On the morning of October 26, I woke up absolutely filled with excitement. I could not wait to see Merri and give her a giant hug. It was her wedding day!
Merri is one of the most joyful people I’ve ever had the pleasure of meeting and I knew her wedding day would be full of love, laughter and lots of dancing… and that was before the ceremony even started!
Makeup at Saks Fifth Avenue
Our morning began a little after 9 a.m. when all of the bridesmaids met up at Saks Fifth Avenue in Sarasota to get our makeup done.
Whenever I am given the option to have my makeup done for a wedding, I always opt out because of the horrendous experience I had on my wedding day, but since Merri works for Saks in New York City and scheduled complimentary appointments for us, I graciously accepted and made sure to find pictures of celebrities whose makeup I like to show to the makeup artist ahead of time.
Though I typically feel timid when it comes to giving a lot of feedback to makeup artists, I immediately had a great rapport with Ali, the woman at the Laura Mercier counter who helped beautify me! She made me feel comfortable and suggested a “warm smoky eye” with neutrals (browns and golds) on my eye and a sun-kissed look for my skin. That sounded great to me and I was very pleased with the end result.
I wanted to give them some business for taking such good care of me and purchased the eye canvas cream that Ali used to help neutralize my eyelid, extend makeup wear and prevent creasing and smudging all day.
I am glad I bought it because my eye makeup lasted from 10 a.m. on Saturday until 2 a.m. on Sunday without the need for a touchup!
Hair at Tangerine Salon
Once our makeup was done, I caught a ride to Tangerine Salon with my fellow bridesmaid Cat and the photographers from Black & Hue Photography who were AWESOME. They are based in Tallahassee, Florida, but travel for weddings and I cannot sing their praises enough. They are talented, easy going, fun-loving and true artists. I had a blast getting to know them (they even came out with us after the wedding!) and highly recommend them to anyone in need of a photographer for a wedding or upcoming event.
Since Cat and I were the first to arrive at the salon, the stylists got to work on our hair immediately and before I knew it my hair was being teased to the point that I looked like Frankenbridesmaid. I requested a half-up hairstyle inspired by the following three pictures:
The salon owner, Kristi, worked her magic and finished my hair in a surprisingly short amount of time. I was impressed! With all of our hair done, we drove to the Edson Keith Mansion at Phillippi Estate Park to finish getting ready, eat lunch, break open some champagne and give Merri a few special gifts.
The upstairs of the mansion was perfect for wedding prep and we had a large room with plenty of seating and lots of windows to spend time in before the ceremony began. Pete and his groomsmen also had a large room in the mansion to relax in before the ceremony and it was fun to be able to pop in and say hi to Ryan and the other guys a couple of times. Austin even helped us with steamer assembly!
Though all of the bridesmaids got their makeup done at Saks, Merri had a woman come to the mansion to do her makeup because she wanted airbrushing and so we jammed to some fun tunes while Merri’s makeup was applied. (Yes, Backstreet Boys may have popped up on the playlist.)
Once Merri’s makeup was done, she passed out the most thoughtful bridesmaid gifts to all of us.
Vintage cocktail rings!!!
Merri selected different vintage cocktail rings for each of us to wear that she found in New York and we were all extremely touched by such a unique and thoughtful gift. I will definitely wear my ring many, many times in the future! (My ring is the closest to the bottom of the above picture. I have the metallic nails.) Love it!
Once we all had our gifts and read the cards Merri wrote to us, Merri took some time to go through the bag of gifts and cards we got for her.
And then it was time for us to slip into our bridesmaid dresses!
Merri let us pick any dress we wanted in a gold/champagne/neutral color palette.
And then it was time for Merri to put on her AMAZING dress!
Her mom helped her into her gown and we all freaked out when we saw her.
So gorgeous!
Once Merri was dressed, I was called over to the guy’s room to serve as the go-to boutonniere girl.
I think this can officially serve as 10-years-too-late prom picture with Ryan!
Next up: The ceremony!!!
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Love your dress 🙂
I love that the bride paid for the makeup! I was once a brideamaid and had to cover all of my own costs, I did not mind. But it’s a sweet touch. Love you hair 🙂
I love these recaps! You captured so many great memories for the bride!
Thank you! I really hope so! It was such a special day.
Love everything about your ensemble from the wedding! That dress is gorgeous and I love the makeup/hairstyle you chose! Can’t wait for more recaps 🙂
I love all of your bridesmaid dresses! So nice that you got to choose your own style.
I cant get over how well all of the bridesmaid dresses look together! I love the idea, I almost wish I hadn’t selected my bridesmaid dresses yet!
That wedding dress! Looks like a wonderful, laid back morning. I love that you got to choose your own dresses.
LOVE the idea of the vintage rings. And those bridesmaids dresses are gorgeous. Definitely something you’ll be able to wear in the future.
What a gorgeous bride!
Also, random but seeing the strapless dresses reminded me — do you know of any awesome arm workouts??
Beautiful wedding! I LOVE your dress – gorgeous on you!
I LOVE your hair style. I’m getting married in August and your hair is pretty much exactly what I envisioned for my wedding hair. I’m definitely printing out pictures of this to show my hair lady 🙂
Julie – I really love that you recap all of the weddings you’ve been attending! I’m planning my wedding for next August and love seeing all of the different looks/ideas/inspiration all of your friends have!
One question – I love the way all of the bridesmaids dresses went to well together without being matchy matchy. Past giving everyone color parameters, did the bride request final sign off on everyone’s choices? I just wonder what happens if someone’s choice doesn’t look right with all the others (which was NOT the case here 🙂 )
Thanks!
Hi Ashley! We all sent in photos of the dresses we liked before we bought them. I don’t think she said no to anyone, but once some dresses were picked, she sent out emails to the other bridesmaids saying “no more sequins” or “try to pick something with less gold” so all of the dresses weren’t too similar. 🙂 Congratulations to YOU!!!
Thank you 🙂 And appreciate your response! I really like the way you guys figured it out as a group.
Love the idea that you got to pick your dresses and that they’re all so different!
That is probably the most adorable bridesmaid dress I have ever seen, first off. And second off, what a breath taking bride!! Seriously.
merri’s wedding dress is absolutely BEAUTIFUL! she made a stunning bride! and i agree with everyone else – i love the idea of letting each bridesmaid select her own dress for the big day. 🙂
I absolutely love your hairstyle!
Thank you!!!
I love all the gold dresses! Such a cute idea and they all look great together!
Love your dress! I got married last month and also let my bridesmaids pick any dress within a certain palette.. and think it turned out great!
your hair and dress is fabulous! you look like a princess 🙂
Merri and all the bridesmaids are just gorgeous!! Your hair and makeup are fabulous, and I can’t wait to hear about the rest of the wedding. The preparations are so exciting though, so thanks for capturing so many great moments!
Your hair is AMAZING!!!
I am obsessed with all your dresses! You ladies look beautiful!
Love those cocktail rings what a lovely gift.
Pardon my ignorance but with Merris makeup what is air brushing?
I love Laura mercier their primer is the best I’ve ever tried by far!
It’s like a little machine that airbrushes light foundation on your face. It’s AWESOME.
Your hair and makeup turned out great! I also love that the bridesmaids chose their own dress. I did the same for my wedding and love the mis-matched look!
Her dress is BEAUTIFUL!!
I love how the bridesmaids chose their own dress within the color palette! It turned out so gorgeous! I’m planning my wedding for next July and I want all my bridesmaids to have the same color dress (from the same designer so the colors are identical), but I think I’ll let them choose which style!
You all looked beautiful! Love the non matching dresses too — everyone looks comfortable in the style they chose, which almost never happens when all the girls wear the same dress! Great idea Merri! 🙂
You have been a bridesmaid ALOT how many times and how many dresses do you have because of it? It seems like everytime i read your post you are at a wedding being a bridesmaid.
This is my fifth time.
Oh my goodness, I cannot get enough of reading your posts about your friends wedding! It’s absolutely stuffing and I’m in love with all the details. Especially those vintage cocktail rings!
I swear by eye shadow base … I like MAC’s paint tubes (I chose the lightest colour they have and you have to remove it with a strong formula as that sucker would last for weeks!
Her dress was beautiful! You looked great! Love the hair!
Wow love the dress you picked out! You really were stunning – and so was Merri!
You must have quite the collection of bridesmaids dresses in your closet! 🙂
Bride looked beautiful and love the way she let you all pick your dresses!
I’m in a wedding next year and the bride is also letting us choose our own gold dresses. I’m having trouble finding one I love. Where did you find yours? It looks gorgeous!
Thanks!
I bought it on HauteLook.com – The brand is La Femme 🙂
Thanks Julie!
I love the idea of picking out your own dresses in a gold/neutral color! Then you can actually re-wear it!
Oooohhh Merri looks gorgeous in that gown as it suits her personality perfectly from how you describe her. Fun and carefree. 🙂 and I too get really nervous with getting my makeup and hair done by someone else–not that I can do a good job though! Hehe
So beautiful! How fun! Merri’s dress is gorgeous! And yours is as well. Can’t wait for the ceremony recap! 🙂
Love Laura Mercier eyeshadow paints. I use the color alloy religiously. The trick for me is to put the dry powder over the paint when it’s still wet. It’s lasts all day and night! Get so many compliments all the time. I did my own make up for my wedding too using this product.
Can’t wait to see more pics of this wedding. Love the look of the bridesmaids and the neutral tones of all the different dresses. Looks like it was an amazing weekend!
A very lovely post, and you look absolutely beautiful 🙂
Thank you, Anne!
those rings are such an awesome bridesmaids’ gift!
I love your hair! So pretty!! Merri’s dressing is stunning!! 🙂
Your hair turned out great… so pretty! I loved the bridesmaid dress idea too.
I’m looking forward to the full wedding recap.
ohh I love the cocktail ring idea!! Those are so pretty! And, that you all had different dresses. I know some people like the matching dresses more, but I have always been a fan of bridal parties with different dresses that look like they go together. So cute!
What fun! You look beautiful!
Love, love, love your bridesmaid’s dress! It looks like y’all had a perfect day!
I love the idea of all completely different dresses! Good thing you all seem to have excellent taste!
Hi Julie!
Can you post a picture of the full bridal party line up? I’m getting married in a year and I love the look of the same colors, yet different dresses as the bridesmaid dresses. Would love to see how it looks at the atlar!
Thanks!! xx
Congratulations to you!! And yes! I just posted a blog post about their reception that features pics of all the dresses with links to the dresses we wore. I hope this helps!