my wedding Wednesday: our bridesmaids

The first step was figuring out who was going to be my bridesmaids - a VERY difficult task.  If my husband had left me to my own devices I would have probably asked 12 girls, but he firmly nixed that idea.  I started by asking my sister to be my maid-of-honor - of course! - the job belonged to no other.   I then asked my 3 sister-in-laws, my best friend from childhood Elizabeth, and my best California friend Alison.  I would have LOVED to include my college girls (4 of them), but as the hubby capped me at 6 - there was no way to formally include them all.  However, I did include them in just about everything else - the bridesmaid lunch, the cake pulls, etc... but I am getting ahead of myself.  

The Dress

I wanted something pretty simple and wearable.  I wasn't sure what I was going to to until I saw the dress below go on sale at jcrew.com for $79.99 - which initiated a mad phone dialing conversation where I called all of them and asked them if I could order their dresses - right then.  It worked out!  My bridesmaids wore caspian blue taffeta dresses from J. Crew (I think all of them acquired on sale for less than $100 each).  My sister wore a strapless version of the dress (also on sale).

The maid of honor

the other bridesmaids

I actually liked the dress so much that I bought one for myself in lavender that I have worn to several weddings!  This dress was also my friend Anne's bridesmaid dress about 6 months before it was mine.  Elizabeth was in both weddings and only had to buy one dress!  Pretty great for both of us. :)

My bridesmaid dress in lavender - which I have worn several times

The Shoes

I think that it has been established that I am a shoe girl.  However, I just asked that they wear silver - and left the rest up to them.  I gave them the following examples (many of which were out of the price range, but were too pretty to be ignored).  

{Jimmy Choo at Saks}

{Badgley Mischka at Zappos}

{J. Crew}

My real price range is more in the Nine West Category.  Wore these shoes to my brother's wedding, which were a good deal at $39.99.   I have now worn them several times because they are comfortable and a versatile color.  I wish that they were still in stock or I would recommend them!  

Hair, Makeup, Jewelry

Anything they wanted to do was fine by me!  I wanted them to feel like themselves. 

The Gifts

I didn't know what I would get the girls as a little token of my appreciation.  I thought long and hard about it.  I wanted it to be something special.  I thought that I would buy nice cake pulls (that were real jewelry) and have them double as a nice gift to show my appreciation. 

Cake pulls are a tradition in New Orleans weddings. I don't know if it is a southern thing, or a New Orleans thing - but I knew I wanted them at our wedding!  Check out these from Mignon Faget, a local jeweler in New Orleans.  From left they represent marriage, eternal beauty, luck, red hot romance, prosperity, opportunity, stability, and true love.  I bought this set of 8 and then two additional pulls to make it 10 (so that my 6 bridesmaids and 4 college girl friends could all participate). 

On one of my trips home, I bought them all chains from Mignon Faget so that the girls could turn their cake pull into a pendant.  I had a hard time deciding between the two options below, but I ultimately chose the silver Figaro in a 16 inch length. 

the baby ball chain from Mignon Faget

the figaro chain from Mignon Faget

I thought a lot about the length, and my sister sent me this diagram - which is really helpful.  Thought you might find it useful too.   I liked the 16" and the 18" - but ultimately went with the 16."

I then went on Zazzle.com and made little postcard inserts for the gift bags, to help explain why I was giving them an plain silver chain at the bridesmaid's lunch the day before the wedding. 

So how did it all turn out?  It was such a wonderful day and it would have never been the same without my girls by my side.  Thank you again for all you did!!