Lunch with Carter and the Unit... He Fits Right In!
Frankly if I were to lay blame for my stress it would be best to be honest right up front and say I made a mistake immediately: I left myself too open to suggestions from others, and as I am a person who wants to make everyone happy this is a dangerous situation. As the Guys and Doll(s) of our wedding party are all wearing kilts for the big day I didn't want the girls wearing short dresses as frankly I felt we had enough leg on display already. However, it is tricky in the year 2010 to ask your bridal party to wear matching dresses, let alone full length gowns. Therefore, I began to stress and stress and stress about pushing for long dresses... who knew it was so hard to find something that worked with the theme? and when did all the cocktail dresses become so... cough... night-club-esque? (Man I am starting to sound twice my age!).
We're Still Celebrating the Whole Carter Being Born Thing...
After going out with the ladies to look at dresses I finally stated loud and clear that short was out. I felt terrible and this was my second mistake: feeling terrible. I think one of the things that is easy to happen when you are getting married is to get lost in the chaos and try to please everyone (because sometimes it is just easier). I had spun myself into circles trying to come up with a solution that I would be good with, but at the end of the day your gut always knows and my gut knew I wouldn't be happy unless the dresses were long.
Bridal Branial Breakdown is a disease that I am starting to suffer from (yes I made this term up myself and I personally feel it is going to be Legend (wait for it) ary – sorry I have been watching way too my How I Met Your Mother lately and am starting to talk like Barney; before long I am going to be telling people to "suit up" and referring to myself in the third person as "awesome"). Bridal Branial Breakdown, or Triple B as I like to refer to it occurs when the bride begins to over think things too much (i.e. bridesmaid dresses) and her brain starts to smoke (pouring out of her ears predominately, but nose is also an option if the condition escalates), and then her eyes start to water (looking suspiciously like tears) and then her head starts to play music (very much like bongo drums) and from there, well, from there the situation just escalates. Candidly, if you had asked me two years ago whether I would care how long the dresses were I would of said, "Do I care if they even wear dresses? Pants or a skirt would work"… funny what an engagement ring + a year and a half of planning + a looming wedding date does to a gal's brain? The Bridal Branial Breakdown gets em every time!
Okay, so once the length decision was made, the colour had to be selected, but the colour, oh the colour! How many shades of green are there? One million? Green can come in shades ranging from grass, to kiwi, to celadon (what the $%^&@# is celadon?), to sage, to mint green, to sea foam, to hunter, to army green, to asparagus, to British racing green (maybe for a car, not for a dress!), to chartreuse, to fern green, to gray-asparagus, to honeydew, to olive, to Sacramento State green, to shamrock… well you get my point (and by the way could someone please explain to me who came up with the term "gray-asparagus green" – what the heck kind of asparagus were they eating?)... before we go any further I need to pause here as my brain needs a break, I was beginning to feel like Bubba from Forest Gump for a second… okay now I am focused again, where was I? Right Dresses!
I didn't pick this one!
Colour may seem simple, in fact it should be, but yet again you have to worry about what people will be willing to wear, skin tone, hair colour, and, and, AND! For instance I have spent my whole life dreaming of having sage green bridesmaid dresses, however when it came to pass I made my third mistake: I wasn't insistent enough on the colour… who knew sage wouldn't be loved by all? In the end the dresses are not going to be sage (it is a secret, because, well, some things have to be a secret for the big day), but it wasn't because of public opinion, the choice was all mine and frankly because my Unit is about as dedicated as dedicated can be they probably would have been willing to wear burlap sacks if I had asked nicely enough and added a cherry on top to sweeten the deal, so no one fret that perhaps I have chosen something that doesn't make me happy.
Photoshop Rocks! Can't Give the Secret Away!
My Lovely Unit
In the end I survived, and we ended up with what I consider the most beautiful bridesmaid dress in the world. It didn't take until closing time and we are all in one piece! I am so excited to see my beautiful Unit dressed in their finery on my wedding day (214 days and counting!) that I am practically bouncing off of the chair right now! Thanks ladies for dealing with my indecisiveness (it was only because I wanted you to look beautiful), but know one thing for sure, I definitely didn't make a mistake choosing y'all to stand by me for our big day (even if I occasionally develop a severe case of the Triple B)!
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