madonna had in her hair on some red carpet last week.

I have to disagree with you on butt bows. I think there are very few people they actually flatter.

Nancy said...

Donna, lavender is not very many people's color! Those tapestry dresses sound gorgeous, though.

Nancy said...

Terrio, I think the lace fans sound pretty.

Nancy said...

Jo--I totally agree on Mother of the Bride. I suspect it's far better to go to a dept. store and buy a gown than to get one at a bridal shop. My mom did pretty well twice. The one she wore to my wedding was light blue, and I think she did get it at a dept. store.

Anna Campbell said...

Tawny, I'd like to say that was a fun post but sadly it only brought up past trauma for this Bandita ;-)

Ooh, shudder, the horror of my one and only occasion as a bridesmaid. There were three bridesmaid and the pushiest one was going overseas and insisted on having veto on everything before she went. So she made the decisions and the other two were presented with a fait accompli. Except it was a fate disastreuse!

Pushy bridesmaid was about 5'10", dark haired, olive skinned, with nice legs and a good figure. The other two Bridesmaid were Scandinavian blondes. Bridesmaid two was going to be eight months pregnant on the day. Bridesmaid three, that would be me, is 5'2" and round.

So what did we end up with? Muddy purple off-the-shoulder minis. I've never felt more uncomfortable in my life and the poor pregnant girl just looked like she wanted to cry all day. The dress hit the rubbish bin the minute the wedding was over! An awful experience! Needless to say pushy bridesmaid looked lovely - well, bully for her!

Nancy said...

Cassondra--a mauve suit? I'm so sorry! If you have a job where you have to wear a suit, it might not be bad, but if you don't, it's a huge waste of money.

As for your being a wedding planner, I would bet serious money on you over any Bridezilla in the universe--AND her Momzilla. You may not be the tallest bandita, but you have the darkest belt. And I think there is a staff officer hidden inside you, based on the way you marshaled us all at National last year. Things went so smoothly for us as a group because of you.

But it would be a royal pain of a job.

SOME people in the lair have actually gotten me to watch that Millionaire Matchmaker thing on Bravo from time to time, and I find myself feeling sorry for that woman frequently.

Nancy said...

Cassondra and Jeanne, I'm so grateful that you like my sense of humor! I'm just not sure it comes across so well on a hard-copy page.

Tawny said...

Black and gold lame, Caren? You can't leave without telling THAT story!!!

and OMG on the dress alterations!!! What a nightmare, thats just horrid. I think one of the issues with BM dresses is that they ARE trying to make a variety of body styles look cookie cutter and we girls just don't look the same, darn it!!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: Kelly green would look good on you, but not in that fabric.

Well, actually, most greens DO look good on me but the kelly? Too much yellow, and my skin tone...green-yellow. Makes me look absolutely deathly horrible. Especially in that fabric.

Tawny said...

LOL PJ - I never thought of using BM dresses for Halloween costumes!! LOVE IT!!

And now that you mention it... I do have this one. Hmmmmmmm

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

I have to disagree with you on butt bows. I think there are very few people they actually flatterOh! Those things make me look big as a barn! Of course, I'm not exactly objective about my butt. It's the biggest part of me....a fact which men seem to enjoy, but I don't enjoy so much. I can just see me in a dress with one of those, walking down the aisle....yeah, that would be memorable. "There goes Cassondra's butt..."

I'm just sayin.

Nancy said...

p226, after hours of looking through pattern books for a dress that would be at least okay on bridesmaids of varying sizes and heights, I went with the future dh to a men's formal wear shop. The clerk asked what time of day we were getting married, and then announced, pointing, "You'll wear that or that," each being a morning coat with one in medium gray and one in deep charcoal.

Since he's very fair, we went with the lighter one. We were in and out in under 20 minutes. If I'd thought of it, I'd have hit him with a shoe.

So good for Mrs. p226!

And the dress blues . . . the only thing, imho, a guy looks better in than a tux is a military uniform (a friend of mine once said that, and I can't remember who). And I've never seen one with a butt bow or boning. Waaay too easy in the guy department.

Did any of these weddings involve arches of swords?

Tawny said...

SNOW!!! In JUNE!!??!! OMG Kirsten, thats wild. What a way to ruin a picture perfect dress ensemble.

(although it does remind me of the episode of Friends when Phoebe got married and her original wedding plans were snowed in, so they held the ceremony in the street in front of Central Perk... complete with heavy winter coats)

I think your bm dresses sound lovely. Then again, I can wear autumn colors LOL.

Tawny said...

Oh MAN!!! Susan, that sucks. Not the dress so much as the dressmaker. What a nasty horrid woman. She should have found a way to make you feel good about how the dress didn't work (blame the darned dress, for crying out loud) not make you feel so horrible. That just bites.

Although the running away the next time to a tropical island... oh yeah. I could so get on board with that.

Nancy said...

Jeanne wrote: I think Cassondra would be perfect in quelling that situ too, she'd look at the MOTB and give her that LOOK - you know the one - and say, "If you want to look like an idiot, go ahead. I'm just sayin'"As the Big Moment approaches, many weddings need injections of reality. She'd be great at it.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: I'm just not sure it comes across so well on a hard-copy page.

Grinnin here. May I point out, m'dear that THIS is black and white, and we're laughing?

Bwah-ha-ha!

Cassondra said...

Fo said:

So what did we end up with? Muddy purple off-the-shoulder minis. I've never felt more uncomfortable in my life and the poor pregnant girl just looked like she wanted to cry all day. The dress hit the rubbish bin the minute the wedding was over! An awful experience! Needless to say pushy bridesmaid looked lovely - well, bully for her!
...

Fo, you win. That's the worst bridesmaid story I ever heard. That's even worse than Jeanne's bouffant and hooker feathers.

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE BRIDES THINKING?

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Oh, man, Fo. that IS a nightmare. UGH. And I'm o fthe mind that if you've got a preggers bridesmaid, she gets to pick the dress, darn it. Nothing worse, as Mme points out, than feeling the way you feel at 8 months along - huge and boobalicious - and being in a purple mini. UGH.

Nancy said...

Anna C.--a muddy purple, off-the-shoulder mini? The vast majority of human females would look like refugees from a bad SF movie in that. I'm so sorry.

Nancy said...

Jeanne wrote: Nancy said: I'm just not sure it comes across so well on a hard-copy page.

Grinnin here. May I point out, m'dear that THIS is black and white, and we're laughing?

Bwah-ha-ha!
. . .

Okay, I concede that point. And there's a possibility I might have a ms. someday that incorporates that tone and maybe we'll see what happens with it. Maybe. I'm just sayin' , , ,

Tawny said...

Christie, I think it takes a very specific coloring to wear pink. I do not have that coloring (thankfully LOL) so I hear you on that being, well, unfortunate.

and ROFL about the hat. I'm guilty of putting hats on my bm's heads, too. And mine!!!

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: Fo, you win. That's the worst bridesmaid story I ever heard. That's even worse than Jeanne's bouffant and hooker feathers.

WHAT IN THE WORLD ARE BRIDES THINKING?
They're not thinking. They're envisioning that Perfect Moment and trying to reach it. Will share my own issues in that department soon, but the boy needs the internet for homework.

And I think, for now, I agree with Cassondra. There have been some truly horrible bridesmaid dresses desribed, but one that only looks good on someone from the Andromeda galaxy wins in my book.

Tawny said...

Louisa said: It was a chiffon tater sack with big blue and purple flowers on it. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG LOLOLOL I was snorting at lime sherbet mushroom, but this made my tummy hurt, I laughed so hard!!! (hey, ab workout - thanks!!!)

Very VERY bad experiences. I think you're in the lead for the ugly dress story now, although I still want to smack Susan's dressmaker.

(off to see your pix...)

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

the only thing, imho, a guy looks better in than a tux is a military uniform I raise my glass and wave my hanky. Amen!

Nancy said...

Tawny, I almost got married in a hat, though I had no intention of inflicting headgear on my friends. I had a sort of Victorian-style gown (full skirt, no bustle, but a train I'd as soon have done without), and I tried on a wide-brimmed hat with veiling tied around the crown and trailing to my waist down the back (not Scarlett O'Hara-wide, more like 1950s picture hat wide).

Looking at it in the mirror, I was likin' the vibe, but my mom said, "What will happen to the hat when one person after another hugs you?"

A good point. And then my sibling said, "And you can't just take it off 'cause then you'll have hat hair."

The clincher. I spent the wedding and reception without my glasses, half blind for the sake of the pictures, so I wasn't about to counter that effort with hat hair.

I went with a wreath of white flowers and pearls and a two-tier, hip-length veil. Which led to some of the aforesaid issues I'll disclose shortly.

Cassondra said...

Tawny said:

although I still want to smack Susan's dressmaker.
...
Yeah, me too. Susan, give us the name and address of her shop. She'll open her door one of these days, and nineteen of us will be standing there. We'll each step up, and give her a good smackin.

She deserves it.

Tawny said...

Ooh, Louisa - pretty dresses. Very reusable and such a lovely color :-)

Tawny said...

Becke, what a STEAL on your dress!! WOW, awesome deal. And UGH UGH UGH on the friends bm dresses. I mean, I'm not opposed to spending a few hundred dollars on a dress (my wallet is, but thats a different story) but to spend it on a dress you can NEVER wear again? Hey, if its your wedding dress, there's a symbology involved and I can get behind it. But ugly, expensive bm dresses are just so many kinds of wrong.

Anna Campbell said...

It was mid-winter in Oz too and the wedding was up in the hinterland where it does get seriously cold. I guess you could at least say my skin tone matched the purple mini. Actually, no - even when I was blue with cold, it was a clashing blue! I still get shudders to think of the experience!

Cassondra said...

Anna C said:

I still get shudders to think of the experience!
Fo, are you still friends with the bride? Did she ever realize what she'd done?

Trish Milburn said...

I've only been a bridesmaid once, and thankfully the dress wasn't bad. Of course, it was obviously a bridesmaid's dress and I couldn't wear it again, but it wasn't hideous. It was a dark green, which actually worked with both my coloring and the other bridesmaid, who is fair skinned and has red hair.

I noticed the picture in the post from 27 Dresses. I really liked that movie.

Anna Campbell said...

Sadly, the bride and I have lost touch, Trish.

Tawny said...

Ooooh, Jeanne :-(

You've suffered, baby. Suffered in the name of the sisterhood!!!

Butt-bows should be illegal!!

Tawny said...

Louisa said: found her hubby in bed with another man, well, the dress was NOT the worst part about that wedding. I tried to tell her when she let HIM pick out the bridesmaids dresses there was something up with that!

Oh man, I was so fixated on lime sherbet mushrooms, I forgot to say:

OMG!!!!!!!!

Tawny said...

Jeanne said: BTW, Tawny, I'm VERY partial to April weddings...just had my 10th anniversary on April 24th. Best. Thing. I. Evah. DID. was to marry ths man! :> Awwwww ;-)

I just had mine on April 22nd. And yes, so happy happy!! Despite the fact that my bm dresses were butt ugly *g*

Tawny said...

LOL Terrio - fans? I hadn't heard that one before. How did the fans play into the wedding theme?

I'm wondering now about all my RWA fancy dresses and if I can somehow salvage them. Cocktail length, hmmm?

Tawny said...

Donna, were you a 70's love child?

I think I've seen your pix of your wedding and it was definitely LOVELY. So pretty :-)

As soon as I turn this book in, I'll rent 27 Dresses and make an event of it! It sounds so fun.

Tawny said...

Pissenlit, it DOES look like a BM dress. I think thats the problem with them (besides the odd boobage hangy thing there). No matter how the bride tries to find something that 'can be worn again', it just, well, can't. Its the cookie cutter thing.

But that is a pretty dress... I like the floaty chiffon *g*

Tawny said...

Nancy. Capes? Giant bows? OMG. Giant floral galleons, indeed. Aren't you grateful for that the dress supply gods put an end to that monstrosity before you had to wear it?!?! It sounds like the alternate was much better!!

Susan Sey said...

Jeanne wrote: Now, I'm hachet-arsed - Susan got my curves, darn it! hahah.Well, at least there's some comfort in knowing where they came from. :-)

Now. Who got my boobs?

Tawny said...

Nancy said: Of course, people who're good enough friends to be in your wedding never want to hurt your feelings over the dress you make them wear!

Oh. Darn. My SIL had better not read this. I love her to death, and the dress was just FINE. Pretty, simple, and lovely. Just not... me LOL.

Nancy, I think the 'make your own' option sounds really cool. If you can sew, of course LOL. If I tried that, my dress would likely fall apart as I walked down the aisle. I'm sure the saftey pins would snap ;-)

That rocks that your friends were able to wear theirs again, and the colors sound great!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

I'll jump in again and say that the madness of brides can be funny too. I wore my mother's dress for my first wedding. Um...before you say awwwwwww, my Mama was 5'3" and very delicate frame.

I'm 5'7" and more, shall we say statuesque? Now I'm here to say that I made it look good - they wore padded bras back then (thank the gracioius Lord), and she wore heels and I wore flats so it did sweep the floor.

However, I didn't take a full breath, as in full inhale, for the entire day. Snork. ID-I-O-TIC.

As an older, wiser bride, I wore a fabulous dress from Neiman Marcus that I think I could have done the samba in with total comfort.

Yeah, its that older/wiser bride thing.

Susan Sey said...

Nancy wrote: And that seamstress needs to have been fired, to talk to a customer that way.

I know, right? (And thanks to the rest of you who weighed in on my side of that little tussle.) The polite thing to do would've been to blame the dress. But this woman had a terribly intimidating Russian accent, & one of those wrist-mounted pin cushions. I think I may be have been scared to cross her. She looked like she wouldn't be afraid to cut a girl.

And all wasn't lost. Life has presented me with a number of occasions over the years when a well-padded bra has come in quite handy. It was a decent investment. It's still sitting in my drawer upstairs. You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-)

Cassondra said...

Susan said:

Now. Who got my boobs?
Not me. Jeanne and Donna. They're both stacked.

Helen said...

Anna I would have thrown the dress as well.

My wedding dress cost $40 all up for material and the making of it and I still have it. It was made in crepe material with a chinese collar and pin tucks on the bodice and the train came from the sleeves the bridesmaid dresses were similar in design with a
v neck bell sleeves and the pintucking on the bodice and their dreses cost about $25 each all up so not very expensive. (it was 1977)
April sounds a popular month for weddings mine anniversary is 2nd.

Have Fun
Helen

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Susan said: You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-)


Oh. My. Lord. SNORKKKKKKK!!!!!!

Yep..heeheheeeehheeee...yep, that would be...heeeeheeee.... disconcerting.

Nancy said...

Tawny, yes I was deeply grateful to the Dress Supply Gods. That dress was a nightmare.

And happy anniversary!

Nancy said...

Susan wrote: You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-) . . .

LOL! I can see how that'd be a little scary!

Tawny said...

Nancy said: What are you doing at five?" When I said I had no plans, she said, "Well, Eric and I are getting married over at the Baptist chuch. Would you stand up with me, and wear a long dress if you have one?" OMG I love it!!!! I love that you went out for pizza afterward even more LOL.

I have a similar story, but not nearly as happy an ending. I was asked the day before to stand up for a lady I worked with's daughter (she was a nice kid, babysat my little girl a couple times) who was in a family way *g* All well and good, I was honored, except she'd already picked out and bought the dress. Um, it was at least a size too small (read, tight blue satin OMG)

But I'm a sucker and her mom begged, so... my picture is the fugliest sight ever!!!

PinkPeony said...

Hi Tawny!
Wow! I love reading all these bridesmaid's dress horror stories! I always wanted to throw a party in which everyone has to come dressed in the ugliest bridesmaid dress they've had to wear.

I've been in seven weddings. I've worn fuchsia with a cape (hideous doesn't even come close), peach with pleats and a big straw hat, a powder blue dress, with a hoopskirt that would have done Scarlet proud...complete with off the shoulder puffy sleeves..all poly in July in Sacramento when it was 107. The other bridesmaid fell face first into the grass from heat exhaustion while we were in the receiving line. I don't know what was more annoying, the ugly dress or the bride's mother, who chased us around to remind us to write her a check for the dress rental before we left. I had to write a check for the passed out bridesmaid since she was carted off to the ER...A tea length silk moire in mauve with puffy sleeves that looked like balloon shades from a bordello and a little matching hat, the kind bellhops wear, in which my boyfriend remarked that I looked like an organ grinder's monkey...dumped him 2 months later...Royal blue poly scratchy as hell lace with a matching bolero which was as awful as the tacky wedding...tossed the dress and pics from the wedding in the trash. I planned my sister's wedding and by the time I made it for my dress fitting, there wasn't time to fix the dress. It looked as if I was wearing a garbage bag made from duppioni silk. The only dress I still have is a short, classic ivory dress that I wore when my best friend got married. And having learned a lesson from previous weddings...the expense of being a bridesmaid and all the hassle that goes with that, I only had a flower girl when I got married. Her dress was off the rack from Nordstrom. Easy!

PinkPeony said...

Susan said: You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-)

OMIGAWD! Too funny!

p226 said...

Susan said: You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-)..

Wait? That can happen?

Back later. I'll be searching my wife's dresser drawers if anyone needs me.

Nancy said...

Jeanne wrote: I'll jump in again and say that the madness of brides can be funny too.My mom got married in a suit (with my dad in dress blues), so the inherited dress wasn't an option for me. My bridal madness was over, of all things, the veil, the part of the whole outfit that should've been easiest since it required NO fitting.

I had ordered (or thought I had) a white floral wreath with little pearls in it and a two-tiered, hip-length veil with little pearls scattered on it. Its projected arrival date came and went with no word. I called the store.

Now, here I should interject that I have made my share, and then some, of mistakes, and I have also had the misfortunate to be the public face of someone else's mistake, so I'm always willing to work with someone who's trying to put things right. That's not what I got.

The woman I talked to put me on hold for a very long time and then informed me the veil had never been ordered. I asked her why not, and she informed me in a very snappish tone that she didn't know, she could order it or cancel it, and did I want it or not? "I'm sorry" never appeared in her dialogue.

I told her I'd think about it and hung up. The more I thought about it, the madder I got. We'd signed up for a wedding registry at that store, as well as buying gifts for the wedding party there, and they stood to make a lot of money off our wedding.

So I called again and arranged to meet someone from customer service at the store (a 40-minute drive each way) that evening. I drove over, explained the problem, and mentioned my desire not to make multiple trips over there. Which was a little snarky, I know, but my Scotch-Irish was up at that point.

The customer service rep was nice, apologized, explained that the person who should have placed the order had left without doing it, and assured me it would be taken care of. I went home mollified.

To make a long story much shorter, it was not taken care of. After two more unsuccessful trips over there that did at least eventually result in the basic style veil I had ordered, I ended up buying a bottle of Elmer's glue and finding a pack of pearls at the fabric store and gluing them on the veil myself. I wish I'd just done that in the first place.

And then we cancelled the wedding registry on the stated grounds that the store's service had been unsatisfactory. At which point, I got calls from the wedding buyer, the assistant manager and the bridal registry manager, all wanting to know what they could do to make things right. But it was too late, and I didn't step into that store again until another chain took it over.

I could've walked down the aisle without a veil, of course. And if something happens to the dh and I end up doing this again, everything will be off the rack and impromptu. Once was enough for all the arrangements. But it just flew all over me that our friends and family were going to spend a lot of money there when they couldn't deliver something so basic.

So that's my bridal madness. And if I had to do it again, I swear I'd cancel the registry right away and wing it.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

So smart PinkP! I told the mom of my flower girl,"just buy her something pretty that she can wear for church." :>

OMGosh on the bellhop hat. Glad you kicked the "organ grinder's monkey" guy to the curb though! hahaha.

I think this is why 27 dresses resonates with all of us. I don't think the movie itself, or the plot, was all that great, but omgosh, the dresses, the weddings, oh.My.Gosh.

It killed me though, that the little sister cut up the Mom's wedding dress. I nearly wept.

Nancy said...

Tawny, I would never buy a dress for anyone else who hadn't tried it on first. That was really good of you to go through with it.

Nancy said...

PinkPeony, what a nightmare! I think that's the overall worst wedding story I ever heard.

A groom did faint in my home church once. The humidity was up, and the church had no AC, and I guess he was nervous.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Wow, Nancy, go you! Think of all the money they lost over a little customer service.

Reminds me of that scene in Pretty Woman:

"You work on commission, right?"
"Yes"
"Mistake, biiiiiiiig mistake!"

Tawny said...

MsHellion... oh my. I can just imagine the parade of cleavages walking down the aisle.

I have to say, I'm a huge fan of black dresses. Its really hard to make a black dress look ugly. Not impossible, mind you, but harder *g*

Nancy said...

Bridesmaid headgear seems to be, from everyone's stories, like hats for political candidates. Nobody looks good in them!

Tawny said...

Cassondra asked: Who STARTED this "dress all the same in something ugly" thing anyhow?

That'd be me :-)

Okay, kidding LOL

But YES!! I love the ideas you mentioned of different styles in the same shade, or different shades of the same style- options, darn it!!! We are not cookies.

And btw, Brown? Ick :-(

Tawny said...

Cassondra... mauve is definitely ick.

Nancy said...

Jeanne wrote: "You work on commission, right?"
"Yes"
"Mistake, biiiiiiiig mistake!"
. . .

I love that scene.

If I'd ever ended up with what I ordered, I'd have left things alone, but that never happened, and I never dealt with the same person twice.

I'm so sorry your mom's dress got cut down. Taking scissors to a potential heirloom makes me cringe.

Tawny said...

Jo said: but mother-of-the-bride dresses can be nearly as horrific.

ROFL - so true!! My MIL used to say that the mother's of the bride are supposed to "wear beige and show up."

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

And if I had to do it again, I swear I'd cancel the registry right away and wing it.
Yup. That's what needed to happen. I don't consider that bridal madness--I consider it bad service on the part of the store. That's just stupid and there is no excuse for that.

You don't sound like you were a nutso bride at all. Actually, I can't see you being nutso, Nancy. You're too practical. I guess it's a lawyer thing.

Nancy said...

Cassondra, I dipped into Google to see if I could find out when the bridesmaid uniformity thing started, and I couldn't. Also, I don't trust any old website. I want .edu at the end of it or else footnotes.

Tawny said...

P226 said: Us guys have the wedding thing so easy.

Rent a tux.

Return the tux.


um... have you seen some of those blue tuxes???

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

A groom did faint in my home church once. The humidity was up, and the church had no AC, and I guess he was nervous.
Snork. Or he was hungover from the party the night before. STeve has a great story about that. He and all his Special Forces cronies were groomsmen, ushers and Best Men in all of each others' weddings. (I've been in only one wedding, Steve has made up for it by being in at least 20).

They had a helluva party the night before, all of them drinking way too much, and complete with going to a strip club and the whole deal (don't get me started on that). The day of the wedding they were all up there for the ceremony. I think there were eight groomsmen plus the best man. This was a BIG wedding for around here.

The groom wanted all the guys to be equally involved in marrying him off, so they did this thing where the last guy in the line carried the ring. When the time came, he would take the ring out, pass it up the line to the next guy, and all of them would touch the ring before it came to the best man and then the groom.

Well, they were all lined up like the striking bunch of soldiers they were (they were each in a tux, not uniform thank goodness) just about to "pass the ring" when one of the guys finally gave in to overdoing it the night before and pitched head first into the floor. Passed out right there on the church floor in front of God and everybody.

The guys didn't blink an eye, didn't break formation. Steve was right beside the one who passed out, so he and the soldier on the guys other arm immediately bent over, grabbed the passed-out one by the elbows, and drug him back and into a room at the side of the altar. The other groomsmen stepped right up and closed ranks into a tight line until Steve got back and slid right back in. One of the ushers stepped into place to escort the abandoned bridesmaid, and nary a word was spoken during the whole thing.

Teamwork. I'm tellin ya.

(Oh, and the bridesmaids' dresses were big and poofy and emerald green satin. Eight of 'em. That's a lot of emerald green satin.)

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: You don't sound like you were a nutso bride at all. Actually, I can't see you being nutso, Nancy. You're too practical. I guess it's a lawyer thing. Thank you, Cassondra. I appreciate that. It did feel a little nutso at the time--I mean, a veil really is an accessory, not the main thing.

And I do try to be pracitcal, but it doesn't always work. Regardless of the framed paper on the wall, we have trouble staying organized, and we have way too much loose paper around because of both being writers and teachers. I get obsessive about finding things, and the dh quickly learned the warning signs. When I start rummaging and scowling, he says, "What are you looking for?"

(It's invariably something I had a short time ago or put somewhere "safe" so I wouldn't lose it. Which virtually guarantees I'll lose it.)

Then he says, "Go sit down, and I'll find it." And he does, which is simultaneously sweet and infuriating. Why couldn't I find it, for crying out loud?

When we were dating, though, he did something really sweet. I couldn't find my hand lotion--Vaseline Intensive Care in the yellow bottle, not exactly boutique. He watched me search a while before he said, "That costs, what? $1.99 a bottle or something? Just buy some more."

I informed him the price was not the point. It was there somewhere, and I wanted to know where.

The next evening, he showed up with a bottle of Vaseline Intensive Care lotion and a vase of 3 (matching) yellow carnations. "So you can stop worrying about it," he said, and in the circumstances, I felt I had to. (I'd taken the missing bottle to work, where I didn't think to look because it didn't belong there.)

This was an early sign that he might be, as my fisherman dad would've said, "a keeper."

Beth Andrews said...

Love reading about everyone's BM dresses! I haven't had any horror stories but none that I wore again either. My older sister picked out a midnight blue, T-length dress with a high neckline and a lace overlay and since this was the end of the 80's, we had one of those pointy headbands.

My younger sister picked a very pretty mauve, floor length dress. Very simple and flattering to the bridal party. I thought about having it shortened to wear again but then realized I'd NEVER wear it again so I donated it to Goodwill :-)

And I have to admit, the dresses for my wedding weren't the best. They were red and very similar to my older sister's BM dresses. Can't remember if my BMs wore a headband though. I'll have to check my pictures *g*

Oh, and I had one dress made when I was in a friend's wedding. It was deep green, puffy sleeves and made of the shiniest material EVER. And it was the hottest day of the summer so in the pictures we all look sweaty and wrinkled and wrung out *g*

Nancy said...

Cassondra wrote: The other groomsmen stepped right up and closed ranks into a tight line until Steve got back and slid right back in. One of the ushers stepped into place to escort the abandoned bridesmaid, and nary a word was spoken during the whole thing.

Teamwork. I'm tellin ya.
. . .

Indeed, as my buddy Teal'c would say. That's impressive.

Steve was in 20 weddings? Wow! I hope he got to do some of them in uniform. That's a lot of tux rental.

And yeah, that's a whole lotta emerald satin! They sound sort of like the dress I made, which had 8 yards of fabric just in the skirt--which was never a problem except when going up stairs and taking a nosedive from stepping on it.

Nancy said...

Beth, depending on the shade, I bet that green looked good on you.

I just started A Not So Perfect Past and am getting into it. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Cassondra said...

Nancy said:

Steve was in 20 weddings? Wow! I hope he got to do some of them in uniform. That's a lot of tux rental.
Alas, no. Tux rental. Every one. Because some of the guys were "still in" and others were "out" and the brides always wanted everybody to match. And it's about 20, yeah. I haven't counted the exact number, but he's been in a bunch 'o weddings. A lot of them were before we met. But I get the stories confirmed by all of his buddies.

Nancy said...

Psst, Cassondra--if you want to see a quiet form of nutso, go to Star Trek with me.

PinkPeony said...

Nancy...you know the saying..the best laid plans...and then it all goes to pot!
I tried very hard to be organized when we got married. Ha!I wanted to do something special for the guests, many of whom flew in for the event. I made baskets of fruit and homemade cookies and sent up to their rooms at the hotel with a note to join us for a post-wedding brunch the next morning...of course, the bellhops put some of them in the wrong rooms and the next morning, there were some people at the brunch who were politely asked to leave. :-O And maybe it's because I'm a control freak of sorts but I went out and bought six pairs of mens' black dress socks because I just KNEW it would happen..and it did. While I'm trying to get into my gown, my dad, my hubby's father and brother were knocking on the door asking if my hubby had a pair of extra dress socks. I still remember my mother shrieking at my dad who said he wanted to wear white crew socks with his tux.

Nancy said...

PinkPeony, just thinking of doing baskets of cookies and fruit puts you way ahead of me. Between work and people coming into town, I was at the point of, "Let's just get this done."

Waking up in San Francisco the next morning, with not one blessed thing on the agenda except whatever moved us at the moment, was all the sweeter for the chaos that had gone before.

You also wrote: I still remember my mother shrieking at my dad who said he wanted to wear white crew socks with his tux.LOL! I know guys who pay close attention to every part of the outfit--but not the socks! Very foresighted of you, buying extra.

Cassondra said...

Pink Peony said:

but I went out and bought six pairs of mens' black dress socks because I just KNEW it would happen..and it did. Actually that's really good planning. Extra hose, safety pins, and extra dress socks for the guys.

PinkPeony said...

Nancy...you got married in SF?

Nancy said...

PinkPeony wrote: Nancy...you got married in SF? . . .

Oops, no! Sorry. We honeymooned in SF. Got married in my home church in NC. That is the first and only time the dh has ever worn formal clothing of any kind.

At least since he turned in his high school band uniform. . . .

Tawny said...

Nancy, someday, you HAVE to do a romantic comedy. You are so dang funny. You keep denying it, but it's true. you are.

Yep, totally what Cassondra said :-)

Tawny said...


What? You've never ended up in a mint green tux with a pink cumerbund or some such other horror?
OR baby blue. Ohhh yeah, the baby blue tux LOL.

P226, you lucked out with the dress blues!!! But I do--greatly--appreciate your wife's aim with that shoe LOL

Tawny said...

Pat, you are SO lucky. Although I have to say, I'd probably pick the couple hours in a butt-ugly dress over having to plan and placate. I'm great at the planning... but placating? Uh uhn.

Tawny said...

:-( I'm so so sorry, Anna. I didn't mean to traumatize you!!! What a horrible experience :-( And OMG what a LOUSY dress choice. Holy cow, a mini? WOW...

I'll make it up to you in the bar in DC ;-)

Tawny said...

Nancy said: Tawny, I almost got married in a hat, though I had no intention of inflicting headgear on my friends....
But see... you're nicer than I am LOL

I did the hat for the ceremony but took it off afterward. It was sooo purty. Very victorian, very foofy. I have a lot of hair, so the hat didn't smoosh much.

But my poor bridesmaids... hatin' me.

Tawny said...

Trish said: I noticed the picture in the post from 27 Dresses. I really liked that movie.

Okay, I definitely need to see that movie.

and your bm dress sounds lovely, Trish. Green would be gorgeous on you.

Tawny said...

Susan asked:
Now. Who got my boobs?
*raising hand*

Tawny said...

Helen - your dress sounds so elegant!!! I think its cool when the bm dresses echo the brides -very classy. And viva la April Weddings!!!! Happy Anniversary to you, too!

Tawny said...

You have no idea how disconcerting it is, though, to open the drawer & find a bra sitting there with the boobs already in it. :-)Oh.

My.

*snort* You slay me!!!!

Nancy said...

Tawny, a picture-type hat would not be bad bridesmaid gear. All the other stuff people have described, though? Puh-LEEZE!

And thanks for liking my sense of humor.

Cassondra said...

I think I've seen a wedding picture of Tawny's with the hat and she looked Gawgeous.

But wait....wasn't your hubby in a blue tux? Or am I remembering wrong?

And Tawny, you promised to confess about what you, as Bridezilla, inflicted upon your bridesmaids. Was it just the hats? Were these hats like yours? (I think that was a very pretty hat) or were they some other, less gorgeous, hats?

Caren Crane said...

Cassondra, you have to see '27 Dresses'. It's great!

Jo, I have a horrifying mother-of-the-groom story. Same wedding where I wore the periwinkle/size 20/highly modified dress. My now BIL's mother refused to go shopping for a dress. My mother bought a lovely dress that coordinated and called to tell the future MIL what it looked like. My sister asked her a number of times if she had found anything. The woman was hostile (she still is).

She ended up wearing a red dress with white polka dots. I kid you not! My sister wore a candlelight dress (lovely), we were in periwinkle, my mother was in a light taupe and the MIL was in red with white polka dots. She is the Monster-In-Law for sure!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Nancy said: I'm so sorry your mom's dress got cut down. Taking scissors to a potential heirloom makes me cringe.

No, no! Not MY mom's dress, this is in the movie, 27 Dresses. :>

No one better get anywhere NEAR my mom's dress with anything sharp...

Fedora said...

Hi, Tawny! I've been a bridesmaid a handful of times resulting in several burgundy dresses (one's been reworn a couple times, but I've misplaced a couple--that closet seems to be eating clothes...), a short off-the-shoulder blue dress (never reworn), a pale pink lacy "princess"-type dress (never reworn!), and a teal tea-length dress with poofy sleeves (definitely never reworn). The two bridesmaids in my wedding wore taupe colored sleeveless dresses (similar in color to the background on the sides here, actually). I actually stole one back from my sister and have reworn it a couple times ;p Heh!

Congrats on the GR, Suz!

Tawny said...

Oh Pink Peony... what a heinous list of dresses!!!! I like your answer - no bm, just adorable flower girls!!! Much less pain in the long run.

Tawny said...

P226 said: Back later. I'll be searching my wife's dresser drawers if anyone needs me. *snort*

Nancy said...

Caren, who wears polka dots to a wedding? Dotted Swiss is one thing, but polka dots? Glad she's not my MIL!

Nancy said...

Jeanne--whew! Glad it was not your mom's dress. I've only seen 27 Dresses in bits and pieces on HBO, so I missed that part!

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Oh, sweet Lord, Caren, RED polka-dots? OMGosh. How horrible!

Tawny said...

Oh man, Nancy. What a sucky deal. That is just all bad customer service. You know, there might be a time that bridezilla actions ARE justified... that's definitely one of them.

I'm glad you cut your losses with them - that kind of service definitely doesn't deserve rewarded.

Nancy said...

Flchen, it's great you had such versatile dresses. Kind of makes up for all the scrambling around of the wedding.

Tawny said...

Oh Jeanne!!! Cut up your mom's wedding dress? Thats just... oh man :-( I'd cry too.

When I was little, I wanted to wear my Gramma's wedding dress. But its pure white satin and white just doesn't look good on me (hmmm, so non-angelic, eh?) but I have high hopes that one of my girls will wear it. I can't even imagine cutting it up!!!!! Sacrilege.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Hey Tawny, you'll read down to where it says not MY dress...talking about the movie.

Wow, your Mama's dress sounds gorgeous, but satin is heavy. The underskirt on Mama's dress was satin. VERY hot.

Cassondra, my ex-FIL, whom I adore BTW, had some of the funnnnnniest stories about fainting brides and grooms. Sad/funny and funny/pathetic, and just outright hysterical.

Jeanne (AKA The Duchesse) said...

Meant to say too, before I precipitously hit SEND, that I never heard of any of the fainting groomsmen/brides/bridesmaids handling it with the grace and aplomb Steve and his buddies did. WOW!

Tawny said...

LOL on the pointy headbands, Beth. I think there is a special industry devoted to creating bridal headwear to perfectly match the bm gowns (aka, a special kind of ugly)

I think you'd be gorgeous in green though. The shiny, sweaty, wrinkled part maybe not so much though *g*

Tawny said...

I just started A Not So Perfect Past and am getting into it. Can't wait to see how it turns out!

Oh Oh Oh!!! I know!!!

its awesome :-)

Tawny said...

Cassondra said: I think I've seen a wedding picture of Tawny's with the hat and she looked Gawgeous.

But wait....wasn't your hubby in a blue tux? Or am I remembering wrong?

And Tawny, you promised to confess about what you, as Bridezilla, inflicted upon your bridesmaids. Was it just the hats? Were these hats like yours? (I think that was a very pretty hat) or were they some other, less gorgeous, hats?
...

I don't have many pix on the computer from my wedding, but I do have one with my hat - http://blog.tawnyweber.com/family/

:-) The story behind the hat craze goes like this... When one of my cousins was married, I was around 12. My dad, at the time, was a bit of a hippie. After the wedding I was doing that pre-teen dreaming out loud about what my wedding would be like and my uncle told me that I'd be lucky to get my dad in a suit, let alone a tux. Now, a complete daddy's girl, I assured my uncle that my daddy would wear a tux --and a top hat-- if I asked him. Uncle bet me $50.

Many MANY years later... my dad showed up with a hat. I was already wearing a hat instead of a veil, so, well, I got so sentimentally carried away, I made my bridesmaids wear hats too. Big straw hats. Floppy cream ones. with simple floral garden dresses and short cream cloves and pearls and ugly cream shoes.

Oh so ugly.

Hubby, gorgeous hunk that he was, wore a charcoal gray tux with tails :-)

Pissenlit said...

Nancy - "I'm sorry" never appeared in her dialogue.

Ugh, what a horror story. Reminds me of my mum's story of how on her wedding day, the flower delivery shows up and they were totally NOT the flowers or bouquet arrangements she ordered but by then it was way too late to do anything about them. That marriage is done and over with but my mum still tells that story 'cause she's peeved she didn't get what she paid for...that and 'cause they were so ugly.

My friend whom I stood up for, her veil story is totally her own fault. She was going to wear her mother's veil and ordered her wedding dress in ivory(instead of the white she wanted) to match the veil. Then she took the veil to the dry cleaners. Turns out the veil was white after all. :D

Tawny said...

Caren said: She ended up wearing a red dress with white polka dots. I kid you not! My sister wore a candlelight dress (lovely), we were in periwinkle, my mother was in a light taupe and the MIL was in red with white polka dots. She is the Monster-In-Law for sure!

OMG. Polka dots? Red? Tasteless AND rude.

Tawny said...

LOL Fedora- GO you! Now that's a good looking dress if you're willing to steal it and wear it over and over again! But oooooh boy, you've had some stinkers, huh?

Tawny said...

Whew, Jeanne!!! So glad that wasn't your mom's dress.

Pissenlit said...

Tawny - But that is a pretty dress... I like the floaty chiffon *g*

Ya, it wasn't that bad. And though super bright red, I suppose it's better than a good number of colours it could've been. It was pretty darned comfy too. Though, all us bridesmaids called the boobage hangy bit our scarf and kept tossing it around our necks before the actual wedding. :D

Tawny said...

ROFL at the veil color, Pissenlit *g* But oh that bites about your mom's flowers.

Tawny said...

Though, all us bridesmaids called the boobage hangy bit our scarf and kept tossing it around our necks before the actual wedding.LOL - I'm a firm believer that it takes a sense of humor to make it through a wedding, so that makes perfect sense to me.

and thanks, btw, for the new word *g* Boobage. I'm gonna be using that!!

Pissenlit said...

Tawny - I'm a firm believer that it takes a sense of humor to make it through a wedding, so that makes perfect sense to me.

and thanks, btw, for the new word *g* Boobage. I'm gonna be using that!!

I'll say! Oh the issues that day! It started off with us TOTALLY late for pictures 'cause at the hairdresser's it took an older more experienced lady, LOADS of hairspray, some hair glue stuff out of a small tube, 82 regular bobby pins, 4 giant bobby pins and 3 decorative bobby pins just to keep my thick really straight hair up in a simple french twist. Stress! We were totally out of our minds by the time we started with the scarf antics!(at least that's what I'm blaming...)

And you're more than welcome to the word, "boobage". *snicker*

Anna Campbell said...

Hmm, Tawny, I think you deserve 200 comments! By the way, the blog has been jumpin' lately! Fantastic stuff. So here's another on the way to that total!

Tawny said...

Oh MAN - what a nightmare on the hair situation, Pissenlit (btw, I still giggle whenever I type your name *g*) I'd have been trying to strangle someone with the boobage scarf at that point LOL.

Tawny said...

Awww, Anna -thanks ;-) I'm all for making it bigger!!!

The numbers, that is ;-)

Anna Campbell said...

Yeah, sure, Tawn! You wouldn't make a double entendre, would you? I mean, that's like saying the Pope's Catholic!

Hey, that's 199!!!

Tawny said...

Who, Me? C'mon, Anna, you know I wouldn't deliberately make naughty comments. They just sort of, well, slip out *snicker*

and that, m'dear, is 200

Woooot!!!!

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