Bridesmaids dresses. Does BLACK = BAD???

bflagg

I sorta posted this somewhere else, but felt that this section actually made more sense

I was wondering if black bridesmaids dresses are an OK thing to do?   I want color in my wedding, but dont want to make my maids uncomfortable by forcing them into an (expensive)  bright dress. 

So my idea had been short (knee length) black dresses, with a sash, shoes, and maybe headband all in the colors I was thinking (pink and green). Would this still look to someber? Does anyone have photos of dresses that have been done like this? 

Any feedback would be super helpful!!! 

Jo1803

Actually I am planning a similar idea.  It is a classic look and many people feel more comfortable in it.  Go to like the alfred angelo website and you can mix and match colours on dresses to get a preview. 

mjmartel

I think black bridesmaids dresses are very classic and looks amazing if done right! I think it's pretty to add color in the flowers and in the headband because it would make those items pop in front of the black of the dress.

dizzinea

black bridesmaid dresses are super common, I'm having my maids wear black and bringing the colors in with flowers. its easier on them and more chance they'd wear it again

mrsmdr

Black always looks classy and is totally ok for a wedding, I've been to lots of weddings with black maids. I think it looks great but the only reason I dont want to do it is because it has become quite common.
I dont want my girls to have to wear a bright colour either so I chose a sand/champagne kind of colour (also quite common these days!)
I also saw a wedding recently where the maids were wearing black but with super bright shoes and flowers to match the shoes (all 3 were a different colour, yellow, blue and pink from memory).
Good luck.

raangoli

My best friend is getting married in February and our dresses are black tea length. Her colors are black, white and fuchsia so what you're planning on is totally fine in my book!

xsinfulangel

i think black is the easiest. i'm going with black cause my girls are all different shapes and heights. where one might look good in a teal dress, another might not. i don't want them remembering my wedding day as the day they had to wear that god awful dress. i'm accessorizing with either sashes, shoes, or jewelery.. not sure yet..

NicoleB331

I went with black dresses for my bridesmaids and I think it's elegant. Like other girls have said you can definitely add the color with the flowers. Other considerations would be another neutral color like grey or beige. I found both of my girls dresses at Dillards a lot cheaper than most bridal salons.

reese511

i absolutely LOVE the idea of black dresses....and colored Shoes.  (no sash). 
it would be cute if each girl wore a different color shoes!

DO IT!!! 

smore154

I'm doing black dresses! I couldn't decide on colors, and I wear a lot of black anyways- so I think this fits me real well. I actually think you can't screw up going with black lol. But that's just my opinion. It goes with everything!!!

mbcdefg

Black dresses are fine for a wedding.

My BMs wore black dresses with spring green sashes, and one of the BMs wore the green pashmina that I bought for them. The green really popped against their outfits, and so did the bright pink bouquets they carried. The guys' ties were striped black and green and I thought they looked great against the black tuxes: http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e306/mbcdefg/wedding%20pro%20photos/bpformal.jpg

I would make sure your BMs are honestly O.K. with specific shoes and headbands, though, because those things can really depend on personal style and comfort. For example, I can't wear pumps because they always fall off my feet, so I need a shoe with some kind of strap. And slingbacks never work for me for some reason, either. And I tend to get headaches from certain types of headbands.

Plus, I think too many colorful accessories will really be overkill. Especially if they'll be carrying bright bouquets. I'd do the sash and maybe the headband, if it were up to me.

aerinpegadrak

Black is probably the most popular color for bridesmaid dresses these days.  I ditto malphabet on accessory overload: requiring specific shoes is over the micromanaging line, and most headbands personally give me a headache.  I think it's fine to say "wear any black knee length dress and try to bring in some green accents" and let them choose whether that means shoes, jewelry, sash, wrap, headpiece, whatever.  Then have them carry pink flowers with a little greenery.  I think a colored sash AND shoes AND headband AND flowers on all of them would be just too busy.

bibliophile2010

I agree with the following: headband=headache, matching shoes can be a problem, you can bring in flowers, sashes, etc. for pops of color, black is going easy on your BMs.

I'm about 90% sure that I'm going to end up going with black (still not entirely decided, but I have time), and bring in color with flowers.

corinnealise

Honestly, I only like black dresses if black is one of your colors. I think it looks a little strange when all the colors are bright and cheery like your green and pink sound like they will be. It makes the bridesmaids stand out a little too much in my opinion. I would opt for champagne dresses like mrsmdr did. I think it would fit the color scheme better, while it is still a color that the BM's can wear again.

Cleo7

I think black bridesmaid dresses make SO much sense.  Unless your other colors are pastels...then it might look a bit off.  I think black with pink (or another bright color) accents is great.  I went to a wedding where the BMs wore black, tea-length dresses, and the other wedding decorations were BRIGHT pink and white, and everything looked fantastic.

I really, really wanted my 2 MOHs to wear black dresses, but we couldn't find anything they liked.  They both fell in love with dark brown dresses, so we went with that.

ETA - I'd go easy on the colorful accessories - shoes OR sash OR headband OR something else.  Maybe each BM could choose which part she wanted to accent?  All of those things on one woman would probably be too much.

J crew has some great, classic dresses, you could pick the fabric and color and let your ladies choose the style if you wanted.