Don’t forget to get your entry in so you can win a fabulous flower hair accessory from Fascinate Me! The giveaway is going on now through May 14th at 11:59 p.m. PST, and you can enter with a comment about your favorite piece on the Fascinate Me Facebook page AND The Wedding Yentas post here for a maximum of two entries! The winner, who will be chosen at random, will be announced May 15th. Read here for all the juicy details!
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It’s so exciting to have an expert in the house! Personally, I’ve always loved antiques and historical items. I may not be a mathematician (when I hear “pi” I think pumpkin and apple), but I do know this: vintage styles + wedding = gorgeous! Today, Mill Crest Vintage is on board to tell us all about creating a vintage look for your bridesmaids. Paula Cooperman, owner of Mill Crest Vintage, has spent three decades hand selecting each piece to add to her amazing collection of vintage bridal wear for both the traditional and non traditional bride. She has an amazing eye for detail and a great passion for finding what makes a woman feel the most beautiful on her wedding day. Offering personal and private bridal consultations in her Lambertville, New Jersey bridal salon, Paula has had the opportunity to work with hundreds of brides, gaining both experience and expertise in what goes into selecting a vintage bridesmaids dresses.
Now that you have found the perfect “dress of your dreams” wedding dress for what may be one of the single most important days in your entire life, how will you dress your ladies in waiting? Oy vey, the bridesmaid dress. A dress, once regarded as the most dreadful of all dresses, that a movie was made in honor of its deep heritage in a long line of matchy-matchy dresses worn by the few especially selected women in our lives, as they surround the gorgeous bride in all of her glory. The days of 27 dresses and coordinating dyed satin shoes are thankfully finding their way out of today’s wedding trends. Nowadays, brides are opting for frocks that are flattering to each individual bridesmaid, without taking away from the cohesive look of the wedding party.
Going with vintage is a wonderful way to unify your bridal party without actually having everyone wearing matching attire. Whether or not your wedding dress is itself vintage, you can easily turn to vintage to create a beautiful and unique look to your bridal party, while still complementing the design of your own dress and the overall theme of your wedding day. Bonus!! Your bridesmaids will thank you for choosing a dress that they will want to wear again and again!
So, how do you choose a collection of vintage bridesmaids dresses that will both coordinate and offer the opportunity for each of your bridesmaids to feel just as special as you intended them to feel? Well, the two most important things you will want to consider: first, the overall style of your wedding day and then, the style of your own dress. Once you have established the look and feel you are going for, then choosing vintage bridesmaids dresses can be based simply on either era, fabric, color, length, or print.
Maybe you are planning an afternoon garden wedding and you have chosen a fabulous tea length vintage wedding dress from the 50s, with luscious layers of tulle and a floral lace embroidered sweetheart neckline, topped off with a floral silk ribbon sash. In this case, you may consider a selection of tea-length bridesmaids dresses from the 50s all in solid tones to complement your flowers, or perhaps you might choose dresses with a delicate floral print that will work with your sash. For a 20s themed wedding, you may consider flapper style dresses with figure flattering cuts and fun fringe for each of your bridesmaids. Having a destination wedding somewhere sandy and warm amongst the swaying palm trees? Vintage tropical sweetheart cocktail dresses from the 80s, in varying colors of gorgeous floral prints, are the perfect choice. Bridesmaids can don these fabulous little vintage pieces, while going barefoot on the beach and can still dance the night away at your reception by throwing on a simple pair of pumps. The possibilities are truly endless.
Even if your wedding dress isn’t vintage, fear not. A vintage bridesmaids dress is still a great option for achieving a cohesive look for your wedding party. Consider fabric choices, such as lace, jersey knit or chiffon in solid tones that work well with the overall colors chosen for the reception. If your dress happens to be floor length, you may want to have all of your bridesmaids dresses come from the same era, but choose dresses that are knee length so as to still be set apart from the bride. If your dress happens to be lace, coordinating lace bridesmaids dresses will be the perfect choice. Chiffon bridesmaids dresses work well with silk bridal gowns, offering a fun way to play with tones and sheen.
You may be thinking “Great! Vintage seems like a cool choice for my bridesmaids, but where to begin?” I may be biased, but we would recommend the bridesmaid collection at Mill Crest Vintage. Not only do we carry one of the largest collection of vintage dresses for both the bride and bridesmaids, we also offer our collection in our online boutique, as well as in our Lambertville, New Jersey bridal salon.
Brides can shop online with confidence, as each vintage bridesmaids dress in our collection has been hand-selected for quality of construction, fabrication, style, and wearability. We also go to great lengths to describe each piece with exquisite detail. A handy measurement guide is available to assist in finding pieces that will fit your lovely bridesmaids – and just in case you fall in love with a dress that isn’t the right fit, we are here to assist! Nearly every good vintage piece can be altered to achieve a customized fit. Our professional seamstress is on hand to offer suggestions to our online customers about how any particular piece can be altered.
For those brides who are near our Lambertville, New Jersey bridal salon and boutique, we invite you to set up a Private Bridal Party Consultation with one of our vintage bridal experts. Alterations are available with our seamstress and vintage shoes and accessories are available to complete the ensemble. For more information or to set up an appointment, please feel free to contact us.
Don’t forget the Mother of the Bride! We’ve got a fabulous selection of vintage Mother of the Bride dresses too!! But that’s a different discussion…
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