A lesson in bridesmaids' dresses

When I look back on my wedding, I only have one regret: that my bridesmaids' dresses were so expensive! I was among the first of my friends to get married, and I didn't really know that there were alternatives to the 200$+ dresses that you buy in the most ridiculous way possible. I mean, trying on a dress in the wrong size and colour, looking at a tiny scrap of fabric as a sample, getting measured and not even getting into the proper dress until it arrives, months later? My best friend got married the summer after me, and being a very easygoing bride, she just asked us to pick out a black dress that we liked. As it turned out, there were two lovely styles of black dresses at Winners, so three of us wore one style and three of us wore the other. I've re-worn it several times since then, and definitely got my 40 dollars' worth!

My sister is proving to be a savvy bride already, and she texted us bridesmaids today with a dress she found on Dynamite's website; she even put the dresses in our respective sizes on hold at locations convenient to us! I'm a bit of question mark, size-wise; I don't usually shop there, so I have no idea what size I'd be normally, never mind a month (or so) after giving birth. So we just got the biggest size (an 11), and we'll hope for the best. Not only is the dress beautiful (strapless, cobalt, fairly structured, which will be very helpful for me!) but it came to 50$ with tax. And it's got ample re-wear potential. I'm thinking of getting some kind of crazy girdle device and getting the dress altered as close to the wedding as possible. I should also look into strapless nursing bras, if there is such a thing, or maybe just tucking in the straps of a regular one.