27…I mean, 8 Dresses

Anyone ever find their mind wandering when they are out for a run? Ok, maybe I should rephrase that…RUNNERS, when you are out for a run, do you ever find your mind drifting? I know you do, I pretty much just answered my own question.

Just so happens, I was out for a run on Monday morning and began thinking of my guest bedroom closet and the work that needs to happen inside. It’s a disaster. As I began to categorize the items in my head, I got to thinking about my bridesmaids dresses and what to do with them. I kind of feel like the girl from 27 dresses, although my closet isn’t bursting open from them, and I was never in any crazy themed Vegas weddings. :0)

I have, however been a bridesmaid 3 times and Maid/Matron of Honor 5 times. Add those up? That’s 8 weddings. Whew. Even though my closet is not busting open from tulle and fluff, one entire side is full to the max of dresses, shoes, and accessories!

I thought it would be fun to take a walk down memory lane…just humor me, ok? By the way, I’m addicted to weddings. I absolutely LOVE wedding movies, weddings, wedding photography, and anything to do with weddings and one of my favorite movies is “The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez!

My first ever wedding was for my best friend Jane WAY back in 2001. We grew up together and I had the privilege of being her Maid of Honor!

 

Jane’s wedding was in January and she chose grey as our dress color. Everyone’s design was different and all of the color tones were different. Yes, I was Maid of Honor but I had NO clue what I was doing. Thankfully, a fellow bridesmaid was a wedding pro – she helped out a LOT with planning showers and parties…THIS is when my addiction to weddings began!

Wedding #2 was for a friend and fellow nursing student, Amy!

Amy and I met through her sister and became really close friends. We also graduated nursing school together and Amy served as a bridesmaid in my wedding! :0) Our dresses were all purple but again, Amy let us choose our style/design.

(Sorry about the quality of the above photos. Gotta love film cameras.)

The next wedding was quite an adventure! I was Maid of Honor in my friend Amy’s wedding (Amy #2) and we had a blast – she served as bridesmaid in my wedding, too! Amy also let us choose our own dress, as long as it was black (I’m sensing a recurrent theme here!). I know you can’t see it well, but mine was black with rhinestones down the front.

Despite living in the south, Amy #2 was born and raised in Kansas/Oklahoma, so that’s where she got married. We travelled 14+ hours to reach her wedding destination and unknown to us,  headed straight into a blizzard! Despite it all, we had a BLAST and I wouldn’t trade the experience for the world! The massive amounts of snow did make me grateful for one thing…I’m glad I don’t have to ice chip my way into my car every morning!

The fourth wedding I served in was for a very special family member, my brother and his wife Kayla.

YAY for digital photography! Kayla allowed us to choose our own style of dress (didn’t realize how popular this option was) in the color she chose. I loved the pink/yellow combination! Very bright, colorful, and fun!

Wedding #5 was for Jason’s brother and sister-in-law, Amber.

Jason and I stood up with them as witnesses and Jason’s niece was their flower girl. Isn’t she absolutely adorable?

The final three weddings came one after another, each only a few months apart! Whew.

The next wedding was for a very dear friend of mine, Jane!

Jane’s wedding was outside at a local park and was vintage themed. Everything was beautiful and I thought the day was perfect. :0) I served as Jane’s Matron of Honor and loved every aspect of her special day! Jane chose navy as her theme color, then asked the bridesmaids to pick out their favorite style.

I still can’t believe I didn’t realize that the dresses from each of these weddings were all different until just now! Wow, Karen.

Wedding #7 was for Jason’s sister, Lacey.

The ceremony was beautiful and despite a few setbacks, everything fell into place in the end! Lacey was also a bridesmaid in my wedding. Look…a wedding where all of the bridesmaids were dressed alike! Hah! Thinking back on it now, I’m glad I was able to choose the style/design that complimented me best on so many occasions.

My final wedding to date was for one of my good friends, Mackenzie. Kenzie and I go waaaaaaaay back and have always had a special bond! I just love this girl! :0)

Mackenzie’s wedding is also one where she chose matching dresses for the bridesmaids. If you’ve read my blog for a while, you remember that we followed them on their honeymoon…strange, right? It was to Disney World, of COURSE we had to go! We had a FUN weekend!!

Know where all of these dresses except one came from? David’s Bridal! I also find it funny that no matter my measurements at the time, each dress seen here is the same exact size….from 2001 to 2012. At least I’m consistent…that counts for something, right?

That’s it! Bless you if you read through everything and made it this far! What crazy, fun times my friends and I have shared over the years…and I wouldn’t trade a single minute of it!

Have you been in a wedding? Were your dresses the same or did you have different styles/designs? What did you do with your old bridesmaids dresses? Have you worn them again?