pinteresting

i read on ESB's blog the other day that it is possible to see which images from your blog are pinned to pinterest. makes fascinating viewing. who'd have thought (aside from a study of my blog stats) that my most pinned photographs are still related to planning my wedding, and, in particular, the search for a peacock themed or coloured bridesmaid dress. i must have spent hours, nay days, searching for peacock bridesmaids dresses... (and don't tell my sisters, but their b.oobs have made it onto pinterest too!)

{bridesmaid dress ideas}

{wedding photography ideas/ photo by Kelli Nicole Photography}

Bridesmaids Dresses 2/3

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Image Credits: all photos by me except bottom left (Debenhams) and bottom centre (via Style Me Pretty)

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Bridesmaids 2/3 as these are A1 and A2. A1 and her boyfriend (who I am calling A3, yes they really are all As) returned from Australia on Saturday morning and famille PeacockFeathers went to Heathrow to collect them. Why is it that their flights always seem to land around about 7am?

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At some point during the weekend A1 tried on her bridesmaids dress to see how accurate the Skype fittings had been (A1 measuring herself on camera with Mum measuring the dress etc) and found that the dress fitted surprisingly well. A2 thought (or rather, Mum and I thought) she had better put on her dress for comparison and so I took a few photographs.

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I am unable to post their whole faces at present, which is a shame as they are so pretty, and also for the comic effect of the photo on the bottom right in which A1 appears to be practising her royal wave and A2 simultaneously doing an impersonation of Kate-Moss-as-a-chav-for-comic-relief. What you can see hopefully is that A1 has dark hair and A2 blonde hair. T also has blonde hair and mine is blonde-ish. Hopefully you will also see that my girls look a lot better than the Debenhams model and that I think bows at the back looks better than the front, especially if they are carrying bouquets with ribbons on them.

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The next stage is of course to get T in her dress and photographed as well. In fact, all three need to meet properly as they have never been in the same place at the same time. Actually, it is January 2007 since A1, A2 and I were in the same place at the same time, so not surprising that the bridesmaids haven't been either. Still, they are all safely home at present, so there is time for the grand meeting.

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Bridesmaids Dresses: A new direction

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Dress by Debenhams (but without the straps)

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Shoes by Monsoon

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The Westfield trip seemed to be a success. I spent as many hours there as I do at work each day, starting out on my own with very few other shoppers for company, was joined by my Mother after an hour so we picked out several dresses for my sister to try on. She duly arrived and tried things on and dress after dress was rejected.

The dress above was the last one that she tried. I wasn't sure about it on the hanger but I thought it worth a bash. I'm glad I did because on her it looked super flattering and very pretty. Turns out that her boobs in the Monsoon dress I picked first were less "I'm a bridesmaid" more "hello boys" which wasn't the look she, or I, wished her to wear on my wedding day. Turns out the dress above looks sexy and demure at the same time. It also looks a lot better on my little sister than it does on the model above. So, Debenhams, if you're reading, you need some new models. May I suggest my sister?

We then decided we should look for some shoes to match it, whilst the dress was with us. A good plan, as every time I picked up a shoe or sandal I thought would work and then held it up to the dress, it didn't. And then, in Monsoon, I saw the shoes above. I think they match rather than go for overkill.

BestFriend then arrived with my own wedding shoes, which I had forgotten and she had picked up on her way to join us. I took them out of the box and held them up against the bridesmaids dresses. And would you believe it, they match the blue ribbons on the dress exactly.

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Bridesmaids Dresses -The saga continues

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After all that, it looks like the Monsoon dresses may be a no go. I will not go into further details as I do not want to embarrass my bridesmaids, but something to do with the shape of the dress and the shape of the body and neither the two shall meet.

So, back to the drawing board again. Some more ideas have turned up as has a plot to visit Westfield in Holland Park and see what can be found there... Stay tuned, if you can stand the excitement!

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Images (L-R): Dresses by Oliver Bonas, Oasis, Warehouse, Monsoon & Oliver Bonas.

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Bridesmaid Dress Ideas (continued)

Dress by Monsoon (images on mannequin by them, others by me)

Shoes by Aldo

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Thank you all for your kind words of support regarding the bridesmaids dresses. I have decided that out of all the dresses I have seen on the high street this one above by Monsoon is my favourite and have made plans for the bridesmaids in this country to try it on asap. I went last night and tried it on myself - they didn't have an 8, hence it looks a bit big - but I loved the way it looked and felt.

The ribbon tie at the halterneck echoes the ribbons that I have planned to tie around our bouquets and I think that the dress is close enough in colour to my shoes that it will look deliberate and not coincidental.

And perhaps not with those silver shoes but similar ones, so as to echo the shape of my shoes and to be the opposite colouring pairing to my outfit. And I am making them each a peacock feather headpiece to wear in their hair.

Now, just as long as they fit them all and they have the right sizes available, I think we might finally be moving forwards!

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Bridesmaid Dress Ideas: The High Street

Images (clockwise from left)

Dresses by Oli, Whistles, Topshop, Monsoon & Topshop

Shoes by Dune

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By far and away my biggest challenge so far has been finding a solution to my bridesmaids outfits. For a bride with a large budget, not so much of a challenge. There are plenty of places where you can buy some beautiful and admittedly, some less than beautiful, dresses. But I do not want to spend hundreds per dress. We have a budget and from that budget the church and our reception venue were where we chose to spend. This means that there is a lower budget in other areas: not a problem, just somewhat of a challenge.

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I am having three adult bridesmaids - my two sisters and my sister-in-law-to-be. All three are quite tall (all taller than me) and all of them are curvier than me. I would like them to wear blue or green or a peacock-y colour and the dress must be fairly simple (as my own is). The budget I have at present is £50 per dress. I may be able to find more but I would be pleased if I didn't have to.

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I have posted before some designer options which I very much like but clearly they are way over budget. So I have instead scoured the high street and these dresses are the best that I can come up with. And yes, some of these are over budget too. Much as I like the colour of the Whistles dress, I do not think it works: it is too short and too tailored and I do not think it will complement my dress. Unfortunately the Oli one on the left is sold out, as I think it is the nicest shape of the whole lot.

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The Monsoon one on the right is very close to the colour shoes I am going to be wearing and will match the ribbons I hope to tie round the bouquets* (I don't care whether it is supposed to be bad luck, I am looking forward to doing my own flowers...).

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Shoes wise I think I am going to leave the girls to pick their own. I cannot decide if they too should wear blue, or whether they should be the exact opposite to me and wear white/silver shoes with a blue dress. I love these Dune ones (full marks to anyone who recognises which recent bride wore these herself but in a different colour) but I think they are too high - I don't want the bridesmaids overshadowing me too much!

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Of course, the other option is to make the dresses, based on a pattern of a dress of my choice. Given that one sister can make her own clothes and sister-in-law-to-be is a fashion designer, perhaps that would be the obvious choice. But I saw how stressful that process was last year when I helped make my own bridesmaid dress for sister-in-law-to-be's wedding and I just don't know if I can willingly do that to myself. We shall see...

*which will be, I think, white roses like my own bouquet but a smaller bunch with shorter stems.

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More Bridesmaid Dress Ideas

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Satin Long Dress by Oli

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I know, this search for a green or blue bridesmaids dress which doesn't cost the earth is getting tedious. This is the best I can come up with available in this country for under £100...

And news flash - one of the bridesmaids "loves it"!

News flash 2 - Out of Stock and discontinued...!

Back to the drawing board then.

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Image by Nordstrom

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Sigh. Why is it that all the bridesmaid dresses I like are from American websites. Why does it seem impossible to find plain-ish decently coloured dresses which are not around £300. These dresses are silk and $168 with free shipping (to US addresses I suspect). That makes them about £90 each.

Please shout though if you have seen something just as fab for sale in the UK. I will love you forever if someone helps me! (and please, nothing from Coast).

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Bridesmaid Dress Inspiration

Top Row Left to right: (1) & (2) Dessy (3) vera wang/alvina valenta

Top right: niche by Suzanne Neville

Middle: Little Jo

Bottom Left: Pocket Venus

Bottom Row Left to Right: (1) vera wang maids (2) & (3) Ann Louise Roswald

Images from Bridesmagazine.co.uk & Dessy.com