Looking for pictures...

amarie688

Hi everyone - has anyone gone the "choose your own dress" route for bridesmaids (where you just give some guidelines), and how did it turn out?  Any pictures to share, or any ideas where I might be able to find pictures of this (I already plan on searching pinterest)

I've seen a lot of threads here about the guidelines people have given (these forums are where I first heard about the idea and I love it).  I just am curious how it looks all put together.  Thanks!!

mikenberger

Click here.

novella1186

I let my BMs choose their own dresses. I sent them all paint chips from the hardware store in the color palette I chose, and said "No satin, floor length." 

My wedding isn't till this May so I don't have pictures of them all together yet. But they've each sent me a photo of the dress they chose, and they all chose beautiful dresses that totally fit their style and personality, which I love. I'm excited for them to be comfortable and like what they're wearing. Plus then they had total control of their own budgets. 

Think back to prom pictures or any other formal event. The photos always turn out great, right? Because pretty much everyone loves what they're wearing and are comfortable and having fun, so there's lots of big smiles and each person looks so nice all dressed up. So why wouldn't a wedding party look just as great without all wearing identical outfits? 

amarie688

@novella1186 love the paint swatch idea!  Our color is navy and I've already had people ask me "what shade of navy" (I had no clue there were different ones).  And love everything you said in your reply because that's exactly how I feel, and why this is so appealing to me!

artbyallie

My bridesmaids wore blue, knee-length. MOH is in the print. Also, I just like this picture. (which I'll probably come back and delete in a day or two for privacy)

*pic deleted for privacy*

amarie688

@artbyallie‌ that is so cute, I love the MOH in print!

artbyallie

Thanks!

amarie688

I found this great link on Pinterest, and am posting it here in case anyone stumbles upon this and is looking for inspiration like I was http://bellethemagazine.com/2013/03/the-secrets-of-successful-mismatched-bridesmaids-3-0.html

mlg78

I wanted my girls somewhat similar but I wanted to keep my girls comfortable so I let them decide among them all short or all long and I said the color lapis at Davids Bridal... One got hers for $50 and two have already worn theirs since the wedding so it's good to see they chose a dress they truly liked.

saric83

DH picked a color at David's Bridal, and that was the only guideline.  They all ended up picking something short with some satin on it, but that was their choice, not mine.  I laughed about the dresses once everyone picked theirs because if I were choosing myself, I wouldn't have picked any one of them, but I really loved how they all looked since it was definitely each their own style.

thisismynickname2

Is this attaching right? Choose-your-own-black-dress. My wedding. 

DanikaMarie0227

I found a designer that had 4 different shades/colors that I loved together & gave each girl a color and told them to pick a dress by that designer that was floor length and chiffon.

charlotte989875

I also did "choose your own floor length, navy, from Alfred Angelo" (after asking for their budgets privately). I don't have pics yet, but each sent me pictures from when they ordered them, and they are all different, but really fit their styles. They also all said how much they enjoyed choosing their own. Definitely recommend it.

ETA parenthesis.

AuroraRose41

When I pick my bridal party, this is what I will do too. Being in a WP for a controlling bridezilla (that I later dropped out for) opened my eyes for what not to do to my friends. I plan to give them a color, fabric, length, and designer (within their budgets!) and tell them to choose from there. Here are a few pictures that I have pinned for inspiration: 

Bubblegum5586

I did this for my girls. I chose DB horizon for the low prices (also I got my dress there so each girl got $30 off). When they sent out their catalog I copy and pasted all the short satin dresses that came in Horizon onto one page and sent it to them ahead of time.

When we went they all knew the few dresses they narrowed it down to and picked their favorite. Everyone looked amazing and a few have already worn theirs again.

My friend did it a little differently and found 4-5 designers that she felt had a complimentary orange shade and gave us the designer color names and specified short and chiffon. We all had different dresses in a slightly different shade of orange and that lookd great too!

amarie688

Thanks for all of the ideas everyone!  I decided on the "guidelines" I'd want to give and ran it by my two MOH's to see what they thought and they both loved the idea, the one is very excited to have something she'll actually want to wear again.  I'm excited to see what they all choose!

sames52915

What I did was pick the color, length & designer and then they could get whatever they wanted. I went with Alfred Sung short dresses, and with those in mind & the color I picked there was still over 50 styles they could choose from. Everyone was able to choose what they were comfortable in, and what they were comfortable spending. My wedding isn't until May so I haven't seen them all together yet, but I think its going to be great.