One more bridesmaid dress

Earrings: Francesca's | Necklaces: Francesca's (option can be layered with this) | Dress: David's Bridal Style F18095 | Shoes: Badgley Mischka (see them here) (option, option, budget option)

Well, after all the planning, my friend's wedding finally happened this weekend. If you need to catch yourself up, you can see details from the bachelorette party weekend here and the bridal shower here. If you recall, the last wedding I was in happened last September. While this is only the second time I've gotten to share a bridesmaid dress on the blog, I have officially been a bridesmaid 8 times. I've gotten to wear blush pink, mint, navy, forest green, apple red, chocolate, purple, and now wine. Luckily, I don't think I've ever had to wear a dress I didn't like. This weekend's dress definitely made me feel feminine and pretty.

The wedding ceremony took place at the Piper Palm House in Tower Grove Park. I had never been there before and it was beautiful! The bride had a suite at the Residence Inn downtown on Jefferson, and all of the girls stayed with her the night before the wedding for cocktails and dinner. The ceremony was at 2:30, so we got our morning started bright and early at 7am for breakfast before the hair and makeup girls arrived at 8am! 

I do love a good updo every once in awhile, I definitely favor the sideswept, cascading style for special occasions. It makes me feel like my hair is down, but everything still stays in place and out of my face. I wanted my hair in a chunky, messy but beautiful side braid. The inspiration photos I showed the stylist all had a braided crown that waterfalled into a fishtail. I brought my hair extensions just in case she needed them for extra volume, but she ended up not using any of them.

Here are a couple of close up shots of my hair. She didn't do an actual braid. She did a twisted pull through faux braid that ended up looking more knotted and haphazard. (Similar to this tutorial here except that she started at my neck instead of the top of my head.) I liked it because my layers tend to fall out of braids, but this style camouflages that. And since she curled my hair all over beforehand, the ends looked more wispy and intentionally chaotic than just straight and looking like they were accidentally sticking out.

We loaded the party bus after the ceremony and drove to a couple of off site locations for photos. The reception went from 6 to midnight and my hair stayed put all night, which made it even more perfect. That's a lot of cocktails and dancing!

Dress shopping in January 2016

Before ziplining in Vegas in May 2016

Before our show in Vegas in May 2016

Bridal shower June 2016

Rehearsal dinner at Pappy's

Wedding day August 20th!

I thought I would finish the post by posting photos of the bridesmaid journey! I remember dress shopping and feeling like the wedding was still a long way away! Time passes so quickly, it's scary! This was such a fun wedding of which to be a part, and I feel lucky to have made the cut! Congrats, Cortney and Kyle!

PS Enter the "Back to School" giveaway and win a Macbook Air, Kate Spade handbag, notebook, planner, and water bottle HERE!

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