How to keep your friends when you make them Bridesmaids
It’s a complicated feeling, isn’t it, when you’re sitting across from your bestie at brunch and she takes a sharp inhale before asking the big question:
“Will you be my bridesmaid?”
You’re flattered, of course, and even somewhat relieved in knowing you’ve been one of the chosen ones — because, after all, you two have been through thick and thin together for the better part of 8 years and why wouldn’t you stand by her side on this auspicious day?
As a bride, it’s the most beautiful and calming feeling in the world to experience the chaos of your wedding day with your girl gang loyally standing by your side, passing you tissues, zhooshing your veil, guarding you from awkward moments, and following you to the loo to help you navigate that shape wear mid-dance party. What an honour too it is to be asked to be that special lady.
But as much as you’re not only willing but truly honoured to be asked, let’s then fast forward to the big day itself. As the bride dictates the style and feeling of the day, she’s constantly creating and executing a vision in her mind to orchestrate this truly special day for her and her loved one. This means: Fashion. It means first asking you to be her leading lady and then dressing you to fit into her perfect vision.
Sometimes, this goes really well. It means hues and styles that truly fit the women she’s dressing. But traditionally, it’s been a strange century for brides dressing their lady loves. For some real life examples, let’s take a moment to look at the tape…
Yes. Poor ladies, that’s all I have to say.
So, when your gal pal asks you to stand by her side on her wedding day, and asks you then to pass the salt, there might be a slight twinge of hesitation on your part to take on the role. Because, let’s be honest, fuchsia and puce are not your colours.
As a bride, you might be fully confident that you absolutely won’t ask your crew to wear something embarrassing -and that’s spectacular!- but even so, if you’re looking for a little guidance from the style guides about what could be a great direction to go.
(Psssst - I’m just going to sneak in here for a moment and say that in addition to our SHOP goodness throughout, we have made life easier for you by creating a dedicated BRIDESMAIDS section within the shop, to help the hunt)
We here at Mrs Fray have done some research for our good ole’ gals in Canberra and we have a few things to put forward to you today.
BRIE LEON, BABY
Not just for brides, our household favourite accessory brand Brie Leon brings the goods when it comes to dressing your ladies in waiting. Do you know why? Okay then, we’ll tell you: Because you can wear these pieces again and again and again until these utterly gorgeous freshwater pearls fall out of your ears. Because you can wear them to Bar Rochford later and people will compliment you on your slick earrings (not wonder what you’re trying to do bringing fuchsia frills in accessory form to such a demure party). Brie. Le. On.
In addition to jaw dropping pearls, Brie Leon also grants us with the presence of her utterly gorgeous Organica Bent Hoops and other even less traditional wedding accessory wear. Perfect for a gift for your besties and as the match to their outfit while they’re wearing a:
The Ms Kensington Midi Slip Dress in Sydney Blue (Image by Milton Gan)
MS KENSINGTON SILK SLIP DRESS
Don’t even get us started on silk (because if you’ve met us in our bridal concept store in Campbell you would’ve have already heard us wax poetic for hours about how good this material is). So if you chose to wear silk on your wedding day, that’s one gigantic gift of love to yourself, but it’s also a great option for your gals.
Silk is chic AF and it’s wearability is the same as hoop earrings in that your gal pal pack will be thanking you for years to come about influencing this addition to their staple wardrobe. Sure, Cindy can rock this on the dance floor for your big day, but she can also throw a leather jacket over it and saunter into said wine bar afterward like she’s dropping the mic with every step.
We also have in store the beauty that is handmade silk slip dresses from Alice & Bourke. These beauties come in Jet Black or Blush heavyweight silk, and are handmade in Sydney by a gorgeous woman named Margaret (I’m not even kidding). They’re magic!
TARA PUMP and SCARLETT HEELS (Images by Milton Gan)
ASHLEY LIM VELVET PUMPS
We can’t say enough how grateful we are to the fashion gods of the past 3 years for bringing back to the front of the line: the block heel. Thank CHIPS they’re back and in full swing, because I don’t know about you, but my legs are not what they used to be and no longer game to wear a 4” stiletto heel for the duration of an event (ouch). Block heels all the way with make your support crew feel supported and -as a result- wayyy more able to bring their A-Game when they aren’t silently thinking ouchouchouch all day.
And good news for lovers of Ashley Lim’s goodness, because all of these stunners we stock of Ashley Lim can be ordered in any of the materials she stocks. You read that right. So if you’re in love with the Scarlett Velvet Heels but want them in Python …let’s flipping do it. This gives you flexibility to match your bridesmaids to your motif / give the gals the shoes of their dreams.
BACK TO BRIE, BABY - CHLOE CLUTCH IN BLACK MATTE CROC
Hellooooooo, gorgeous. If you haven’t garnered by now, we’re all about building a sustainable wardrobe of staples. Weddings often have a reputation for being wasteful, single day parties, but we still believe that the sentiment is important. So when it comes to celebrating with some bells and whistles involved, let’s throw in said bells and whistles that we believe in wearing again and again.
This gorge black matte croc bag is the perfect grab-and-go bag for your weekend events, dinners out, or looking fancy AF when you run down to the shops for a coffee. So close your tabs of potential grab bags for your ladies' to carry around their accessories on the big day and nab something like these that they’ll really love.
Or, controversially, treat yo’ self to a little sum’in sum’in because you’ve been doing a lot of work planning this party and it’s a lot of damn work.
FINISHING TOUCHES: OLO FRAGRANCE
We don’t know about you, but we here at Mrs Fray are fans of fragrances that smell natural and beautiful; the kind of scent that doesn’t strike you first as, “Ah wow, she’s wearing a lot of perfume",” but more leaves your passerbys with a feeling of, “Ah yes, she always smells good.” That’s one of the many reasons we can’t stop falling in love with the OLO FRAGRANCE rollers we have in store here at Mrs Fray. The five fragrances on offer cover a range of preferences, but all boast natural, beautiful symmetry that’s good for everyday wear.
So whether it’s a gift for your gals or a special wedding day scent you’re going to enjoy all by yourself, we can’t sing their praises highly enough.
In addition to the faves above, we love and enjoy having BASERANGE BASICS in our store, in addition to some more MS KENSINGTON SILK ROBE goodness - so, I guess you can cross your bridesmaid’s attire off your long to do list, legend, because we’ve got her covered top to toe. Come in and peruse our lovely faves, pop some OLO Fragrance on your wrist, and have a fun chat to Amy and myself about how good our bridesmaids have it in 2020.
See you soon! x
Our beautiful cover image for this post is by Ivy Road Photography
