Will you be my bridesmaid?

I struggled with how I would ask my bridal party to be my bridal party.  Most of them knew it was coming, and when we would talk about the wedding plans - I would feel like I was losing ground on time to ask them without making it seem lame.

With nine bridesmaids, it's hard to do anything without breaking the bank. I decided I would design my own cards for them, and put together a cute little bag of goodies for them to properly ask them to stand beside R and I as we get married.  

At first I had the grand idea of designing mini navy blue satin dresses myself, and attaching them to the cards, this was a giant fail. I have minimal skills with fashion design, and didn't have the slightest clue where to begin.  

This image was my inspiration: 

ClipArt via Clker.com, image by chika87

Sight Unseen.

Maybe I'm an anti-bride. But with the amount of time/energy/creativity I've spent over the past months just thinking about the wedding, I doubt it.  However, the one area of being a bride I was truly and whole-heartily dreading was dress shopping.  I.HATE.DRESS.SHOPPING.  This probably has everything to do with being a plus sized bride, and not loving the shape I am in currently.  I haven't been losing the weight that I want to lose, and if I'm being truly honest with myself, I haven't even really been trying.  But there is very little about dress shopping that appeals to me.  I hate the sizing difference, I hate the parade of dresses, styles, etc.  Ech.  Just give me a dress that looks good on me, preferably one that doesn't cost a fortune, and I'll be happy.

Bijou by Amsale