Twosome Tuesday: Bridesmaids' Dresses

I mentioned our recent bridesmaid dress shopping trip yesterday, so now is as good a time as any to discuss this topic.                                                                                                                              
We are asking a lot of the bridesmaid dresses, as we have a lot of concerns and requirements.                                                                                                                              
As always, budget is a priority, and since much of the wedding parties are also family, the expenses come out of my purse.  For those not in the family, we don't want wedding participation to be a financial burden either.  We also hope that any money is well spent on something that can serve the wearer beyond the wedding day....So both attractive and comfortable to the owner, and is appropriate to events other than wedding.                                                                                                                                    
Of course, the suitability for 'wedding' is still important, and the bride must also be happy with the look.  This creates some tension when the bride and the attendants have differing style preferences and personal standards concerning length, fit, and details like strapless vs sleeves.                                                                                                                                        
An additional challenge is that both sets of brides and grooms chose navy blue as one of their main wedding colors, and both want gray on the men.  Where it is tempting, from the financial side, to use some of the same clothes at both weddings, we don't want 2 sets of professional photos, a rare blessing, of the family wearing the same clothing for both!                                                                                          
#1)  Princess Sassy made the bridesmaid attire question a little easier by having only 1 attendant stand up with her (Princess Bossy), and choosing a dress for her that we already own.  Easy to check that off, and $0 expenditure.  She is hoping I'll be in something that coordinates with the wedding colors of navy and gray, but does not feel it's necessary for her younger sisters to match exactly, as long as what they choose looks nice in the family photos, and is, of course, appropriate to the semi-formal event.                                                                             
#2)  Princess Bossy has decided to have all of her sisters, and her best friend in her wedding to Prince Helium.  Princess Sassy will be married by then, so will be her Matron of Honor.  Her best friend will be Maid of Honor, and the 2 younger princesses will be bridesmaids.  Her initial plan was to have the 2 or 3 older girls all in navy, but in dresses of different styles as would suit each individually.  She envisioned her youngest sister in a navy print...possibly with a hint of soft orange to go with the flowers and the other main wedding color, which will be displayed on her wedding gown in a sash and other decoration.                                                                                                                                

However, navy dresses were proving difficult to find, especially when searching to suit all the body types, stay formal enough but be something that could be warn later (no shiny), and fit the modest budget.  Her solution to the problem was to add teal as another wedding color.  That new plan would have the friend in navy, Princess Sassy in teal, Princess Artiste as the link between 
in a print with teal and navy, then have Princess Eager in navy with white dots, or some other pattern suitable to her age, but that wouldn't compete with Princess Artiste's floral dress.                                                                                                                                                                 

We currently have quite a pile of dresses, working toward both the all-navy and the navy and teal plans...    Kind of keeping all the balls in the air until a complete set satisfies the bride.  Thankfully, there are a lot of sales on right now...after prom and with the change of seasons.                                                                
We seem to finally have dresses with which all girls involved seem happy.  I now have complete confidence we'll have this decided soon.


Additional note:  If you're in the market for a dress, I have to say that in our experience, JC Penney is the place to go!  Macy's has more navy, but for overall selection, price, nice fit and features, and material and construction quality, JC Penney has offered us the most options and the best hope.