bridesmaid dress shopping

ericmichelle

Im clueless.. Do i take all my bridesmaid shopping the first time or should i just take my MOH until i narrow down the dress options?

AutumnFair

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/special-topic-wedding-boards_moms-maids_bridesmaid-dress-shopping?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Special%20Topic%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:357Discussion:50d09673-5e38-4ea0-bf3b-0f53f88831bbPost:0364b55f-35ea-45bb-b752-b8fdf04ca0e8">bridesmaid dress shopping</a>:
[QUOTE]Im clueless.. Do i take all my bridesmaid shopping the first time or should i just take my MOH until i narrow down the dress options?
Posted by ericmichelle[/QUOTE]

<div>Here are some tips:</div><div>
</div><div>1.) Before you do any shopping make sure you contact each girl individually and ask them what is their budget range.</div><div>
</div><div>2.) Leave the BMs shopping as an open invitation to anyone in the WP who wants to come (this includes MOH).</div><div>
</div><div>3.) When looking through the dresses pick out the ones that are in the lowest price of what your BM's ranges were.</div><div>
</div><div>4.) Have your BM come together and pick top 3 favorite and you make the final decision.</div><div>
</div><div>Also you can just pick a designer, color, and length and let them choose what dress they want. </div>

tlbattaglia

I'm taking just one to begin with.  It's too hard to get everyone to go together in my situation.  Then, if I find a few that we think will work, I'll send them out to everyone and get a vote.

melissamc2

My girls all "window shopped' online, first.

Everyone's budget was established in advance, I narrowed it down to a colour and length, and we all, as a group, picked the three designers everyone liked best.

After that, they all looked through the photos, as did I, and came up with three dresses each one liked best.  While identical wasn't required, I DO like it that way, but told them to decide what THEY liked.  All three bridesmaids AND my MoH had the same dress on their top three, so they all opted to go with it.

We got a group outing set up, dresses were tried on to ensure it was "the one," they were all measured and dresses were ordered, and then I treated them to a nice dinner for being so cooperative.

It's a lot easier than a lot of people make it out to be.

aerinpegadrak

My girls were scattered all over the damn place so I just told them all to wear black, but here's the order I think it should happen in:

1)  Find out all of their budgets individually.  Either the dress should be kept under the lowest number, or you should pay the difference over what you were told the person can pay.  So, if all of the girls say $200 but one says $150, the dress should be $150 or less.  If you choose a $250 dress, you should contribute $100 toward the one girl and $50 toward the others, or $100 toward all of them if you want to be fair.

2)  Find out any of their style preferences.  Maybe there's a color that looks awful on them, maybe they can't do strapless, maybe they're uncomfortable with tea length.  If these are mutually incompatible, consider letting them choose their own dress within certain guidelines.  If color is the only sticking point, consider a neutral like black or grey and bring in your colors through the flowers.  Remember, it may be your wedding, but they're the ones who actually have to wear the dress, and a miserable bridesmaid in the "perfect" dress is going to ruin your pictures a hell of a lot more than happy bridesmaids in a dress that wasn't quite what you wanted.

3)  Do some research on your own to find a designer within the agreed upon price range who has options in the approved color(s) and style(s).

4)  At this point, go shopping.  It can be all together or separately, with you or on their own, but each girl should be given the opportunity to try the dress on in person before committing to buy.  Once you've narrowed down the price, designer, and a few style elements, this should go much more smoothly.  You CAN get into a store earlier than this, but expect it to be more complicated.

graysquirrel

I am taking all of mine on our first trip, but we have already gone over styles together. It helped to get a book of dresses and go through the pictures with them. They should be told what look you'd like to go for so that nothing way off gets picked. For instance, I'm having a Victorian theme and short little dresses would look stupid. I don't think that it is too early to start shopping. By looking now you can find out what looks good on your girls, what prices are like, and how long your orders will take. If you look early you can watch for sales and have your girls buy when the prices are lower. 

lilcassers

I looked up on-line and narrowed it down to about 8 dresses that I loved. Then I emailed all of them to my girls to see what they liked best. Ultimately, it is my wedding and I will choose however I don't want to pick something that one of the girls absolutely hates when they are paying for their dresses.

Then, I narrowed it down to 3 dresses based on popular opinion of the gals. My BM are all different sizes so mind you I chose an A-line style so that no one could say that it would look terrible on them.

The overweight gals that were worried how it would look, went to go try it on. Once I saw that they looked good in it, I decided one the dress.

Thankfully all of the girls are okay with it. 2 girls don't particularily love it but they said they are happy to wear it because it's my wedding. Also, the dress is $158 so it's not like they are paying a huge amount on something that is "okay" to them.

In dec we are all going to the store for them to get measured and then we are all going to dinner!