Wedding Throwback: Dressing the wedding party

This is our next to last wedding wrap up post! Today we'll go through a bit of the process of how the wedding party came to be adorned the way they did. Patrick and I were very mindful of our renovated textile warehouse venue, our daytime wedding, and the ambiance everything created together.

Patrick and I wanted to present a unified newlywed couple so early on in my dress selection process I asked him if he would want to wear a tuxedo or not. He was leaning towards a lightweight cotton suit. I knew this ruled out fancy ballgowns for me.

Off I went dress shopping. I actually selected my dress about a year before the wedding. Thankfully I loved it just as much on the wedding day as the day I selected it!

Here's the winner:

Even though I ended up with more ball gown than I was initially envisioning, I fell in love with their cotton shantung taffeta material. As soon I put it on I felt like it was perfect for our daytime wedding. It didn't have any frills and there was a bit of texture on the bodice. I thought the bow at the waistline added a nice feminine touch.

The bridesmaids' outfits were selected in March so about five months before the wedding. I had done a bit of research for styles I liked for the girls before we went to the store. After process of elimination from Rachel and Stephanie we ended up with two styles that they both liked and ultimately decided on this chiffon strapless dress with a sweetheart neckline that mirrored my dress (that's what made it the winner)! The tough decision was then decided on the color. We were torn with how blue or green the dresses should be. Ultimately we decided on 'peacock'.

Next up Patrick and the groomsmen! On a spring trip to Chicago to visit his family Patrick snagged his brother and best man for some suit shopping. They went all over Michigan Avenue and a J.Crew suit from the Ludlow collection caught his eye. He continued to browse for suits over the next few months but ultimately selected the J. Crew Ludlow cotton suit with a fine stripe.

This one didn't make the cut

To differentiate himself as the groom Patrick chose the 3 piece suit and added the vest to his ensemble while the groomsmen just wore the 2 piece suit.

Trying everything on after its arrival

Patrick wasn't quite out of the woods yet with outfit choices. He needed to finalize his tie and accessories! We stumbled upon a local NC store (flagship store is actually in downtown Raleigh) producing cotton bow ties. Patrick knew this would be the perfect addition to the Ludlow suit. There was quite a bit of debate about pattern and who would wear what. Ultimately we liked Patrick in a lone darker blue stripe with  pink accent stripes bow tie. The groomsmen wore a blue and white stripe bow tie with the ushers in a light blue and white stripe bow tie. Our ring bearer, Patrick's nephew, then wore the children's version of Patrick's bow tie. Everyone completed their outfit with a light pink pocket square.

Putting everything together.

So much to consider with dressing the wedding party! We thought we presented a uniform-looking wedding party without being too obvious.