Happy birthday, Jon! And a happy belated one to Benno!

Don't all the men in the wedding party usually wear tuxes?

Or maybe, like Shrift said, I'm used to that as a Midwestern Thing. Tuxes, expensive/useless/ugly/Prom-y bridesmaid dresses.

It's an Italian-American thing too, though I am starting to see a trend towards tuxes with Windsor knots instead of bowties. Floor-length dresses for the women is the norm. Tea-length is passable if everyone is wearing them and they're in a fabric that connotes cocktail/party dress.

I tried to stay away from the ugly Prom-like dresses, and picked something they could wear again. Oooh, related story: My cousin in France (bridesmaid in my wedding 2 years ago) used the dress as her wedding dress for the civil ceremony in July. I was totally chuffed.

Ginger, I think shrift said the color must be Marine.

ita, I hope that all this is over for you soon.

I let my bridesmaid pick her own dress. But the (two) men were in tuxes.

Muesli:

Yay Scrappy's DH! That wonderful!

I think all of those had marine options. I just wasn't linking right.

Oh, I hope things go well for your DH, Scrappy!

Thanks, MFNLaw. Hopefully we're seeing a smoothing out of things, a tenuous treaty for the moment.

lisah, the roads around here are just wet, not snowy. Or rather, the one road I can see.

The only floor length wedding partiers I've noted were at a wedding in near Toronto in July. Open-air, late afternoon. The guests weren't as formal. Lots of dressy suits. (And me in a very red dress.)

I think all of those had marine options. I just wasn't linking right.

Me = idiot. This is what I get for doing real work today. My brain, it is mush.

Hopefully we're seeing a smoothing out of things, a tenuous treaty for the moment.

I certainly hope so. Did you see the recall of Fentanyl patches last week? I'm not sure if they're still in your arsenal. [link]

lisah, the roads around here are just wet, not snowy. Or rather, the one road I can see.

The 2 roads I can see in downtown DC are wet, but OMG! You'd think it was snowpocalypse part deux! I guess no one wants to be stuck for 8 hours in the mixing bowl again.

edited for proper apocalyptic spelling.

It's not like I've reworn the tea length bridesmaids dresses I have any more than the full length ones.

Full skirted tea length bridesmaid dresses at thriftstores = new fluffy skirts for me!

Anyone who want me to be a bridesmaid would probably be having a gothy, steampunk, pirate, or other "alternative style" wedding, which means I never have to worry about bridesmaid dresses again.

Mine: veejane in blue linen (her choice),

For the record, this was an ankle-length dress, off the rack from Macy's (but not, obviously, from their wedding dept.), and I wore it as a guest to another wedding and then altered it to make it below-the-knee with vents and now wear it with a suit jacket to spring and summer job interviews. I feel that is an unqualified win.

I have not yet altered the dress I wore to my most recent wedding (black, cleavagey, floor-length) to be cocktail-length, but that is mostly laziness and an aversion to working with jersey material.

because of ita's links before I am now looking at flatware. I have some stuff from thrift stores that I would love to find full sets of, but I do not know names and I am sure it it no longer being made.