For some reason, I’m always getting requests for ivory bridesmaid dresses. I wrote once about a wedding that I saw and loved where the bridesmaids all wore ivory and decided to go on a hunt of my own.

So I’m in the store, looking through the racks and I see a couple dresses I like and of course the sales lady asks a few questions and realizes I’m looking for bridesmaid dresses. I ask about ivory dresses and you would’ve thought I committed a cardinal sin.

The woman proceeds to tell me about how it’s utterly ridiculous for anyone but the bride to be in white or ivory, especially the bridesmaids. And that my wedding will never be a success if my girls wore withe or ivory.

Needless to say, I gave her my two cents, set the items I had in my hand on the counter and left without a thing.

That said, I still love the ivory bridesmaid dress. We didn’t end up doing it, but I still think it looks so classic. So I’ve put together a short list of dresses that aren’t really sold as bridesmaid dresses but that I think would work nonetheless.

And, in case you missed it, this was the original post that sparked my love for ivory bridesmaid dresses: Overstocked and Ivory Bridesmaid Dresses

Source: Maggy London at Nordstrom

Source: Suzi Chin at Nordstrom

Source: Ellen Tracy at Bloomingdale’s

Source: Arden B.

Source: Anthropologie

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Technorati Tags: Bridesmaid Dress, Bridesmaid Dresses, Bridesmaids

Ringbearer pillows often fall into the too lacy, too traditional category. After doing some searching I found a few that fit my more modern sensibilities but you know me, I didn’t want to shell out the dough for them. So, of course I went the DIY route, and my trusty sister and sidekick came through with her sewing machine and crafty skillz.

Step 1: Cut out enough fabric for your pillow plus about a half inch for your seam. Pin along the edges so the material doesn’t slip when you sew.

Step 2: Sew along the pins. We sewed in an arch instead of straight across. I can’t really tell you why but I thought about pictures of other pilows that I’d seen and I always was drawn toward the ones that curved in on the sides. Sew all the way around the pillow except for the last 3 or 4 inches. You’ll need this space to stuff it.

Step 3: Turn the pillow inside out and stuff your pillowcase with polyfill. Stuff it pretty full and make sure you push the fill into the teeny tiny corners too. As you stuff, flatten the pillow out to give it the shape you’re looking for.

Step 4: Whipstitch the final few inches of the seam after filling the pillow. A whipstitch is just a hidden little stitch done by hand with needle and thread sans sewing machine.

Step 5: Decorate your blank canvas of a pillow anyway you’d like. We wrapped our pillow like a gift in wide ivory ribbon with a half bow on one side . And we added a piece of then red ribbon to hold the rings. We pulled apart some silk hyndrangeas and put pearl buttons in the center where the plastic pieces used to be. All of the ribbon and flowers were sewed into the center of the pillow by hand just to make sure everything was secure.

And voila! A ringbearer pillow!

Have you tried your own DIY Ringbearer Pillow? Any tips or tricks?

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Technorati Tags: DIY, how to, Ringbearer, ringbearer pillow, tutorial

Pssst.

A little birdie told me that MAC Cosmetics would be selling be their products at 25% off today and tomorrow, but only on their website. Use promo code SUMO to get the deal.

I love me some MAC but the MAC prices don’t love me. This is a perfect opportunity to get a few essentials for your wedding, especially if you’ll be doing your own makeup.

Happy shopping!

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Technorati Tags: cosmetics, MAC, Makeup

UPDATE:

After writing the first Steve Madden post, I was contacted today by two different Steve Madden representatives. One gentleman left a comment on the previous post and a woman left me a voicemail.

I called back the woman who’d left me a voicemail and explained my issues to her.

She was very gracious and offered to give me a full refund on the three pair of shoes and to waive the restocking fee given the circumstances.

She also admitted that their system is not perfect but listened very carefully to what I had to say. She said that they will actually go back to shipping in boxes instead of bags this winter and that they are exploring ways to improve their inventory system.

I didn’t mean to cause a big debacle when I wrote the first post, just wanted to express that just because there’s already a process in place, that doesn’t mean that there isn’t always room for improvement.

While I’m still not exactly sure how Steve Madden heard about my issue, this litte mention on Consumerist couldn’t have hurt.

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Technorati Tags: Anjelica, Complaint, consumerist, issue, Shoes, steve madden

Here’s How it Went Down.

I ordered 8 pair of the Anjelica shoe from Steve Madden. After successfully placing my order, I got an email a few days later saying that four of the pairs of shoes were not available and that the remaining 4 would be sent in separate shipments.

Let’s back up here for a minute.

First of all, why would they sell me shoes that they don’t have available?

Second of all, why are they sending 4 pair of shoes in separate shipments?

When the four pair of shoes all arrived (at different times mind you), instead of being in brown shipping boxes, the shoeboxes were shipped in plastic bags.

Yes that’s right, the same bags you would send clothing in. Now, how Steve Madden determined that these flimsy plastic bags would be sturdy enough to ship cardboard shoeboxes is beyond me.

Upon taking the shoeboxes out of the bags, you could really see how beat up the boxes were. They were falling apart to the point where I had to put two of them back together.

Here’s the kicker: one of the shoeboxes doesn’t even have a top.

When I buy a pair of shoes, I expect the box to have a top unless its off the clearance rack at DSW. And at that point, I’ve consented to buy the shoes without a box top.

So of the four pair of shoes I had in my posession, there were two size 10s and two size 7.5s. Between the time I ordered the shoes and the time they arrived, we discovered that neither of my girls who I ordered the 10 for would be able to fit them. I had ordered one of the 7.5s as an extra size because a few people were in between sizes.

So of four pair of shoes, we ended up being able to keep just 1.

I clicked to chat with a Steve Madden representative online to explain find out what I had to do return the remaining three pair. We’ll just call her Jane. She sent me a return authorization email, but said that I’d have to pay a $6.95 restocking fee per item.

Whoa whoa whoa. Why should I be penalized when Steve Madden misrepresented their available inventory online?

I explained my position to Jane but she just apologized and told me that’s the policy. I understand policies are put in place to serve a purpose, but I also understand that Steve Madden has a responsibility to show accurate inventory counts.

Jane also said that online inventory is only updated once per day.

Excuse me? Once per day?

How do you run an e-commerce site that I’m sure gets plenty of traffic every day on such antiquated practices?!

I thanked Jane for her time, but decided that I need to call and speak with a manager or supervisor to this thing straightened out.

So I called Steve Madden’s 800 number. Wouldn’t you know it – they have one of those stupid stupid stupid voice recognition phone systems. The little automated lady started talking to me and before she could get her first full sentence out, she interrupted herself with, “I’m sorry. I didn’t get that…”

I tried pressing 0 for an operator, but all I got was, “I’m sorry that’s not a valid option”

I hung up. I figured it was the best thing to do if I wanted to keep my sanity for the rest of the night.

And let me just say – this entire experience is even worse because I know it’s possible to offer a great experience as a shoe company. Companies like Zappos and Piperlime do it every day.

So here I am. I am still the not-so-proud owner of 3 pair of Steve Madden Anjelica shoes.

What do you all suggest I do to get my little situation resolved?

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Technorati Tags: Anjelica, Bridesmaids, customer service, shipping, Shoes, steve madden

I know I haven’t talked much about bridesmaids or groomsmen gifts, but now I have the perfect idea.

[insert shameless plug here]

My sister recently launched her line of sweatshirts and t-shirts and I think they are pretty damn fly. The men’s line is called Pompous and the women’s line is Pretty Pompous. They’re extra special because they have a pink elephant as a mascot, Snuff.

This season’s shirts are described as Star Trek meets Do the Right Thing. My favorite women’s top and the one I happen to own says, “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.” You might have to be an old head to appreciate this – or just have an old soul like me. My favorite men’s shirt is probably the logo sweatshirt that glows in the dark.

While I know these might not be your typical flask or spa day wedding party gifts, your wedding party might appreciate something they can get some use out of a little more.

So check out her site, IAmPompous.com. You might see something you like.

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Technorati Tags: iampompous.com, pompous, pompous apparel, pretty pompous, snuff

Remember my bridesmaids said they wanted gold or silver shoes? Of course you do. Well I went looking. Here’s what I came up with on the first pass, but I’m interested to know what you all think, especially my bridesmaids.

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Technorati Tags: Bridesmaids, Shoes

We have a dress!

My bridesmaids and I got together yesterday and pored over hundreds of dresses before finally deciding on one. They will be wearing a dress we found at Nordstrom by Suzi Chin. It’s affordable, has straps for support and can be worn again.

If this dress looks familiar, it’s because it was featured in one my original sets of dresses that I thought the girls might end up wearing. It got a lukewarm reception then, but as we were scrolling through Nordstrom’s site, everyone seemed to like it.

Next up are shoes. I first suggested black shoes, because everyone could wear a pair they already have. Apparently, my girls had other ideas. They don’t mind spending the extra money because it gives them an excuse to shop and they don’t want to wear all black. Which is fine with me. There were suggestions for gold or silver, either of which might be okay.

The shoes can wait for now, I’m just happy to have another thing off the list. Check.

——————-

Side note: If you’re in the same boat we were in and need some dress resources, try these retailers:

jcrew, nordstrom, marciano, overstock, windsor store, ann taylor, white house black market, banana republic, edressme, shopstyle

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Technorati Tags: Bridesmaid, Bridesmaid Dresses, Bridesmaids, Dress, Dresses, Inexpensive, knee-length, Nordstrom, Suzi Chin

New stuff for me to lust over on J.Crew’s site include

these:

and this, which has a similar neckline to my dress and comes in several colors including black:

Both are $200+, which is more than I’d planned on spending on either. Oh well. Such is life.

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Technorati Tags: Bridesmaid Dresses, Dress, JCrew, Shoes

I was in Anthropologie today picking up a few tops and I saw this dress. I really like it, but I don’t know if it would work as a bridesmaid dress. Plus, it’s $188. And while I don’t think that’s out of the question, we’ve definitely already seen some dresses for less that we like more. But I still like it.

I also like this idea, posted by Heather at We Met in a Bar. All the bridesmaids wore black dresses of their own choosing and they were all tied together with a red ribbon around the waist. This way my girls could save some money if they wanted to and wear something already have. And everyone would still look coherent and it would be apparent that they are in fact bridesmaid. The one change I’d make: I’d probably tie the ribbons in front.

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Technorati Tags: Black, Bridesmaid Dress, Bridesmaid Dresses, Bridesmaids