A good friend of mine, Ruth, is getting married in October.  She has asked me to be one of four bridesmaids.  She’s decided not to have a maid of honor since we are all equally important to her.  However, since the other three girls live farther away (and have more pressing obligations like medical residency and kids), I’ve become her de facto MOH/planning buddy.

We recently went on the hunt for bridesmaids dresses.

Ruth was pretty prepared.  She had basically already decided on a designer and dress color (Jasmine’s Belsoie line in Bordeaux).  But, she was open to us choosing different styles in the same fabric. This is an example of a dress in the fabric/color she likes.

She had already picked out some of her favorite styles online and sent us links to view them and give input.  Leslie, the bridesmaid doing her residency, had gone to a bridal shop in NY where she lives, and tried on some of the styles Ruth listed.  The other two girls provided their opinions based on the website, but hadn’t tried anything on.

Ruth and I went to two bridal shops just outside of Boston that carried the Belsoie line.  The first was Camilla’s and next was Bride-n-Belle (the ladies there were nice enough to give Ruth a piece of the Bordeaux fabric swatch).

We had a fun afternoon, trying on hits and misses, and a lot of dresses that were just so-so.  We explored other designers as well, comparing the color and fabric quality, but ended up liking Belsoie the best.  Ruth didn’t tell me what the other girls voted on at first, but my favorite style ended up being Leslie’s favorite style too.  And it was also a style that the other two girls had in their top 3.

We narrowed it down to 2 that are quite similar to each other.  Since they are so close in style, it might make more sense to just all wear the same dress.  But, one is a sweetheart neckline and one is straight.  My favorite was the straight neckline, in green here.

The top choice

The very close second choice

Ruth hasn’t made a final decision yet, but I would be happy wearing either dress.  They are very comfortable and very forgiving.  I look so long and lean in both of them!  And while Leslie would look good in anything, we think they will be forgiving for the other two girls, one of whom is losing some recent baby weight, and the other who will have her second baby a few months before the wedding.

What do you think?  Should we all wear the same style?  Which one?  Would 2 and 2 look okay?