My bridesmaids dresses

[anchor31]

I went dress shopping with my sister (MOH) and my BFF (BM) on the 9th, but I seem to have forgotten to post about it...

It went amazingly well, I''m still a little surprised! Really, they both (yes, my sister too) were so wonderful and patient, trying on at least 20 dresses and never complaining. Someone must have talked to my sister (she has a friend who''s sister''s getting married on July 7th, so I suspect it''s her) because if I''d told her "I want you to wear this dress", she would have. We even had fun, laughing at tops that made my sister look like a bouncer (she has great, strong shoulders and arms, and some tops really exagerrated it) and colours that made my BFF look sickly (she has a very pale complexion, so pale colours didn''t suit her at all).

I went to try on dresses from Alfred Angelo, and they pretty much tried on everything that was simple (no pick-ups, ruffles or beading, as per my request) and long (as per their request). I wanted sapphire blue, and we picked out the indigo colour. It''s gorgeous and looks wonderful on both girls. We also decided to go with satin because it looked more flattering.

My sister ended up picking out a separates combo (I thought she would), with a simple top with slightly beaded straps (my sister is thrilled with not having to wear jewellery!) and a rolled band neckline and an A-line skirt, and my BFF an A-line one-piece dress with straps and some soft-looking rushing at the waist. The silhouette of both dresses is very similar so they look great together, and the subtle differences are just enough to express the two girls different personalities.

They are very happy with their dresses, and I''m absolutely thrilled that they found something they love that fits my wedding so perfectly.

On the down side... Netbride suddenly doesn''t sell AA dresses anymore!

The second store we visited offred to sell them both for 450$ total, we''d be saving 50$... Still, my wedding dress would cost me 400$ through netbride, so I''m pretty horrified that my BM dresses will be so expensive. My parents will pay for my sister''s dress since she''ll be completely broke coming back from her year in Australia, and my BFF has absolutely no issues with paying 225$ for her dress... But the frugal bride in me is very uncomfortable. My Godmother, who used to own a clothing store, might be able to get our dresses at wholesale cost, we''ll have to wait and see if she still is authorized to do so. Darn money...

Pics to follow!

 

[anchor31]

Photoshop montage of my sister''s dress.

 

[anchor31]

Closeup of my sister''s top.

 

[anchor31]

My BFF's dress (the sweep train will be cut off).

 

[anchor31]

Ugh. I''ve been trying to upload a pic to show the indigo colour, but for some reason it doesn''t work. Maybe later!

 

[labbielove]

Anchor,
My sisters (3) are all wearing the AA separates in Wine.
they loved them, and all went to shops in their respective cities to try on.

We ordered ours from Pearls Place, an actual shop on Louisiana but I''d heard here and on the knot that they take a ton of phone orders, and will ship direct.

We got the AA separates for either $103 or $110 each, can''t remember,
plus no tax

i paid 100 bucks extra for the rush, but you wouldn''t need that.

now, they are not the warm and fuzzy type over the phone, and you have to know the size that you want (you can''t give them measurements) but my sisters fit well into the store samples and/or we gauged up or down based on that and the AA size chart (if you google you can find it)

I hope that may help you with the prices?

 

[robbie3982]

Very pretty dresses! That sounds really pricey for AA! I definitely recommend shopping around to find them cheaper. Did you go to an actual AA store? If not, I would definitely try there since that seems like a really high markup!

 

[sumbride]

Love the dresses! Are you talking Canadian Dollars or US dollars? Those prices do seem high.

The AA stores seem to have bridesmaid sales every other month or so. It''s not a lot off the price, but it''s something. We actually got a better price on our AA dresses through a small salon than at the store though. I didn''t price them online.

 

[anchor31]

Date: 6/22/2007 11:06:43 AM
Author: labbielove
Anchor,
My sisters (3) are all wearing the AA separates in Wine.
they loved them, and all went to shops in their respective cities to try on.

We ordered ours from Pearls Place, an actual shop on Louisiana but I''d heard here and on the knot that they take a ton of phone orders, and will ship direct.

We got the AA separates for either $103 or $110 each, can''t remember,
plus no tax

i paid 100 bucks extra for the rush, but you wouldn''t need that.

now, they are not the warm and fuzzy type over the phone, and you have to know the size that you want (you can''t give them measurements) but my sisters fit well into the store samples and/or we gauged up or down based on that and the AA size chart (if you google you can find it)

I hope that may help you with the prices?

Thanks for the recommendation. I do have the sizes (10 and 6), so that would be no problem. Have your dresses come in? Are you happy with them?

 

[anchor31]

Date: 6/22/2007 11:49:20 AM
Author: robbie3982
Very pretty dresses! That sounds really pricey for AA! I definitely recommend shopping around to find them cheaper. Did you go to an actual AA store? If not, I would definitely try there since that seems like a really high markup!

We don''t seem to have actual AA stores around here. I''ll try shopping around, but it''s not easy... The two stores we went to are the only AA BM retailers in the area, and I would be comfortable buying online or by phone only if the store comes highly recommended (like netbride).

 

[Mandarine]

Great to hear everything is going well with your sister!!! Makes me happy for you!

The dresses are cute!!!!

M~

 

[Mandarine]

You should try the following online stores for prices

www.rkbridal.com (this is where I'm getting my dress!)...it;s a store in NY, great prices.
www.leephilipbridals.com ..the owner (Stcie) replies very quickly to all inquiries!

Good luck!

M~


ETA: Also try houseofbrides.com

All those are highly recommended by girls from the Knot (check out "The dress" forum on the knot)

 

[anchor31]

Date: 6/22/2007 12:04:27 PM
Author: sumbride
Love the dresses! Are you talking Canadian Dollars or US dollars? Those prices do seem high.

The AA stores seem to have bridesmaid sales every other month or so. It''s not a lot off the price, but it''s something. We actually got a better price on our AA dresses through a small salon than at the store though. I didn''t price them online.

I''m talking Canadian dollars, sorry for the confusion. My sister''s dress was quoted for 200$ (about 175$ US) and my BFF''s dress 220$ (about 190$ US), plus sales taxes, which comes up to a total of 480$ (about 420$ US). The second store offered to round it off to 450$ (about 390$ US). Does that seem more reasonable?

 

[akw94]

Anchor, the dresses are very pretty! It''s nice that you had such a nice day with your sister!

 

[labbielove]

Date: 6/22/2007 12:49:31 PM
Author: anchor31

Date: 6/22/2007 11:06:43 AM

Author: labbielove

Anchor,

My sisters (3) are all wearing the AA separates in Wine.

they loved them, and all went to shops in their respective cities to try on.


We ordered ours from Pearls Place, an actual shop on Louisiana but I''d heard here and on the knot that they take a ton of phone orders, and will ship direct.


We got the AA separates for either $103 or $110 each, can''t remember,

plus no tax


i paid 100 bucks extra for the rush, but you wouldn''t need that.


now, they are not the warm and fuzzy type over the phone, and you have to know the size that you want (you can''t give them measurements) but my sisters fit well into the store samples and/or we gauged up or down based on that and the AA size chart (if you google you can find it)


I hope that may help you with the prices?

Thanks for the recommendation. I do have the sizes (10 and 6), so that would be no problem. Have your dresses come in? Are you happy with them?

the dresses haven''t come in yet, i ordered on may 17th with a rush, and the non-rush time they quoted as 3 months, so i should probably have them within the next month or so.
i know shops around here were quoting anywhere from 168-180 USD for the dresses, and since i''m paying for them (although they don''t that yet!) i was quite happy to find them so much cheaper.
i''m fingers crossed that there is no problems with the dresses, but don''t anticipate any. i felt more comfortable with pearls place since it''s an actual store (i.e. they answer phones!)