BM dress length dilema....

WildCherry11

I originally wanted my girls to wear tea length dresses, but now I'm wondering if that won't be formal enough. I'm having an evening wedding (ceremony at 5pm, reception at 6pm), all the guys are wearing tuxes and it's a formal sit down dinner. What do you think, should I go with long dresses to match the formality of the rest of the wedding?

mbcdefg

Floor-length is only required if it's a REALLY formal wedding. Cocktail and tea-length can be fine for a fairly formal wedding - I would be more concerned about the fabric and overall cut of the dresses (and in some ways, the color - a very bright or whimsical color might make them look more casual) fitting the formality of the event. Plus the setting matters as well ... there's a difference between a "nice" reception hall and a super-fancy hall or ballroom. What do you expect your female guests to be wearing? Your BMs should be dressed equally as formal, if not moreso, than them. If you think most female guests will be in long gowns, then I'd get long gowns for the BMs as well. If you think most female guests will be in cocktail dresses, then knee- or tea-length will be fine for your BMs. Again, check out the fabric and style of their dresses, because that will also play a role in how formal they are. A silk tea-length dress is a lot more formal than a jersey or cotton tea-length dress. Also, be sure your BMs try on the dresses first. Tea-length can be a hard length to pull off, especially for short or heavy girls (because they can make them look stumpy).

bablingbrooke

Only if it's an uber-formal wedding (i.e. guests are also in black-tie dress). Time of day doesn't matter. Neither does the fact that it's a formal sit-down dinner. Make sure the girls actually try on the tea-length before you commit to them. It's a style that doesn't flatter every body type. And being flexible is always a good idea. I wanted my girls to wear short green dresses at first, but after we couldn't find any we liked they wound up in long, coral dresses that looked amazing on them.

banana468

Unless you expect all the guests to be in gowns then it's not necessary to go long.However PLEASE have the ladies try the dresses on.  I originally wanted tea length and found that it looked atrocious on my BMs so we went with long dresses instead.

[Deleted User]

I agree with trying the dresses on, I'm short and look horrible in tea length dresses.

blackfire5th

Here is a shot from my wedding. I guess you could classify it as a formal daytime wedding with the ceremony at 1:30pm and a sit down dinner at the Marriott. My girls wore tea length dresses and the rocked them. Most of the female guests wore knee length dresses. I think floor length gowns are only required if you are having a very formal wedding/blacktie [img]http://tinyurl.com/mthrtb[/img]

WildCherry11

Thanks for everyone's input! Blackfire, your BMs look great! Thats the kind of dress I was originally thinking except strapless. I guess I just need to take them on a shopping trip and let them try stuff on so they can see what they feel comfortable in. They will all be in black, so that will probably make any of the dresses look a little more formal anyway. I just didn't want them to blend in with the guests who will most likely all be wearing LBDs.

felkels

I am going through the same thing...I found my dress, it is super formal, and am planning the time of day around the formality of the dress...I don't expect everyone else to be so formal though...The guys I hope will just be able to wear nice suits, maybe tuxes, and the most important thing to me is that my girls are able to wear their dresses again.  Long formal dresses don't have much occasion to come out for any of them, so I don't want to make them buy super formal.  I chose a designer, chose a color, and sent everyone a pic of the style I like (chosen by my MOH actually)...since everyone in my wedding is out of town.  The designer has several similar dresses and each girl has a place in town where they can go try them on size up, and order through me so they can get a discount (and I live in oregon so if they get the store discount and no sales tax) ...my biggest requirement is the color matching, since I have a strip of that same color in my dress, but I am leaving the dress itself up to them and what they decide looks best on their own body.  Good luck!

WildCherry11

Yeah, we decided to take a little field trip up to the bridal store where the dresses are and have them try on a bunch to see what they like. It's nice since 2 out of 3 of my BMs live close, the third looks good in everything so we'll just tell her which one to order, lol.

amybw

I'm having a saturday evening (6pm) wedding, and some of my BM's are wearing tea length dresses.  It's a somewhat formal wedding, but def not black tie.  I think you should go with what you (and they) like.  Length of dress doesn't really dictate formality so much anymore.