Category — maids

As you may or may not know, all the ladies in my wedding party rocked J. Crew.  So I may be a little biased. But I think all flower girls should get to wear these dresses. And with all of these dresses coming in under $100, there really is no excuse not to.

loving this picture (and those dresses!) shot by Hugh Forte.

My ladies, from left to right: Natalie, Lauren, Megan, Megan (youngest sister), Samantha (middle sister and MOH) and Lisa. I have known these girls since 6th grade (except for my sisters, obviously) and I absolutely adore them!  It is such a blessing to have friends who know you, the real you, the braces in 9th grade you, the ex-boyfriends you, the you you. You know?  They were rock stars, watching the SATC movie the night before and waking up at 4:45 to get the day going… Rock. Stars. And girls, even though you don’t read my blog, I still love you

(Yes, I am the oldest and the shortest… go figure.)

We got the bridesmaid dresses at J. Crew. I played with the idea of letting them all choose their own dress, but when it came down to it, I love the look of all of the girls matching.  I searched and searched for the perfect marigold dress. Actually, I take that back, I searched and searched for the perfect grey dress, and I just couldn’t find any I loved. Then, one amazing day I saw the new J. Crew color swatches and I died.

I let the girls pick their own shoes in whatever color they wanted (originally I said gold or silver but eventually I just didn’t care anymore!), wear whatever jewelry they wanted and I let them decide if they wanted pro hair and make up.  I was so glad that they all agreed to buy the dress and didn’t want to put them out any more money.

Tips: Yes, letting your girls pick their own dresses (and therefore budget) is the new thing and matching dresses may seem like ’so last year’, but ultimately you have to do what feels best for you.  I really wanted matching dresses. Matching shoes? Not so important. Matching hair? No way. But that is just me. Do what feels best for you, and just make sure you take into consideration your maid’s budgets. Not everyone can afford to get their hair and make up done, and in the end you want everyone to be happy… and not regretting the fact that they said yes

(Just an FYI, flower girls are in another post)

All images from Studio 7 Photography. Hire them!!

I am in love with this paper chain idea for asking your friends to be your maids. Super cute.

(Seen on Once Wed, DIY by Anna of Rifle Design)

My cousin Mariah graduated today (congrats Mariah!) and afterwards when we went out to dinner my grandma shows up with 3 white cake stands to put cupcakes on. And wouldn’t you know it, 3 white cake stands are on my “to do/need” list!  A few hours later and I am now at home with three gorgeous cake stands. I love it when things are easy.

Speaking of easy, I have to send my hair girl pictures of how my bridesmaids want their hair. This picture pretty much sums it up:

(image from Matthew Morgan)

Oh and total side note, but I just finished reading My Sisters Keeper and the ending? Yeah, didn’t see that one coming. I am an easy crier, so the fact that I cried doesn’t say much, but still. I cried. Hard.  UPDATE: Since a few of you have read it… Alec Baldwin is sooooo not who I was picturing as the lawyer.

I always tell myself I will do a contest or something fun for my big posts. Well, turns out the veil post was number 500. woo hoo.  

anyways, this is number 501 (yay!) and it is all about the maids. Kind of.

I am struggling over what to get my bridesmaids. Jewelry? A clutch? If it was me I would want personalized letter-pressed stationary. But that is just me. And apparently not everyone is infatuated with letterpress (I know, I was surprised too).  I’ve got a pretty good list going on my wishpot right about now. You can see it here. Some of my favorite choices right now are…

(buy them here)

(buy it here)

(buy it here)

So many choices… Wishpot is great for making lists like these. I also have lists for me, around the house, things to wear (yes it is all J. Crew, I know ). It is good for lists. Although I will say it isn’t the best for using as a wish list/registry type of thing because you have to be a registered member in order to have it pop up that you purchased anything. Or something like that. We will just say that I got the same sweater from both my mother and my future mother in law because one of them wasn’t a registered member so she couldn’t see that it had been bought. Or something like that. Whatever. Basically, it is WONDERFUL for making lists

Yes. Yes. and Yes.  Everything I see these days I immediately think ‘bridesmaid gift!!’ but this one I may have to keep for myself…

(buy them here, first saw them here)

I am loving this wedding over at The Bride’s Cafe today. So fun!

Have you seen these new bridesmaid dresses at J. Crew? Love them. Particularly the lavender color. 

I got a few comments on the purple bridesmaid dresses so I contacted the bride. You are going to love me for this. They are from Davids Bridal Here are a few more pictures, all shot by Matthew Morgan and edited by me: