$#%&*$ Bridesmaid Dresses

Right now I really just want to stamp my foot at the WIC.

Background: I decided to try and find bridesmaid dresses. After throwing up in my mouth a little at the explosion of Pepto Bismol on the first page of the David's Bridal catalog, I began looking at non-wedding sites for inspiration. I found this lovely dress and got all excited; it's roughly in the right color scheme (which when people ask me what my colors are, I say "blue." They ask me to specify what shade, I shrug and say, "Blue. I like blue."), plus it's a dress that would look good on ALL my bridesmaids (who are very differently sized women). The website said they had it in sizes for all of them! After a quick check with the girls, I told them to order it, and went to order one myself since I was getting one bridesmaid's for her (she has bad internet).

I got to the checkout and it told me the size I had selected was unavailable. Whaaaat? I mean...I selected it. How could I even select it if it was unavailable? But sure enough, it was. I tried this for several sizes, hoping to get one approximate enough to be fitted to all my girls...and no, the only size ACTUALLY available for purchase is an 8 petite.

First, I was mad at JCPenney. Then, as I started to look at "wedding" sites again...I got angry at the WIC. One of my bridesmaids said, "Well, it's okay, just go to blah blah blah, they have cheap bridesmaid dresses." But CHEAP to me is like...$10. That's why I was going for the $30 dress; I can understand spending $30 on a bridesmaid dress. THAT seems reasonable to me. Anything over $50 just seems absolutely ridiculous, and yet it's impossible to find a bridesmaid dress for under $70 (and that's on clearance). I feel bad enough asking my friends to shell out $30 for me; there's no WAY I would ask them to pay over $100!

I just want to ask WHY? WHY is it considered okay to not only throw away your own money on one day, but to demand that your friends throw away their money, as well? WHY is it considered normal, nay, even necessary by some people, to dress grown women in hideous matching dresses that they will only wear once? Granted, I don't think all bridesmaid dresses are ugly, but they still scream BRIDESMAID, and I would really like something that my friends could actually wear again. They all loved the dress I linked to, and I was excited; it's a little darker than I ideally wanted, but who CARES? It's a sensible dress for $30 that would look good on everyone! Sadly, the website lied and we can't get these dresses, after all.

And I know, I KNOW I don't have to dress them all in the same outfit. I know this. But honestly...my fiance secretly wants to. No, really. I think he's still adjusting to the idea that our wedding doesn't have to look like a wedding, but he honestly DOES like the idea of people matching; he told me so when we were discussing the option of letting the groomsmen wear whatever. I would like to have my girls match, too...in a way that isn't junior prom-ish. But apparently the world is refusing to give me that option, because every remotely pretty dress I see is over $300. Um, my friends can't spend that. No way. I won't let them. One is a newlywed herself, one JUST graduated from college and doesn't have a real job yet, and one doesn't have a real job by choice because she devotes her life to her acting and has a very supportive family that helps her as she tries to achieve her dream. Which all boils down to...they're as poor as I am.


I just...ARG. To steal a term from A Practical Wedding, I'm engraged. So much so that my hands hurt from all this angry fast typing. I think I'm gonna go snuggle up in some soft fluffy pillows now.