Picking bridesmaids dresses

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I somewhat agree with what you said!

Yes, some weddings are expensive and over-the-top, and when a bride insists on a certain dress for their bridesmaids without help paying for it, it can get annoying. On the other hand, we all have free-will. No one is holding a gun up to someone telling them they have to be a bridesmaid and pay all this money; they can say no. It's such a grey area that definitely brings out strange feelings in people!

I'm super grateful for this forum and discussions like this to guide me when the time comes to ask the people in my life to be bridesmaids because I don't know how I'm going to approach this.

Check out azazie.com. I told the girls the colour to pick and sent them on their way to pick out the dresses they wanted. You even have the option to try at home, meaning they send you a sample for $10 and you can try it on at home without having to to go a boutique. Best decision we made and saved them hundreds of dollars.

I just do not understand this bridesmaid dress thing. Who wants someone (the bride) to pick out a dress for them (the bridesmaids) without any of their (bridesmaids) input and be told they (the bridesmaids) need to buy it. Especially a dress that will only be worn once for someone (the bride) else's needs. The only excuse I keep hearing is the bride already has so much to pay for. But whos problem is that, really!?! The bride picks everything she buys. It's not like she is being force to buy anything. The bride has money for ice sculptures, professional pictures/ videos, pricey entertainment, etc. But she has no money to buy or help buy dresses for her bridesmaids that she wants in her wedding. These are assume to be people she is closes too. I think people's priorities are off.

I went with the approach of “here is the colour (Black) go pick your dresses”. Purple is the colour for our wedding so I thought black would go well with it and their flowers would be purple. My two sisters ended up falling in love with two different purple dresses so since I’m having four people stand with me, I let my sisters go purple and my maid of honour and my other bridesmaid will be in black. I will alternate between them up at the front. They were able to all find dresses that fit their budgets and the style they feel most comfortable in.

I am going out to David's Bridal with my girls and having them pick with my fiance . We just want the same colour and the same material, they can basically pick what they want. I would like them to wear it again, but let's face it, who does really?

As a bride myself, I told my girls I couldn't pay for their dresses but I could cover a portion (30%) before alterations. I discussed a budget with them and I told them I would like them to tell me any colors that are a no go for each of them. My maid of honor said no to beige, as it makes her looked washed out. No problem I didn't have that color in mind either. The next step I tackled was the length, I told them the length would be up to them HOWEVER, I would like them both to have the same length. Since there are only 2 of them it might look awkward in pictures for them to have different lengths.

Then we went shopping I let them have free reign pretty much (I said no to a couple of their options), I told them the colors I liked but looking at dresses online vs in person changed my perspective. I was thinking silver or gold but scratched that fast at the bridal store, as I also wanted them to be able to wear the dress again after the wedding not just a one time dress. We went with the color of Dark Grey or Charcoal. They went with 2 different styles but the material was the same & the lengths are the same so I didn't mind. Maid of honor's dress will come to about $250 (before alterations) & my bridesmaid will come to about $300 (before alterations).

My mom has been giving me a hard time about picking an long bridesmaid dress that is something that the girls can wear again, without people thinking, "Oh, that's such a bridesmaid dress"... I think when people agree to be bridesmaids, they understand there will be that expense, just don't go overboard. Tons of places have options under $150...

My opinion, it's your wedding, it's your photos, go with the look you want. If you have it in mind to be respectful of style and price, there shouldn't be an issue.

Also what the other girls said, if you're going for a single colour, especially something more vague like 'charcoal', picking the colour (and even fabric) you want at a place like David's Bridal will give uniformity and guidance to all your girls, if you still want to leave it up to them to pick their own style.

Hi Rachel,

I was in my best friends wedding last year and we had great luck at David's Bridal. We all made an appointment, picked a colour and all found a dress we loved and it was fairly reasonable ($150).

For my bridesmaids I went to Davids Bridal and found the colour I wanted (Cobalt). I have ladies ranging from a size 4 to 24 and want them all to feel comfortable and beautiful so they can pick any style of short dress they want in that colour. I love that they will all match but will have their own look.

We're also keeping our eye on the American David's website as sometimes they have sales and we can make a quick trip to the border. Overall though I find them cheaper than traditional bridal salons.

Thank you everyone!

With only having my daughter standing up with me i never had this problem. i hope you find a solution soon.

I gave them all a colour request and had them send me pictures of what they wanted, for the most part they all sent me similar dresses. My maid of honour just had a more conservative dress so the top was lace but the skirt was the same so it still matched really well.
I highly recommend getting pictures from them if what they like because if they all send similar dresses then great, if they don’t you can show the pictures to a consultant at the store and they should be able to help you out with some ideas

I originally through I wanted all matching dresses but have since changed my mind. I am going to pick two colours, one for the maid of honour and the other for the bridesmaids. I'll give them the length and any other specifications such as fabric. They get to go from there. I will request that if possible I can be there for each of them picking. We are going to have one big shopping weekend during the summer and hopefully they can all pick a dress at that time.

I had the colours in mind and had two of my bridesmaids try on different dresses until I found one we all liked. The style compliments different body shapes and it can actually be worn to other formal events or be altered (it's long and flowy but can be cut). I asked for their opinion on how it felt and if they were okay with price before making my final decision. I've left the shoe decision to them - I asked they wear nude but it can be whatever they want; even something they already have. To help with costs, I'll be paying for all the girls hair which hopefully takes the sting of the price of dresses (they were $300 and I had hoped it would be cheaper)

I picked a designer and colour and let them choose the style of dress. Colours can vary depending on the designer which is why I chose a specific designer. We went with horizon dresses, but the horizon at David's Bridal is darker than the designer we went with.

I did go to David's Bridal with my bridesmaids because it was cheaper but they didn't any of the dresses. But, I wanted to give them the option since it was cheaper.

For my friend's wedding that I'm in, we ordered online from KFBridal. I'm always nervous ordering dresses online, which is why I didn't have my bridesmaids do it, but it is cheaper. The samples that they sent looked different than the pictures online, so if you choose an online store, be sure to get samples from them.

I picked two colours (teal and purple) and I plan on shopping with them/approving the choice before they buy.

I picked a colour and a few different styles in different price ranges for my girls and let them pick from that. They actually ended up picking the same dress in the end but it was a good compromise between doing their own thing and me picking for them.

Be careful saying you want charcoal dresses. Charcoal can be interpreted in a wide range of colours. Our groomsmen are wearing charcoal suits and one went out and bought a suit... when it showed it to us it was SO dark that we ended up buying a new one for him that matched the rest of the suits.. some charcoals are more brown too.

As for the bridesmaid dresses, I went shopping with all the girls one day, and told them what colour I was thinking of. They found a brand they all liked, I confirmed the exact shade I liked and they picked which ever style in that brand.

I paid for my bridesmaids dresses (I had budgeted for $150 each) and let them choose what they wanted within a set colour palette. They looked online at asos and other non-bridal stores. I wanted them to choose something they could wear again, and they both found lovely dresses. I’m in my cousin’s wedding later this summer as well, and for her we’re ordering from azazie.com. She choose the colour then we could pick whichever dress we wanted, which was appreciated. A site worth checking out.

We chose Merlot Chiffon for our fall wedding

We went with Mumu Weddings. We chose the colour and then let the girls pick whichever dress they liked from that collection. They are more affordable than many of the dresses in the bridal stores and in my opinion or much cuter! I have been in several weddings where I wasn't a fan of the dress. This option allowed the girls to pick the dress that would fit their personality and body shape the best. Everyone seems really happy with the options and the price point. Have a look and good-luck! /shop/mumu-weddings

I'm going with an infinity/convertible dress for my bridal party. That way I can chose the colour but it'll up to them to decide how they want to wear it so they are comfortable. They are relatively inexpensive and depending on how you wear them, don't look like typical BM dresses so they can be worn for other occasions too.

View quoted message Totally. We did a dress shopping day where everyone picked their dresses and tried them on together to see it they matched. Everyone had a lot of fun!

View quoted message I was thinking of doing something similar. Telling the girls the colour I want (charcoal) and pick the style they want. I just think I would like to still see the dresses they pick before buying. Thanks for your insight.

View quoted message Thanks for the website suggestion. They are affordable, unfortunately not the colour I want!

I told my girls to pick a green dress in whatever style they liked. They all found dresses they were happy with ranging from $60 to$180 each on sale at Davids Bridal.

What i decided to do was to buy my girls dresses for them instead of getting them a gift. That way they arent put of pocket to be in the wedding and they get a dress they picked for themselves and can hopefully rewear

What isn’t going well? Like are the girls not liking the idea, or are they having trouble finding dresses?
I’ve done this with my girls as well. So far it’s been going well, I’ve also been pretty involved just with suggesting dresses as I come across them, and then they have also run dresses by me too before buying, since I’m doing mismatched and I want to make sure they all look well together.
a couple of my girls have bought their dresses from 1861.ca. It’s canadian and free shipping, and they typically add a few new dresses each week so it’s a good option for affordable dresses!