Thursday, June 27, 2013

27…I mean, 8 Dresses

Anyone ever find their mind wandering when they are out for a run? Ok, maybe I should rephrase that…RUNNERS, when you are out for a run, do you ever find your mind drifting? I know you do, I pretty much just answered my own question.

Just so happens, I was out for a run on Monday morning and began thinking of my guest bedroom closet and the work that needs to happen inside. It’s a disaster. As I began to categorize the items in my head, I got to thinking about my bridesmaids dresses and what to do with them. I kind of feel like the girl from 27 dresses, although my closet isn’t bursting open from them, and I was never in any crazy themed Vegas weddings. :0)

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I have, however been a bridesmaid 3 times and Maid/Matron of Honor 5 times. Add those up? That’s 8 weddings. Whew. Even though my closet is not busting open from tulle and fluff, one entire side is full to the max of dresses, shoes, and accessories!

I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane…just humor me, ok? By the way, I’m addicted to weddings. I absolutely LOVE wedding movies, weddings, wedding photography, and anything to do with weddings and one of my favorite movies is “The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez!

My first ever wedding was for my best friend Jane WAY back in 2001. We grew up together and I had the privilege of being her Maid of Honor!

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Jane’s wedding was in January and she chose grey as our dress color. Everyone’s design was different and all of the color tones were different. Yes, I was Maid of Honor but I had NO clue what I was doing. Thankfully, a fellow bridesmaid was a wedding pro – she helped out a LOT with planning showers and parties…THIS is when my addiction to weddings began!

Wedding #2 was for a friend and fellow nursing student, Amy!

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Amy and I met through her sister and became really close friends. We also graduated nursing school together and Amy served as a bridesmaid in my wedding! :0) Our dresses were all purple but again, Amy let us choose our style/design.

(Sorry about the quality of the above photos. Gotta love film cameras.)

The next wedding was quite an adventure! I was Maid of Honor in my friend Amy’s wedding (Amy #2) and we had a blast – she served as bridesmaid in my wedding, too! Amy also let us choose our own dress, as long as it was black (I’m sensing a recurrent theme here!). I know you can’t see it well, but mine was black with rhinestones down the front.

Amy1Amy2

Despite living in the south, Amy #2 was born and raised in Kansas/Oklahoma, so that’s where she got married. We travelled 14+ hours to reach her wedding destination and unknown to us,  headed straight into a blizzard! Despite it all, we had a BLAST and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world! The massive amounts of snow did make me grateful for one thing…I’m glad I don’t have to ice chip my way into my car every morning!

The fourth wedding I served in was for a very special family member, my brother and his wife Kayla.

Kayla1Kayla2

YAY for digital photography! Kayla allowed us to choose our own style of dress (didn’t realize how popular this option was) in the color she chose. I loved the pink/yellow combination! Very bright, colorful, and fun!

Wedding #5 was for Jason’s brother and sister-in-law, Amber.

Amber2Amber1

Jason and I stood up with them as witnesses and Jason’s niece was their flower girl. Isn’t she absolutely adorable?

The final three weddings came one after another, each only a few months apart! Whew.

The next wedding was for a very dear friend of mine, Jane!

jane2-2jane2-1

Jane’s wedding was outside at a local park and was vintage themed. Everything was beautiful and I thought the day was perfect. :0) I served as Jane’s Matron of Honor and loved every aspect of her special day! Jane chose navy as her theme color, then asked the bridesmaids to pick out their favorite style.

I still can’t believe I didn’t realize that the dresses from each of these weddings were all different until just now! Wow, Karen.

Wedding #7 was for Jason’s sister, Lacey.

lacey1lacey2

The ceremony was beautiful and despite a few setbacks, everything fell into place in the end! Lacey was also a bridesmaid in my wedding. Look…a wedding where all of the bridesmaids were dressed alike! Hah! Thinking back on it now, I’m glad I was able to choose the style/design that complimented me best on so many occasions.

My final wedding to date was for one of my good friends, Mackenzie. Kenzie and I go waaaaaaaay back and have always had a special bond! I just love this girl! :0)

mackenzie1mackenzie2

Mackenzie’s wedding is also one where she chose matching dresses for the bridesmaids. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you remember that we followed them on their honeymoon…strange, right? It was to Disney World, of COURSE we had to go! We had a FUN weekend!!

Know where all of these dresses except one came from? David’s Bridal! I also find it funny that no matter my measurements at the time, each dress seen here is the same exact size….from 2001 to 2012. At least I’m consistent…that counts for something, right?

That’s it! Bless you if you read through everything and made it this far! What crazy, fun times my friends and I have shared over the years…and I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it!

Have you been in a wedding? Were your dresses the same or did you have different styles/designs? What did you do with your old bridesmaids dresses? Have you worn them again?

30 comments:

  1. This post made me laugh...oh bridesmaids dresses! I really love that pink sweetheart neckline dress and the last blue one. Blue is a good color for you! :) -Christine

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  2. that's so crazy. I have only been in 2 weddings, my sister's and my friend Lindy from college. oh and I was an "honorary bridesmaid" in a wedding. It isn't really popular around here to let the BM's choose the style of the dress. 9 out of 10 people I know/weddings I have been to they all look the same. weird!

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    1. That is really weird! I do love weddings where the bridesmaids match!

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  3. Love the trip down memory lane. I've been in 2 weddings, was supposed to be in a third past year, but after buying dresses (coincidentally the same one you wore in the last wedding, in the same color) they eloped, not so thrilling for us!

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    1. Oh NO!! That's not cool! Well, at least you have a pretty dress that doesn't look so bridesmaids-ish...you could wear it to another formal event if you needed to!

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  4. Awww I love this post! You are blessed girl! Every one of those dresses looks fabulous on you! I only have a certain style of dress that looks good on me. :-/ I LOVE the red dresses with the black sash! I've been in a few weddings...although not as many as you! I STILL have all my dresses. And have never worn them again lol!

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    1. Hah! That's the thing, I love the dresses and the memories and don't want to give them away. Looks like they will stay in my closet for now! :0)

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  5. I have never been in a wedding but I will be in my own next year :)

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    1. Yay for your wedding!! Such an exciting and fun time! :0)

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  6. You are lucky - back in the "old" days we were given a pattern and material!
    I've been in 3 weddings where I had to make (i.e. beg or pay someone else to make) my own dress - however, the last two weddings were my own children's - and as the mother I got to wear whatever I wanted! I had so much fun with that! I even had my hair and makeup done for the last daughter's wedding - something I've never done before!

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    1. Oh gosh! I can't sew and that would have been disastrous! Haha! I always loved having my hair done for weddings...so much fun! :0)

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  7. Cute post! My bridesmaid dresses are all hanging in my closet too... I'm not sure if I'll keep them all or give them away, but I don't really have any that I could see myself wearing again!

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    1. There are a few I won't wear again, also. I think I'm just too sentimental! lol

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  8. Wow you have bridesmaid's dresses in every motif colors. LOL :)
    I've been to a lot of weddings but I wasn't able to collect all the dresses. Most of them I already donated or gave it away. Now, I am regretting of giving them away after seeing yours. I should have kept them

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    1. Hah you are right, I kind of do! Was supposed to be in another wedding where her colors were yellow and brown but that one was cancelled. :0/

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  9. clearly you are an awesome person to have been invited to be in so many weddings!! I am kind of awful..I get rid of them right away!

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  10. I've only been in one wedding and the bride chose the color and the dress...neither of which I was fond of...luckily I was able to find the dress in my size on Craigslist! I then donated it after the wedding :) fun post! I just watched "27 Dresses" last week :)

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    1. Oh no! Sorry you weren't fond of the dresses, but so glad you found them on Craig's list!! That's a huge bonus!

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  11. What a fun post! I bet you're a great bridesmaid/maid of honor!!

    And I LOVE 27 Dresses! Never get tired of that one. ;)

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  12. So cute! I actually really like the white and brown polka dot dress!

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    1. Thanks! That's the one that did not come from David's bridal, oddly enough! lol

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  13. I've been a bridesmaid 6 times (MOH twice) and a Grad escort once...so total of seven dresses. All of them were the same dress as the other bridesmaids except for once. Craziest thing though.....I was able to re-wear one dress. Bought it for one wedding, and four years later needed a dress in the exact same color and brand for another wedding (she let us pick which dress).....I cut it off to cocktail length and re-wore it. :)

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    1. That is SO crazy! Glad you were able to wear one again...too funny how that worked out!

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  14. I am with you and have a ton of old bridesmaid dresses hanging in my closet. I have kept one in particular because I found it to be that awful! It has a butt bow and everything! NASTY. I also have a couple that are a little more neutral: a short black one and a short navy one - that I pull out and wear from time to time when I go to fancy stuff (read not very often). And I have donated several to ministry in my area that takes old bridesmaid dresses and has a free "boutique" for girls who can't afford prom or Christmas ball dresses.

    I have stood up in 15 weddings not including my own.

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    1. Butt bow! LOL I can honestly say I don't have one like that! 15 weddings...wow! That's great...you're an awesome friend!

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  15. That polkadot dress is super cute! I'd totally wear that every where lol
    So far I've only acquired one bridesmaid dress, unfortunately I haven't found a good time to wear it, so it shares the garment bag with my boyfriend's church suit.

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  16. The entire night flowed perfectly, thanks to their staff manager’s input on a timeline, and the service all day and night was exceptional.

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