DIY Bridesmaid Dresses

I Find Wedding Inspiration Everywhere

You know how when you're engaged you see something in the store or online that totally encompasses everything you want your wedding to be? Your dress to be? Your flowers to look like? Favors? Cake? Your inner bride starts doing backflips and you think, "Eureka! This is it!"

Yeah that happens to me almost everyday. I can literally be walking through the grocery store and think, "Ou! Cherries! Those would be awesome favors!" Or walking through the flea market, see hankerchiefs, and think, "Should I buy these? Oh my gosh! We could use those!"  

I've Always Got Our Wedding On The Brain

I wish I had the kind of money to buy everything I see that I love and think we could use for our wedding, but I just don't have that kind of dough. So what do I do? I take a picture.

I don't know what I would do if I couldn't take pictures with my phone! 

Take this cute dress for instance. I saw it at Forever 21 while I was shopping for an outfit for myself this weekend. I thought "This would be such a cute bridesmaid dress!" Then of course I realize that my girls might not agree. I realize I'm at Forever 21, the dress is pretty short, and the sizes run really small. I still wanted a picture though.

Then I got to thinking, I wish I was brave enough to let my BMs pick whatever dress they wanted and do the whole mismatched thing. I really, really like that look. I've had my heart set on it for awhile, but then I started to get a little gun shy.

 

Be A Brave Bride

It's not because I think my BMs won't pick nice dresses. All of my friends (seriously) have emaculate taste and a sense of style I envy. It's just that I'm afraid it will look weird. Too new age for our families. Too out-of-the box. I need to get over what other people think though, right? I need to be a brave bride need to do what I want. Cause at the end of the day, there's no denying how much I love this style.

How cool is this wedding party? I love it. I absolutely love it.

so terribly sorry, but I lost the source 

Taking the Easy (or Not) Way Out

The next best thing to mismatched dresses would be the same dress in different styles. It's a trend that's been gaining popularity over the last year and designers like Two Birds are exploding on the market. It's what I like to call the Easy Way Out. Brides are able to indulge in the urge to have mismatched, fashionable maid and BMs pick how they'll wear their dress. It's the perfect middle ground, right? Wrong.

Problem with Two Birds is that the dresses are really expensive, at least for my group. While I can tell my friends that the dress converts into 11 different styles and they're getting it all for the price of one gown, it still doesn't seem right. So. Back to the basics? Not quite. 

Thank God for Bride Bloggers

The clouds parted and the sun came up when I stumbled across these images this week. Obviously the color, being olive caught my attention:

  

 

here

Thinking Two Birds, right? I thought the same thing. Those cool convertible dresses in green! Yippee!

Nope.

Try DIY.

DIY?

Dresses?

Convertible Dresses?

This Brides Got Balls 

Don't ask me how I stumble across such an amazingly talented bride blog. These things, I swear are divinely driven. Lisa Welge, is a Sacramento Wedding Photographer and obviously a DIY extrodinare. While searching Google for images of convertible dresses, I came across the above photos and her post right here. Once I stopped hyperventilating, I realized the post was from back in 2009.

Wait whaaaa? That must means there are pictures of her maids in these dresses on her wedding day!! Ding ding ding ding ding!!! I quickly (almost frantically) searched her website. Show me the dresses on her friends, I thought! Please, God!

Ah!! Yet another Eureka moment for the record!

Absolutely stunning and with such special, personalized touches no doubt.

This Might Be The Solution To My Problem

Or I might be one ambitious sewer! The thing is, I have a sewing machine. I'm actually learning to sew. I got it for my birthday last year and I've wanted so bad to use it to create something (anything!) for our wedding. I know this is a big undertaking, but could this be a sign? How cool would it be to be able to make my BM dresses? My friends wouldn't have to spend a dime (Lisa said it cost less than $60 to make each dress) and I get to be a brave bride!

I started to think such a thing was totally preposterous, but then I saw a trail of breadcrumbs.

The source of all the DIY goodness.

The How-To (If You Dare)

Presenting the Infinity Dress and full tutorial right here from Rostitchery...

 

here

Isn't she cute? Do you think I could make them long dresses? I wonder what material I should use. I'm going to give this project some serious thought and consideration. I need to review the instructions and recruit a more skilled sewer for help. 

Am I taking on too much?

What big DIY project did you do?

Are you thinking of having mismatched BM dresses?

Bonus

Here's a great post on The Cinderella Project about this topic.