Thrice a bridesmaid . . . no wait, four times

I stood up in three weddings before I was married and one afterwards. The first wedding was my sister Pam's, and I think we should have known things weren't going to work out 12 years later based on the dresses we wore. We wore pastel purple dresses with trains and ruffles on the back of the skirt. We also wore hats, little round yamukah-type things on the top of our heads that had little bits of fishnet attached. Yes, it was the 80s.

The second wedding I stood up in was my friend Leanne's. She and Brian are still together 20 years later, despite the mint green tea-length lace-covered bridesmaid dresses we wore. I guess that the ugliness (by today's eyes) of the dresses isn't really an indicator of the couple's future. I'm not really eager to dig out any photos of that wedding, however.

The third wedding I stood up in was my friend Donna's. Until my own wedding, that was the most fun I'd ever had at a wedding. We bridesmaids wore lace-covered deep purple dresses that had short hems in the front tapering to longer hems in the back. Yes, it was transitioning to the 90s. I think the bouquets we carried had black flowers, which again should have been an omen of the marriage's eventual success.

Then I got married. I'm still in love with my wedding dress, but this was towards the end of the 90s, so things had tamed down a little fashion-wise.

Lastly, in 2003, I stood up in my sister Claudette's wedding. We wore deep blue long dresses, pretty similar to the outstanding bridesmaids dresses I chose for my attendants.

I still have all of the dresses and I anticipate that one day, my girls will wear them to play, like I did my mom's bridesmaids dresses long, long ago. Do you have any wedding fashion memories to share?