Dressing ze party

It is ironic that we write this entry during another wedding. (Betsy is even in her bridesmaid dress from Amy's wedding!) We are actually sitting in a starbucks in Emporia, the wedding was at 10am... and the reception is at 6pm... apparently we missed this one on our faux pas entry... mental note for the next wedding. (Actually, it is giving us a mini-vacation from Lawrence so we really are not that upset about it.

We are also about to finish our summer wedding tour, four weekends, four weddings! Starting in Minnesota with Betsy's cousin, Sarah. Then back home to plan Amy's wedding the next weekend. Then Tim and Megan Northup's was last week, and now Michael and Beth Onnen's! (Congratulations to everyone, by the way!)

Today we are breaching the topic of attire. This was actually a difficult area for Betsy, not being one of those girls who has planned her wedding since she was five, she had trouble deciding on colors, and then once the color was picked, which shade! Then came the dress style options, how does she find the color she likes with a dress style she wants? I will pass this over to her now, she can fill you in on all the details.

In thinking about bridesmaids dresses, there were a lot of options to consider. My priority was for me to find a way in which my bridesmaids can select a style of dress that they feel comfortable with and they would enjoy wearing (cookie cutter bridesmaids is not my style). At first, my idea was to pick a certain color from David's Bridal, and then give that color to my bridesmaids and have them pick any dress they like in that color. However, as David's Bridal did not have quite the right color that I envisioned, I considered other options.


I briefly debated on having each of my bridesmaids in different colors. I could have them in two different colors (2 in purple and 2 in green), or I could have all 4 in purple, just different shades of purple. Logistical questions popped into my head. If I just told all my bridesmaids to look for a full length dress they like in any shade of  purple, would it work or just look tacky? Maybe I can give each bridesmaid a swatch of a different shade purple? Would that be just too much work for them to find the right dress? In the end I decided that having a variety of shades AND a variety of style of dress would be too much that is different and I wanted more unity.

I was back to just wishing that David's Bridal would have the right color for me. I knew they came out with new colors every 6 months, but when I saw their new colors come in I was disappointed (no new purple shades). I googled bridal places and tried to look at color selections online but you can't trust the color you see. It is almost always different from the actual factory colors. It wasn't until I actually went to a bridal store (and it was for the occasion of my youngest sister trying on wedding dresses) and looked at the selection there. Mia's Bridal carries at least 15 different designer gowns. The designer I looked at that had the perfect color purple was Belsoie. I asked Mia's Bridal about the process for my bridesmaids to get dresses and it didn't seem so bad. What was nice was that all I had to do was give my bridesmaids the designer name (Belsoie) and color name (Bordeaux) and they just had to find a bridal shop that carries the designer. They did not have to specifically go to Mia's Bridal. This was awesome because one of my bridesmaids lived in Seattle. She did not have any trouble locating and picking a dress. Mia's even gave me a swatch of the color for free!! I was very pleased (finally) with the dress and color options.

Yay! My turn again! Now that the color has been chosen, the swatch picked up and the bridesmaids informed, we can pick out the tuxes!

There is a dance phrase that I think applies to weddings as well, and I am perfectly content in the truth of the phrase. "In [weddings] the guy is there to accent the girl, the girl is the focus, all eyes are on her, the guys job is to make her look good."

I am actually really excited about accenting my bride, I keep telling her she would still outshine me and steal the show in jeans and a t-shirt on our wedding day but she just rolls her eyes in response. Probably for the better.

We last week we spent a day focused on wedding stuff. Purchasing my ring, beginning the designing process for hers, (hmmm... sounds like another blog entry soon to come!) looking at tuxes and confirming the rehearsal dinner space. We went to both locations downtown, Formally Randal's formal wear now called Savvi is right next to Mark's jewelers, so that was first on our list. Josh and Amy rented their suits from Weavers so we decided to check there as well. We knew that Men's warehouse was also an option but I wanted to have the place be in town (just like her seamstress for her dress alterations) in case of a last-minute emergency.

We started at Weavers, looking through their catalogs. They actually rent through Jim's formalwear which has a warehouse in Wichita. I was not thrilled about the idea of them shipping everything up but they said they could still easily get things in within 24 hours if needed in case of an emergency. I found a tux I liked and she found a color that matched her swatch so we wrote down the info and moved on.

Savvi has everything in town, that was a great plus in our department, but their color selection was slimmer, so finding a color that matched (that didn't have a matching paisley tie...) was difficult, but we did find one close to her color.

The major differences, and things I suggest asking/looking for are as follows -
 - make sure that the material you are looking at is comfortable to wear
        - sometimes the nicer (microfiber) shirts may cost more than the standard shirts supplied
 - make sure that shoes are included in the rental price
        - some places include them, some do not!
 - make sure you are aware of all the hidden fees
        - pocket handkerchiefs, cuff link and stud rentals, (fedora, cane?) can all be added to the initial price
 - make sure that you have options!
        - if you find the right color, look and see what vest, tie and handkerchief options are out there, if you are stuck with a paisley tie... you might want to look elsewhere

Weaver did have a lot of little additional fees for this or that while Savvi's included everything in one package deal, but the price difference was minimal after the additional charges were added up and we felt like we had more options at Weavers.

In the end, whether it be tux or suit, gown or skirt, slacks or jeans, make sure that it is your wedding. Enjoy picking out the colors, wait to find what you really want, don't settle for something you are unhappy with.

Until next time... when we talk about... Wedding stuff! (we haven't decided next weeks blog yet... prepare to be surprised!)