Looking good and wearing what you want…Wyatt Olson Photography
When it came to decisions about what to have our awesome bridal parties wear, we were actually really inspired by the Real Gay Weddings here on SYE! In particular, we loved the colors and relaxed style of Gretchen and Erin’s wedding, inspiring our Best Men outfit discussions, and the versatility of Karen and Amber’s 10-way bridesmaids dresses which Alex was immediately looking up and emailing out to all our bridal party ladies.
We pretty much left our Maids of Honor in charge of corralling the bridesmaids into a look (i.e. doing some online research for affordable dresses and then emailing them, basically), but we did start off with a few basic ideas. Red was our central color for the day, but as I was wearing red, the ladies couldn’t wear red too. So, we went with the next color in our decoration hierarchy: brown, chocolate-ish/country-esque brown. We also knew that I would be wearing cowboy boots so we encouraged the ladies to buy the pair they always wanted, use the ones they never saw in their closets or borrow them from anyone willing! For a nano-second, it did cross our minds to go down the ‘buy this dress from a big wedding/fashion store’ route, but it didn’t sit well with us and it didn’t fit our ladies.
We were also really conscious that the majority of our bridal party wasn’t making bank and the cost of a have-to-have outfit in addition to the travel costs to get up to Northern California (it’s remote) would be considerable. So, we let each of them know that while some great brown dresses could be found at J Crew, we were also OK with whatever they found in a thrift/vintage store, had in their closets, or borrowed from a friend.
Don’t they look pretty?
Alex and her ladies. Two dresses on right are from J Crew, dress on the left is vintage.
Me and my ladies. Right to left: J Crew, borrowed, and last two previously owned & swapped between them!
For accessories, both Maids of Honor looked into red necklaces of some kind to tie them all together, but in the end we relied on the color, the cowboy boots (all but one wore them, and that was OK by us), and our sassy buttons to coordinate them. Each bridesmaid received a white knot ribbon, a button that read ‘I’m with the bride(s)’ and a button-sized piece of London. (Separate from their outfits, they also loved their wedding gifts, which in the end were the buttons, Guidelines to Love by K. Bradford Brown and a London Transport postcard from us.)
The ladies ended up looking fabulous and SO them. I mean, each of them showed up in outfits that not only fit their body type, but their personalities as well. That, to us, made all the difference.
We think they were pretty happy about it, too.
Looking sassy at the photo shoot. Buttons & boots in full display.
Half of the wedding party, looking gorgeous and enjoying some cocktails! Job well done, ladies!
Photo credit: first three photos by Wyatt Olson Photography, last two photos personal.
Everyone looks amazing!!
I think I’m going have to go down that route. Our colors are chocolate brown and a darkish teal color, I forget the name but it is going to be impossible for everyone to match so I like how it is all fell together for you two.
So pretty! Everyone looked great!!
Love the color choices Cynthia! I’m all about the eclectic…!
These pictures are fantastic Erica! I absolutely love this trend toward letting bridesmaids pic any dress in a certain color- even better when they get to reuse and swap dresses they already have!!!