Bridesmaid problems mark II

For the observant among you, you will have noticed that we haven't had a 'mark I' yet. I haven't had time to blog that yet - it's a corker. I guarantee you laughter, tears, shock and possibly a 'what the fuuuuu......?'

Anyhoo, mark II. To fill you in, I have 3 bridesmaids. We're all ladies of a certain age so I already decided that fancy bridesmaidy dresses were not the order of the day. I can't bear the shiny full length ones that look fabulous if you're 5 or 20 but not brill if you're 30 or 40! So, I thought I'd go for something different. Check these out...I love them!

I should also have mentioned that my bridesmaids come in various sizes.... all around the 5ft3 mark but one is an androgynous size 8, another is a curvy 12 with ample assets and the other is a voluptuous 16/18 with extremely ample assets. This was never going to be easy, but I like a challenge. The other spanner in the works is that the more generously-sized lass lives at the other end of the country to the rest of us so getting together to dress shop is a mission.

2 weeks ago two bridesmaids, a bride and mother-of-the-bride schlepped up to the Holloway Road to try on the dresses. They looked great but will need some tweaking by a good seamstress. My lovely mother tried on the dress for the absent bridesmaid to get the sizing vaguely right and in doing so is seriously considering getting a store card there. She wanted to try on everything!

With everyone happy, I bought 3 frocks and then went off to post one up oop north for a trying on session up there. 2 days went by and silence prevailed. At last I receive a message and whilst it was very apologetic and sheepish, the sub-text was clear. 'I HATE IT!!. Of course, that's not what she said....'the fit is really bad', 'the style really doesn't suit me', 'my arse looks enormous' etc etc.

So here is the problem. I have 3 beautiful dresses, one of which I'm sure isn't as bad as she thinks and due to Bridesmaid problems mark I, my patience is extremely thin on pandering to other people. This is slightly unfair on 'problems mark II' as she was very supportive during 'problems mark I' but there have been lots of other unrelated problems all of which have caused me to compromise what I want for my wedding because others have issues with it.... you can't win can you ?

I've been to too many weddings where bridesmaids have sported ill-fitting dresses. It's not a good look, however I adore the frocks I've chosen and I've had a total nightmare finding ones that fit with the theme of the wedding. The style of my dress definitely shapes what the bridesmaids can have and the colours also restrict certain styles (told you I like a challenge!).

AAAARRRRGGGGHHHHHHHH!

She's in London tomorrow, so we can go try on the frocks at the shop. My strategy is to get her into a size bigger and dress it completely as it would be on the day rather than just the dress. I'm not hopeful though. Really, really not hopeful.  Am I within my rights to put my foot down?  It is my wedding after all.  And my budget.  And there is nothing that will be everyone's style.

Bugger, bugger, bugger.