Bridesmaids dresses at dawn

Last weekend not only did we find our bridesmaid dresses (yay!) I also did not kill either of my sisters (double yay!).
I knew from the beginning that finding a bridesmaid dress both my sisters liked would be tricky. My Big Sis, despite being technically older than me is often mistaken for being younger than me because she is a short arse (And I say this as somebody who just tips the ruler at 5’6). Lil Sis, due to her habit of wearing ridiculous, cripplingly high heels, is about the height of one and half Big Sis’. Finding a dress shape that worked on both of them was going to difficult. So we were on the hunt for different style dresses but in the same colour to make it clear they were bridesmaids. Easy? No.
From the start Lil Sis said she wanted an orange dress. I said no. Lil Sis took it well and while on the long hunt for my wedding dress, she found a gorgeous long sheath dress the sharp green of the fresh grass. Perfect.
There was just one problem, Big Sis hates green. She wanted to wear pink. Not a muted vintage pink, but neon 80’s pink. Yes, observant reader’s my bridesmaids were going to look like a tube of Maybelline.

At this point I was tempted to let them fight it out and sit back with a tub of popcorn. Friends asked me why I didn’t unleash my inner bridezilla and put my ivory stiletto clad foot down. Apart from the fact that once unleashed, like Godzilla, the inner bridezilla cannot be contained; I love Big Sis and I want her to feel beautiful on the day. Also there was the practical consideration that very generously she was going to pay for both dresses, at least I wanted her dress to be something she liked.
So last weekend Big Sis, Lil Sis, moi and Mum took a trip to the bridal shop to find a shorter dress in a complementary colour. She tried on a couple and then she put on the floor length sheath gown Lil Sis had worn. We all loved it. Yes it might need slight alterations, she was unable to walk without tripping off a mile of train because of her mininess, but once that was hacked off and in a colour that complemented the green it would be gorgeous. As Big Sis was being measured I was congratulating myself on getting out of the shop in under an hour without inciting siblingcide.
Then as Lil Sis was measured, the shop lady got her to try on another dress to check the sizing.Think Jessica Rabbit, sweetheart neckline, vintagey, very form-fitting in petrol blue. The first dress was pretty, this dress was stunning.
Inside my inner bridezilla was wailing. Yes Lil Sis looked gorgeous but she could not change her mind, if she did we’d have to start the hunt for another dress for Big Sis. But outwardly I smiled albeit through gritted teeth as Big Sis was helped into the new dress. Standing side by side they looked like goddesses, even if one was pint-sized. So after all that my sisters ended up with matching dresses.

The dresses were bought and nobody died. In my family we count that as a win. And I got to tick something off my wedding to do list. (Fellow OCD listaholics is there a better feeling in the world?)
Next task: trying to prevent Lil Sis from throwing me the tackiest hen do ever, complete with greasy strippers in posing pouches. Wish me luck!