How can we decide bridesmaid dresses when the whole wedding party is at long distance?

Knottie93697352

Hi, I'm getting married on 2015 July. All of my bridesmaids are out of state and probably be at my wedding just couple days before, that's why buying a dress for them and wait till last minute for alteration is too risky.

I don't want them to dress the same. I want them to be able to chose the style in the length, fabric and color scheme that I will give them. I want to order from one website so that the color and fabric can match.

Which trusted and budget friendly websites that you guys can suggest for me? 

Thank you

manateehugger

My ladies were all over the place. I would pick a common designer like Alfred Angelo, Dessy, David's Bridal, Allure, Bill Levkoff, etc. that's carried in different salons around the country. These designers computer mix their dyes, so don't worry about non-matching. It wont be visible to the eye.

Make sure you ask their budgets privately first! Then pick a designer who carries multiple dresses at the lowest number your ladies give you.

That said, I went through Bella Bridesmaids (they have 10-15 stores in major cities) so they could get a group discount despite living in 4 different states. Worked out perfectly.

Knottie93697352

oh cool!, thank you!

Also thanks for the tip of asking the budget private. 

[Deleted User]

You don't need a website to order the dresses. 

First, what's the budget for the dresses?  Ask each girl privately and then start researching dresses.   I would suggest picking a color, fabric and particular designer.  Most BM dresses are usually sold in collections.  The dresses in the collect are different styles, but the color and fabric of each dress is the same.  Give the information to all the girls.  I suggest an email with the info so they can refer back to it. 

After they have the info, each girl can find a dress shop in their area that sells the dress.    They go to the shop, get measured and order the dress.   When the dress comes in, they can pick it up and arrange to have their alterations done.  

[Deleted User]

manateehugger said:

My ladies were all over the place. I would pick a common designer like Alfred Angelo, Dessy, David's Bridal, Allure, Bill Levkoff, etc. that's carried in different salons around the country. These designers computer mix their dyes, so don't worry about non-matching. It wont be visible to the eye.

Make sure you ask their budgets privately first! Then pick a designer who carries multiple dresses at the lowest number your ladies give you.

That said, I went through Bella Bridesmaids (they have 10-15 stores in major cities) so they could get a group discount despite living in 4 different states. Worked out perfectly.

This will be the easiest thing. You can go onto the different designer websites and do a store location finder to see if the option you want to go with is available within a reasonable traveling distance for each BM so that they can go try the different styles on in person. The fact that you just want to do a designer & color & let them go from there, is going to make your wedding planning experience so much less stressful. The girls will get dresses they feel comfortable in & if your bridal party is comfortable & happy with how they look, it will show on their faces & in your photos.

QueerFemme

My people got their Davids Bridal dresses from two different stores, from across the state, and ordered about 2 months apart. They are the exact same color.  Dye lots are somewhat a think of the past.  Most fabric color is computer mixed, so you don't have to worry about them all ordering at the same time so they can get the same dye lot.  

Just pick a color that you love from a particular designer, as others have mentioned, and a length (short, tea length, long), and let each person pick a dress that they feel confident in.  David Bridal is pretty much everywhere, even in a lot of somewhat smaller cities, so it's an easy solution.

mlg78

I did exactly what QueerFemme suggested (David's Bridal in the color Lapis and short) and the girls went at it on their own. I liked 3 of the 4 dresses...but who cares? They felt great in all of them. And the best part? I've seen two of them wear the dress again since the wedding because they got a style they truly loved.

marie2785

manateehugger said:

My ladies were all over the place. I would pick a common designer like Alfred Angelo, Dessy, David's Bridal, Allure, Bill Levkoff, etc. that's carried in different salons around the country. These designers computer mix their dyes, so don't worry about non-matching. It wont be visible to the eye.

Make sure you ask their budgets privately first! Then pick a designer who carries multiple dresses at the lowest number your ladies give you.

That said, I went through Bella Bridesmaids (they have 10-15 stores in major cities) so they could get a group discount despite living in 4 different states. Worked out perfectly.

I did this, except through Demetrios. They have locations throughout the country, and a bunch within Macy's stores. They don't show much on their website, but they had by FAR the best selection of Dessy, Bill Levkoff and other bridesmaids dresses that I could find in Detroit or Washington DC. I told my girls to pick a navy blue, floor length chiffon dress by Bill Levkoff. One girl is wearing a strapless dress, another in a keyhole back, the other an illusion neckline, and another has cap sleeves. They all look great. 

Also, by ordering through 1 store (even though the girls went in and tried things on at their local shops) I was able to get 20% off their dresses since a sale was going on when I first stopped in, and free shipping to the girl's local stores in Detroit, DC and California (that's Demitrios' policy which is great). So at the end it worked out well.

Just be sure to select one brand, one fabric, and one color. We found that navy between Dessy, Bill Levkoff, and a few other brands were VERY different and would look mismatched in pictures, so we had to only select one brand. Same with fabrics---navy in chiffon vs satin look very different as well. Length is also important to specify if you want them to look cohesive. 

Knottie93697352

Thank you girls! you are awesome!

Knottie59783736

I am in a wedding tomorrow.  The bride chose Bill Levkoff and we are all of this country.  She ordered from Pearl's Place.  We all saved over 30% and they were in early and shipped to us in each town.  It was very easy and we all participated on the selection and could not complain one bit.

kimberly0315

I have 2 bridesmaids and we all live in different countries.  I discussed budgets with them individually and then narrowed it down to a couple of designers.  They both liked WToo so I picked a colour and fabric.  They chose the rest.  They could both try on dresses in a store near them.  Turns out they picked the same dress, but it didn't matter if they didn't.  That worked best for us. 

hyechica81

we went with jasmine gowns i had the out of state girls get measured and they phoned in the order and deposit to the shop i was using the gowns came in just in time for my bridal shower so the out of states were able to try them on and take them back home for alterations 

lovemesomemonster

Great suggestions from everyone! I will add that all of mine are in different states and none are in the same place as me. I took my MOH to pick my dress and we put her in a couple, we decided on Bill Levkoff, long, navy dresses so the girls will be able to go to stores in their area, try on, and decide which one they like the best for them.. 

As a side note, not sure if you are on facebook but I started a "secret" group that only the 5 of us can see and we post all wedding related things there to keep it all together. It has been working out great! Everyone can post ideas, discuss their dresses etc.