Recap: The Girls

My girls endured the extreme August heat and were absolutely gorgeous in the process! We took a few pictures in the English Garden and used our cute umbrellas to shade us from the sun. I rented these vintage pagodas from Bella Umbrella (an umbrella shop based in Seattle, WA) and was more than pleased with the process. They were definitely a fun photo prop and worked well with the look I was going for!

My sweet niece Miranda was the perfect Junior Bridesmaid! She wore a wreath of flowers in her hair and a cute pink bubble hem dress.

My bridesmaids looked beautiful in navy gowns by Bari Jay. I just loved the sweetheart neckline, the flower detailing on the shoulder, and the soft flowing chiffon. Seriously, this dress was so flattering and looked amazing on everyone. It also fit the romantic garden theme of our wedding.

My Maid of Honor, Karla, looked elegant and stunning in a coordinating navy gown (also by Bari Jay). She picked this out on her own and I just loved the rhinestone pin on the shoulder and the chiffon train.

I am so thankful to have these girls in my life and it was a blessing to have them stand by my side on my wedding day!

Stay tuned for our first look!

A Little Update on the Bridesmaids Dresses!

Shopping for bridesmaids dresses in Atlanta yesterday was generally a success. I had three lovely models with me (thank you girls!) who looked good in just about every dress they tried on. I feel like we tried on a large selection and, in the end, found something that was comfortable, romantic, summery, and beautiful! Let me tell you a little about our experience at Bridals by Lori.

We met at 10 a.m. and sat in the front lobby for a few minutes. This was just enough time to see Monte from the show come in and say "Good Morning Ladies!" in his television-worthy voice. That man was dressed to the nines! Our consultant came by and brought us back to the bridesmaids fitting room area and basically told us that we could look through all of the dresses and pull the ones we liked. I'm not going to lie, it was a bit overwhelming! There were hundreds of dresses! We were a little hesitant about what we picked at first, but soon got more comfortable and started pulling more freely. My only directions were "long, chiffon, and if you see something you LOVE regardless of those two things, pull it!" After we pulled about 20 dresses, my girls went to work! They tried on some dresses by Dessy, Bill Levkoff, Bari Jay, LOVE by Enzoani, and Jim Hjelm Occasions. Here are some of the dresses we tried:

 {Photos by Bari Jay}

Most of them were cute on but not "the one". Then, we came across this dress: 

 {Personal Photos}

It was long, flowed easily, and fit in with the "look" of the wedding. We haven't purchased the dresses yet because I really want to get feedback from all the girls, but this one is definitely a front-runner. Overall, it was a nice experience and it was so good to spend some time with my best friends!

Dress Shopping!

No, not that kind of dress shopping...bridesmaid dress shopping!!! This Saturday is the day that my Atlanta girls and I will be heading to Bridals by Lori to try on gowns! And just for the record, we are not going to Bridals by Lori because of "Say Yes to the Dress" (my mom already exclaimed "you're not going to be filmed, ARE YOU???") No mom, we are going there because they have a huge selection of dresses, not to be on TV.

I'm hoping that this experience will be fun and that I don't change my mind about the length/color of the dresses! If I want them to be navy and long, why do I keep obsessing over short light pink dresses (like those pictured below)? For all you girls out there who already went shopping for bridesmaid dresses, any tips? Did you change your mind at all or did you go in and find exactly what you thought you wanted?

{Source}

 {Source}

L O V E

If you know me, you probably would not be surprised to find out that I know what I want. This is true in all (well, almost all) aspects of my life. As far as the wedding goes, I have had no problem (with Mr. CF's input) deciding on vendors, the church, the decor, the dress, the date, etc. So why, oh why am I having such a hard time deciding on a bridesmaid dress?

I've thought a lot about this and realized that having the most gorgeous maid of honor and bridesmaids is driving me crazy! This is because they will seriously look great in anything which gives me far too many options! My bridal consultant tried to offer help, saying "think of your most hard to fit girl and go from there". Huh? None of my girls are hard to fit!

Due to my indecisiveness, I am thinking about just choosing a designer, material, length, and color and saying to my girls, "Go for it! Choose one you love!"

Let's try it!

(Note: not my final decision, just what this could look like).

L O V E  by Enzoani - Chiffon - Long - Midnight Blue (not pictured)

Charming? Too mismatched? Let me know what YOU think!

Has anyone out there successfully pulled off the mismatched look?