dressing a wide spread bridal party.... help please!!

lovetruly06

   O.k so here's my problem, Im trying to stay as cost efficient as possible and i thought about making the bridal party dresses along with my aunt and a couple other family members who are AMAZING at sewing, but I nixed that idea because one of older sisters live in Wisconsin, another lives on the other side of Michigan in school, my oldest sister lives about an hour away, and my younger sisters are always busy with school activities. So I figured that it would just be better to go to the store and buy some. And WOW are those dresses expensive. Making the dresses would be hard for the girls that live in Michigan, it's just my one sister the lives out of state that worries me, because that is not something I want to mess up.

   So my question is this, should I go with the making the dresses, or buying the dresses?

MyNameIsNot

Talk to each girl individually and ask them what are comfortable spending on a BM dress.  When you have a number, start looking.  YOu can find a lot of less expensive options if you look at stores like J.Crew and department stores. 

If you want to have the dresses made, you'd probably have to have each girl get her measurements taken by a tailor, but it will probably be a lot of work.

If your budgets are really small, you may just save some money by telling each girl to choose her own black cocktail dress and then pulling them together with a sash or pashmina or some kind of accessory in your color.

aerinpegadrak

Unless you can get the dresses done early enough that all of the girls have time to get them altered, I'd go with buying them.  With everyone spread out, it's probably going to be much easier to give them some very basic guidelines (say, kneelength black satin, or floor length in some shade of blue) and letting them find their own.  Keeping your requirements loose gives them a lot more options.  (My sister found a suitable dress at a thrift store for $1.)

banana468

My guess is that buying is easier on everyone.

I'd talk to each girl individually to see what she can spend.

Then you can begin to look for dresses.  You may find that sales at some department stores or chains like J.Crew or Ann Taylor meet your look and budget.

jenn.daniel

Department stores are going to be your friend.  I like the dresses at JC Penney.  You BMs can watch for sales before they actually buy the dress to make it even less expensive.

mbcdefg

Check the websites for Nordstrom.com, Anntaylor.com, jcrew.com, dillards.com, overstock.com, bluefly.com, etc.

My BMs are wearing Ann Taylor dresses, PIB. It took about 3 e-mails and texts to each of them, and about 20 minutes, to decide on these dresses. Especially easy because I gave them three choices and let each of them pick their own. Quick and painless!

stina93446

A lot of girls don't realize that designers like Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal are in practically every state. 

lovemygrandkids

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_dressing-wide-spred-bridal-party-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:37Discussion:3ef9339d-b090-47e8-8e1c-513903901701Post:412d518e-7779-4ced-a9bd-165cf94b1bfc">dressing a wide spread bridal party.... help please!!</a>:
[QUOTE]   O.k so here's my problem, Im trying to stay as cost efficient as possible and i thought about making the bridal party dresses along with my aunt and a couple other family members who are AMAZING at sewing, but I nixed that idea because one of older sisters live in Wisconsin, another lives on the other side of Michigan in school, my oldest sister lives about an hour away, and my younger sisters are always busy with school activities. So I figured that it would just be better to go to the store and buy some. And WOW are those dresses expensive. Making the dresses would be hard for the girls that live in Michigan, it's just my one sister the lives out of state that worries me, because that is not something I want to mess up.    So my question is this, should I go with the making the dresses, or buying the dresses?
Posted by lovetruly06[/QUOTE]

I'm a MoB who is making the four bridesmaid dresses for my daughter's wedding next June. 

Three of the maids are six hours away frome me, but live in the same area of each other and one is across the country.  When I was down in their area I took measurements and my sister is taking measurements of my neice and emailing them to me.  I bought a dress form and dial in their measurements and also have the girls' bras to put on the form.

I am also making a mock up of the dresses first with generous seam allowances and machine basting them.   alterations can be done on the mockup easily and then drafted into the final pattern pieces.

The fabric is silk and while cheaper than buying dresses of the same fabric, you can definately buy dresses even cheaper if they are made from cheaper fabric and construction.  I paid for the fabric myself and it is definately a labour of love.  It all depends on what you want and what the girls can afford as well as the logistics involved in obtaining measurements and fittings.

aerinpegadrak

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_dressing-wide-spred-bridal-party-please?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:37Discussion:3ef9339d-b090-47e8-8e1c-513903901701Post:4a7feaa1-b4bb-4ed4-9995-8119365f4493">Re: dressing a wide spread bridal party.... help please!!</a>:
[QUOTE]A lot of girls don't realize that designers like Alfred Angelo and David's Bridal are in practically every state. 
Posted by stina93446[/QUOTE]

Most designers are in every state these days.  Once you find one you like, you can usually contact the designer directly to find authorized sellers in your area.