Never the bride, always the bridesmaid. Another one of my friends is getting married, which means another wedding to be a part of, another hideous dress to wear, another speech to prepare, and another date to find. Ugh! Here's my most recently story of searching for bridesmaid dresses with my latest friend who got married.
So, as the story always goes, me and the (in this case, five other) girls go on the dreaded search for the "perfect" bridesmaid dress (I wish we could do this without the bride!). As we enter some hole in the wall dress store my anxiety immediately hits, the hot flashes start, and already I want this "happy, joyous" day to be over. As we enter this overwhelming, tiny store I am blinded by the sequins and ruffles. Mind you the women in the wedding party are all either happily, married, engaged, or in some serious relationship. Me, on the other hand...I'm still searching for Mr. Right. So, the try-on process begins. I hear the bride say, "I want them in something with ruffles, and fitted in the bust, and kind of high low." All I can think of is how my enormous breasts, and arm fat will be spilling over the top of this sequined shiny dress (ahhh!). As I see this vomit green dress with all the bells and whistles making its way over to us, I cant help but cry on the inside (but it's the bride's day, what she wants, she gets!).
I am now shoved in a fitting room, which is being taken over by this obscene green dress, I cant even find the zipper. Fumbling through the ruffles and layers, I finally make my way into it. I hear the other girls gushing over the dress (were we not in the same dress?), because all I can see is a huge vomit mess of a dress. So I walk out of the fitting room, the sales associates are boasting our egos, "OMG that looks AMAZING on you!" (Like stop lying this is horrible). So, it's official...this is this dress we will wear on her magical day.
Now that I have the dress, I need the date, but there is no man I want to take with me to this wedding, considering the unflattering dress I will be wearing! Also, knowing my friend she will probably have us wear a feather or something really ridiculous in our hair. My friend has given me NO chance to find even a potential boyfriend at this wedding. Thanks girl! Cheers to the bride, and her Kermit bridesmaids.
I think a shopping experience, especially for dresses, should be a pleasant, calm, organized experience. As I mentioned earlier, when I walked into this bridal store it was disastrous, and gave me immediate anxiety. I love going into a store that is very well organized, and not a cluster mess of mish-moshed dresses. That's why next time that I am a bridesmaid, I'm making sure that the bride shops at Rissy Roo's to find our dresses! Now that I'm a Roo Girl, I've had first-hand experience seeing that Rissy Roo's provides the most professional, easy going, honest experience of any dress store that I've ever been at or shopped at online. They have such a great selection of dresses both online and at their store in Linwood, NJ that it's so easy to find exactly what you're looking for, whether for a wedding, prom, or any other formal event. I wish my friend would have come here - the choices of dresses are endless, and the sales associates will give you their honest opinion (unlike my kermit the frog disaster), which whether you are ready to hear that opinion or not, can be surprisingly helpful!
MAKE IT FUN: Plan a girls day/night out. Grab your bridesmaids and Maid/Matron of Honor (MOH) and hit the town. Pick a boutique or store, call ahead if needed and try on as many dresses you can! When you find your DREAM dress, you will feel it. If after trying on 10, 15 or even 30 dresses and you do not find your dress then have no worries, you can always plan another girls day/night! Don't settle, this is your special day you deserve a special dress to commemorate the occasion. Continue reading 
