Calgary Brides!

Where would you ladies recommend going for bridesmaid dresses in the city? for Mexico I even thoughts that we could try the mall maybe? I was thinking of pitching in towards the dresses so thinking of going to stores where its 150-200 max. Thanks.

Boo, I think the mall is a great idea! I'm hoping to do that for mine. I should be getting on it soon actually. Problem is my sister is such a diva "Nothing looks good on her" (her words not mine) If you find some good suggestions, pls let me know! We went to Market Mall a couple of weeks ago and actually there was quite alot that would work. Again... sister was the problem! Laura had some really nice ones so don't rule it out just because you never shop there (like I originally did)

My girls all ordered their dresses from Victoria's Secret and they were awesome! They got the Flirty convertible dress and they were the best of both worlds for having matching fabric/colours but allowing each girl to wear it however they wanted and suited them best.

 

We ended up with two girls wearing them strapless (but using a different way of wrapping one looked shin length, the other above the knees), one with a twisted halter and the fourth wore a single shoulder strap. They all had so many comments about how good they looked and what a great combination it made etc. The material description says jersey something or other but don't think t-shirt at all! It was a super nice, light-weight and soft material that was nice and flowy. My four bm's all had very different body types too and it worked across the board.

we are really hoping just to get something in a regular mall store - but i have a plus sized MOH, one skinny, and one curvy BM....so it is hard to find something to fit everyone!

 

i love the convertible dresses, but i don't know if it would suit everyone

 

...in other news, i dreamt about trying on wedding dresses all night...hehe. it DID NOT go well!

Yeah I am thinking of just telling the girls to get something pink/orange/yellow (might be fun if they get one of each) and just any close to knee length dress without bling. My MOH is Indian and is a tiny thing. Another really good friend is quite big and the third is a wife of a really good friend (she is actually driving me nuts now actually, what a diva!) anyhow and she is on the high side of average, so regardless one dress or style wouldnt work on them.

Yeah I love Victoria Secret - I actually know the dress you mean! I would love to buy something online J-Crew, Macy's etc. all have such great dresses! But the girls are apprehensive with anything online so trying local stores first.

On another note - dont psyche yourself out, when you go to find your perfect dress I am sure its going to be a great experience!!

i think what we will end up doing is having them go and try Alfred Angelo dresses in a store near them (they are all back in ontario) and then we will order them online from a less expensive outlet (like houseofbrides.com or something)...

i actually tried on some dresses when i was back home in ontario this weekend. i specifically picked this one place becuase they advertised having plus sized dresses - but alas, when we got there, they only had size 8-12 samples (which wouldn't quite cut it for me).

i was able to get into some of them (not done up of course), but others i just had to hold up to msyelf. it really wasn't a good trip to determine what looked good and what didn't look good because they just werent even close to fitting. but i was glad to get out there and try a couple on at least.

i also went to a shop that carries the Priscilla of Boston dress i love (knowing full well that i wouldn't be able to try it on) - but i just wanted to look at it and hold it up to myself. it is gorgeous. i love it.

sooo...i think i want to find some shops here in calgary that actually DO carry plus size samples just to try some styles that actually fit on me, and then i can decide from there what i want to do.

Pam,
Im glad you tried some on and got a feel for what you might like. I know its frustrating - I am a street size 10-12 and I had to try on some 14 dresses and there were none to be found. Some dresses were okay and others were way to tight that I could barely get them over my body - let alone zip the bugger up....so I feel your pain...but like I said - give ethos a try bc they really helped me out.

As for dresses - when does everyone think it would be time to look for BM dresses - my wedding isnt for a year and a half - so do I do it now or do I wait until next summer?

easy rule of thumb when shopping for summer clothes - they are always out WAY earlier than you would even be thinking of wearing them! It's a little crazy but typically you'll start seeing capris and shorts etc as early as February sometimes despite there still be snow on the ground here in Calgary! If you're looking for summer dresses then I can guarantee they're already out in stores in full swing. If your wedding isn't until next summer then you could look now and if you don't find anything wait for next season to roll around.

 

And for those of you mentioning different size Bm's and their dresses... the ones we had from VS did fit well (surprisingly) on two small girls (size 2-6), one average (size 8-10) and one small plus size (about size14?) and honestly the dresses looked amazing on all of the girls. When I get home I can get a picture of them posted for you to compare! I do understand the girls wanting to try them on first, but we all found the sizing to be very reasonable to regular clothing.

thanks jenny - i will for sure try out Ethos. i am currently a size 20 but am hoping to be a 14 by the time in wedding rolls around. so it is hard trying dresses on a body that i probably wont have come january!

 

echo - i would love to see the dress on those different body types, please post when you get a chance!

Yes yes Echo- I want to see too! I actually ordered one of those convertible dresses from Avon, thinking it might work for my BM. It was a longshot since it is Avon but I thought worst case scenerio- I'm out $35. They came and the quality was horrible. She ended up sending them back actually which worked out well for me. Did you order online from VS? Did they have different colors? I think I will go check out the website right now actually.

 

Pam- Don't get discouraged. You will find the perfect dress. Everybody does.

 

FYI to all ... actual BM dresses in the bridal shops take 3 months to order so keep that in mind. I am a MOH this summer and we went in and ordered my dress last week. Ended up paying an extra $50 (on top of a 200 dress!) so I'd get it in time. This is really irritating since they don't even custom fit. I ordered a standard size 10 and still am goingto have to pay for alterations. So tell me, why does it take so long to get? Also that $50 rush charge only guarantees it's there 2 weeks earlier than normal. CRAZY!