Pretty maids all in a row...

When Mr. C and I decided to have a small bridal party, I knew exactly who the two ladies by my side would be.  They are both dear friends from childhood, and both are so important in my life.  I puzzled for a little while over what title to bestow upon them - the traditional maid of honor designation for one and bridesmaid designation for the other didn't really seem to work, given they should both get equal billing.  I could have called both of them maids of honor, but that just seemed odd (plus, they are both married, and "matron of honor" has never had a great ring to it in my opinion!)

As I said in the cards asking them if they would each honor me by standing up for me on my wedding day, they are both my amazing awesome beautiful best friends, and they can call themselves whatever they want!  For the ease of everyone else's interpretation, I'm calling them both bridesmaids.  I asked them to promise to call me out on any moments even approaching "bridezilla" levels of nonsense, and to forgive me if I obsess over the details.  Those are the girls you want standing up for you.  The ones who will tell you the truth when it's hard and hold your hand when you need it.   I am so lucky to have them there for me every day, not just on my wedding day.

On to more practical non-sappy-ness, though - once they were asked and accepted, the next decision was what my amazing awesome beautiful best friends were going to wear!

I initially told them that I really didn't feel the need to dictate their attire, and that maybe I would pick a color and ask them to choose something generally in that realm.  Though I thought that idea would be met with relief (it's not like we're still in our 20s, when bridesmaids dresses were still novel and fun!), I think it may have thrown them both for a loop! They looked slightly perplexed, and I heard mumblings of probably needing a bit more direction than that.

So, I relented and chose a color and fabric from J. Crew that felt like the right one for our party - spiced wine in silk chiffon.  Neither girl is a fan of strapless gowns, and there were so many non-strapless styles to choose from at J. Crew, I knew they could each find something flattering that they would like.  Picking J. Crew also made it easy for both to try on or simply order and return if needed (one lives in Chicago and one in New York; both cities carry samples of wedding attire at a shop downtown).

Here are a couple of the options they considered:

Macie from J. Crew

Sinclair from J. Crew

Ultimately, here's what we wound up with, though - NYC J will wear Lucienne, and Chicago J will wear Louisa:

Lucienne from J. Crew

Louisa from J. Crew

They are going to look gorgeous on the big day in these, I just know it.

Did any of you have bridesmaids that steered you in a different direction than you expected?