7 (ish) more months to go-The Dress...for my BM's

We just passed our 7 month marker! I feel like we've done a lot in the planning process but also that we have so much left to do.

Things we've checked off of our list:-Ceremony venue & reception hall
-photographer & e-pics (first session)-DJ
-Transportation (We're taking a trolley from the church to reception)
-My Dress & shoes :-)
-MOH Dress
-BM Dresses :-)-Flowers
-Honeymoon Booked! St. Lucia, here we come!!

Things we have left to do:
Too many to remember...

So, here's the scoop with the bridesmaid dresses. Awhile back, I wrote about shopping for BM dresses with 3 of my girls. After this shopping trip I was torn on what to do. It didn't help that the girls looked great in almost every single dress. I wanted the dresses to be knee-length and easily wearable again, either to another wedding or some sort of function. I fell in love with a few dresses from LulaKate, however the price was more than I wanted each girl to spend. So, I asked my bridesmaids how much they would feel comfortable spending on a dress. Most of them gave me a general answer of, "Whatever you like, it's your day we'll pay whatever." With the exception of one, which I appreciated for her honesty. She gave me an amount that was well under what I was asking them to pay. So I thought about it a little more and I decided to go with the nicest, best looking bridesmaid dresses. And the best part is that they got to pick their own skirt that would best flatter them.

I went with two different styles of LulaKate dresses. The Maggie and the Pearl. Each girl will be alternating styles. I let my sister pick which one she wanted to wear because she is going to be my maid of honor and I put my friend, Rachel, in the line up of where she would fall the wear the Maggie since I knew she would feel most comfortable in a one strap as opposed to a strapless. Everything else just fell into place.

The color of the dresses will be passion, which is a shade of purple. Each girl can pick out whatever shoes they want, as long as they're silver.

Above is an example of the color...

And here's an example of the two styles together...

The girls are very excited for their dresses and I can't wait to see how lovely they will all look in them.

Decisions, Decisions

Yesterday, 3 of my bridesmaids and I set off to look for the PERFECT bridesmaid's dress. I have 7 girls in my party and not one of them is shaped like the next. I brought my sister with me, who's got more curves, my cousin who's just tall muscular (she runs track for UW-Whitewater) and one of LC's sisters who's shape resembles my sister's but just a bit smaller and shorter. I was worried that it was going to be stressful having 3 different opinions, but we had a lot of fun! I enjoyed playing dress up with my girls.

The first store we went to was Miss Ruby. It was the first time I had ever gone into a little boutique type store like this. When we got there the sales associate explained how the store was set up and we were left to sift through the dresses and find ones that we all liked. We found a good amount to try on and even a few of the dresses were in the running.

Allison in Jim Hjelm Style JH5051

After our appointment at Miss Ruby, we went and got lunch. Our next appointment was at Bella Bridesmaid. Before I got engaged, I had never heard of Bella Bridesmaid and didn't realize that it was a franchise until a few weeks ago when I realized they had one in Chicago too. I went on their website and saw the different designers they had at their store. I was love but I knew that if we went there and I found something I loved, chances were that it would be more than I wanted my girls to spend on dresses. I had actually thought of canceling the appointment because of the price point, but I didn't and I'm so happy that we went there.

First of all, I want to say that customer service was PHENOMENAL!! This is really important to me because I deal with clients all day at work and I know how that can make or break a sale. From the moment we walked in there and were greeted by Kathleen, I knew we were in good hands. She asked if I had been to their website and asked if there were any designers that stuck out to me. There was one in particular, LulaKate. I had first discovered LulaKate from Nina over at According to Nina. She was looking for bridesmaid dresses for her own wedding. I went onto Lulakate's website and immediately fell in love. These dresses would be perfect for what I was looking for. And what I love most about them is that they don't look too "bridesmaidsy". I could easily pick a dress out of the collection and wear it to a shower or rehearsal dinner. So, I picked out the dresses that I liked. A few from LulaKate and a few from Jenny Yoo. Here are a few of my faves.

Kelly, Allison and Melissa all in Jenny Yoo dresses

The rest of the pictures, the girls are in LulaKate, you can see which one I favored

Kathleen said not to make any decisions until the dresses were clipped and fitted to each girl. She also took the time to add sashes to the dress and add some broaches for some added bling. If I had to rate them on my experience I would give Kathleen an A for wonderful customer service. I even left with a little personalized card, that she hand wrote, thanking me for coming in. She also wrote down the dresses that I liked along with their cost and the name of the color I am looking for. And since I have 7 bridesmaids, I have decided to do 2 types of dresses with each girl alternating styles. One dress will be strapless and the other dress with have one strap.

After leaving the third ward, we traveled west to Brookfield and shopped at Savvy Bride. This was our last stop for the day. I love this store. I've been here before to look for dresses and this is where I got my bridesmaid's dress for Becky's wedding. However, I was a little disappointed in their customer service and their selection of dresses. The woman who was supposed to be "helping" us was no where to be found. And when I did find her she was watching a bride try on dresses. It was annoying. Needless to say, we did find some that we liked and that were in a good price range.

I just love the look of the two dresses together!

Allison in Bill Levkoff Style 527

So, now I have to make the final decision to pick one of these or to keep looking. Honestly, the only thing holding me back from the LulaKate dresses is the price that each girl would have to pay. I know that they would never say anything to me about it, but 3 of my girls are in college and one just had a little baby so I have to keep their financial situations in mind. Any kind of advice would be really helpful right now!

Meet my Bridal Pary

Tonight I finished my killer of a summer class. I could not be more happy or relieved to have had this day over with. Now I can relax, breath and enjoy what's left of my summer. And I now I have time to blog about my upcoming wedding :-)

Choosing my bridal party was a lot more difficult than I had wanted it to. Choosing my maid of honor was the easy part. I have one sister and she's my best friend in the whole wide world. She knows everything there is to know about me, even more so than my fiance :-) But the rest of the gang was a bit more difficult. I wanted a smaller party around 5. We have 7. I felt that it was necessary to include LC's two sisters since he's their one & only brother. And I wanted to include my only female cousin on my mom's side. So we're up to 4 girls, just family no friends. I've been BFFs with the same group of girls since I was 12. How can I pick just one? So I chose 3. Originally, I had chosen 2 childhood friends, and one college friend to complete my remaining 3. Well, within the past few months, the college friend and I had a big falling out (long, long story) and her and I are no longer talking. I was going to keep it at 6 but then decided to ask a good friend of mine, who I kind of lost contact with in college, but she was that friend that I knew I could call and she would listen to me or be there for me in whatever situation I was in. A true friend.

So here are my leading ladies! I could not be more happy and content with my decision in who I asked to be standing next to me on one of my most important days.

MOH-Melissa (my sister)

My sister. Best friend. Therapist. Travel Buddy. Hotel on drill weekends :-). She's got the most amazing heart and a truly genuinely good person down to her core. We still get in our spats, but I would be one lonely (and spoiled) child without the girl in my life.

Alli-Bridesmaid/Cousin

She's my only cousin on my mom's side and my godfather's daughter. My wedding day just wouldn't be complete with out this little ray of sunshine :-) She's hilarious, and was always the funny/entertaining granddaughter when the 3 of us were together.

Cristen & Kelly-Bridesmaids & future SIL's

Cristen is LC's youngest sister and child of the clan and Kelly is his younger/older sister, if that makes sense to anyone. I'm very happy that I've been blessed with two wonderful future sister in laws. Kelly's a teacher in IL. and Cristen is currently working on her education degree.

Bax-Bridesmaid/BFF since 7th Grade

I can't really pinpoint how this girl and I became such great friends, but she has been a great friend to me over the years. I love her because she's so honest and not afraid to say what's on her mind. I'm looking forward to standing up in her wedding, September 18th.

Rachie-Bridesmaid/BFF

Rachel & I met in 6th grade. We became fast friends through our love for the YMCA :-) When my mom first met her, her hair was green and she wasn't too fond of that fact, but Rachel quickly won my mother's heart with her bubbly personality. We've seen each other through a lot and I know I can count on her for anything. She's a wonderful person and has a very kind heart.

Dani-Bridesmaid/BFF

BFF. Both born on the 2nd of a month (that's how we became such great friends). Troublemaker. Partner in crime. Stolen cars. This pretty much sums up our friendship. I love this girl because she keeps me laughing, and although we lost touch for a while in college, we always picked up right where we left off. Dani has shown me the true meaning of friendship & that's why I love her so much!