Dresses for my bridesmaids

swimmy1988

I'm trying to figure out what to do for my bridesmaids. I have 5 in total... all are different shapes and sizes. Some are tall and slender, others are shorter. Should I be looking for the same dress for all of them to wear?? 

I can think of many pros and cons for every thing I will try to do with the bridesmaid dresses. If I get all the same dress for them, they all have to like it, and it has to look flattering on all of them. That poses a bit of a challenge for a style that will fit all 5 of them. 

On the other hand, if they all get different dresses, I still want the same colour for all of them. So that will pose a challenge as well. 

What works best for bridesmaid dresses? I guess I will have to see when we go out and actually look and try on dresses right? 

MairePoppy

Before you do anything, ask each bm, privately, for her dress budget. Find a store or manufacturer that has plenty of choices in the lowest budget range. You can then decide on a color, length, fabric for the bms and allow them to choose their own dresses. I think it looks much nicer to have each girl in a style that suits her, rather than forcing various body types into the same style.

expatmrs

For my BM dresses, I chose the color, fabric and length all from the same designer. I picked out about 8 styles for the girls to choose and they each choose a different dress. So they will match but not with exactly the same dress. I actually prefer this to anything else. It's very rare that 1 dress is going to look good on 5+ girls.

willywally5

Definitely ask about budget. Then pick a designer/manufacturer, color, length and fabric and let them choose the style. 

DD did that dresses just came in and while each are different, they look very nice together while letting each of the bridesmaids show their own style a bit and wear something about which they feel comofortable and confident,

getaclue44

I gave my girls the dress color and length and then let them loose at David's Bridal--three hours later the MOH had picked separates and the 2 BM decided on a strapless dress--and everyone was happy

SKPM

Ditto PPs. I picked a color, length, and fabric at David's, which yielded about 6 to 8 dress and separates styles. As it turned out, 2 of my 4 BMs picked one style and the other 2 picked another style, so they will stand in alternating dresses at the ceremony. Dress shopping took 90 minutes or so and every girl got a dress she feels comfortable with and can afford.

pretzelgrrl

First as everyone says get budget...then I think you are right wait to see hwn you all go out...there you will be able to tell if you can find a dress everyone likes or if you need to choose a color, fabric, length....for all you know they maybe a dress they all like.

gurrlballa10

I said yellow and short.  I figured that way, I didn't have to think about things too much.

freebread03

I was in a wedding a few years back and we all wore different dresses from JCrew in black.  I actually don't even remember if we wore the same fabric--we must have but I can't for the life of me remember.  It was super easy and we were all comfortable.  And black made is extra easy.

Cuss10

I went to David's Bridal just because they are nationwide and so is my bridal party it seems. I narrowed down BM dresses based on what I was looking for:
Marine Blue
Short (knee/tea length)
Cheap (under $150)
With straps (no strapless or halter dresses)
I found 8 styles that I liked.

Then I took 3 of the 5 girls shopping to try them on (the two that couldn't make it are the two that would look good in anything). The four of us narrowed it down to 2 dresses. Based on the dress I picked we decided to go with the BM dress of the same material, that actually had lost of similarities.

By narrowing down what I wanted first, while keeping my BMs in mind it made shopping so much easier because they knew I was thinking about their budgets' and bodys' and I knew they were thinking about what I pictured my wedding day to be.

swimmy1988

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_moms-maids_dresses-for-my-bridesmaids?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:357Discussion:12d92c2b-bf04-41c9-ba2a-5417c3bc4d6dPost:fdf9a2ea-de90-411f-93a9-43762f90e423">Re: Dresses for my bridesmaids</a>:
[QUOTE]I went to David's Bridal just because they are nationwide and so is my bridal party it seems. I narrowed down BM dresses based on what I was looking for: Marine Blue Short (knee/tea length) Cheap (under $150) With straps (no strapless or halter dresses) I found 8 styles that I liked. Then I took 3 of the 5 girls shopping to try them on (the two that couldn't make it are the two that would look good in anything). The four of us narrowed it down to 2 dresses. Based on the dress I picked we decided to go with the BM dress of the same material, that actually had lost of similarities. By narrowing down what I wanted first, while keeping my BMs in mind it made shopping so much easier because they knew I was thinking about their budgets' and bodys' and I knew they were thinking about what I pictured my wedding day to be.
Posted by Cuss10[/QUOTE]<div>
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</div><div>I think that's what I'll end up doing. Since one of my bridesmaids lives in Toronto and another one lives in Australia right now. But I have 3 that live closeby, so we can go look at different dresses soon. 

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