Bridesmaid Dress Question

KJiras

Hi Brides!

I'm reflecting back on my past bridesmaid experiences in regards to dress.. I've been in weddings where the dress was selected and I just sent measurements and purchased it (long distance wedding), where as the MOH the bride and I picked the dress together, also as another MOH where the bride picked a set of dresses with different tops and we chose which style we wanted to wear, and a family wedding where the only other bridesmaid and I shopped together with the bride. So.. my experience has varied! In all situations color was already determined by bride of course.

So, I'm getting married and I came across this dress available at our local bridal shop, relatively centrally located to each bridesmaid. I love it, and 2 girls love it, my MOH thinks its "cute" and still have to show it to my last girl. It's flattering on all body types, cocktail length. I'm not fooling myself into thinking they'd wear it a thousand times after my wedding but does anyone ever?

My question is...how do you go about picking the bridesmaid dresses, what is expected? Is it rude to pick out this dress for my girls and go together (as many of us that can) to try it on to be sure? I don't really want to have 4 girls all pulling different options on the rack to try on, and people having their feelings hurt if I don't choose their option or if not all girls like their pick, etc. But, I don't want people to feel like I'm just ordering them to wear something. So far the majority of my 4 girls like it.. just don't want to be a bride-zill! OH and ps, its reasonably priced, on the lower end of what I've paid before.

Thanks for your help!

vk2204

First off, you need to privately ask everyone's budget. If the price of the dress works for everyone then you can definitely go try it on. Maybe come up with a few other styles you like just in case the first one doesn't work.

For all of the weddings I have been in the bride either picked out the exact dress or gave us options to choose from.

bandjwedding2012

I would ask them their budgets. If its in that price maybe take one or two at a time to try it on. That way you aren't overwhelmed by to many people. If it does work look for a back up dress. If that becomes to hard just tell them the style and color. Sometimes that's just as easy to.

Peledreamsofrain

My sister let me pick my own dress for her wedding. It was in her colors and from the line she liked, but the rest was up to me. I picked something that I like, flatters me, and make me feel beautiful. Ypu bet I wear it outside of the wedding! Bless my sister.

AddieCake

You say it is flattering on all body types,but they definitely need to try it on to be sure. 

You need to ask each girl privately what her budget is and then get a dress that matches or is below the lowest budget. If that dress is within everyone's budget,  I don't think it is rude to pick it and then try it to be sure. If it meets criteria, it's the dress. If while you're there you discover it ISN'T flattering on some of them, then you may need to go to plan B. 

rlmarroc

As PP's said, privately ask each one their budget.

What I did was come up with the basic style I was looking for and thought would compliment everyone. I wanted strapless (since my dress has straps) with sweetheart neckline with a more ethereal look to it. I explained this to my bridal shop and what the budget was and they then proceeded to pull dresses that matched my description. They showed each one to me so I could veto it if need me before it ever got in the dressing room.

The first time we went, my two sisters were with me. We are shapely women (lots of butt in this family!) and my youngest sister and I have large chests while our middle sister does not. My youngest sister was concerned about a strapless dress. I asked her to try them on to see how she felt and if she wasn't comfortable we'd go a different route.

Turns out, she felt great in them. They picked one out which the store wrote down for us. Then, over Thanksgiving when they were in town, FI's sister was up from Florida, and my BFF could come along, we all went back.

The staff pulled some more dresses as well as the original one we found. We found one that we liked better and I had everyone try it on to be sure they liked how it fit them since they are all completely different body styles. They all loved it and it was even cheaper than the first dress. Plus, the store was having a black friday weekend special so they got 15% off!

I also made sure they all liked the color I chose for the dresses too. I know how horrible I look in some colors with pale skin so I didn't want anyone to hate it!

itzMS

Ditto PPs, but I thought I'd put it in list format for clarity

1. Ask for each budget privately
2. Set up appointment at bridal shop and ask (not demand) bridesmaids if they'd like to attend. Be prepared that not everyone will be able to make it.
3. Have price range, a color, and style(s) in mind and inform bridal shop prior to appointment
4. Attend appointment and make final selection/order
5. Provide ordering information (style number, color, final price, order/alternations deadline) to any bridesmaid who couldn't attend

brielleinlove

I've been a bridesmaid three times and will be one in a July wedding.  I'm not having attendants, but my favorite bridesmaid dress experiences have been the ones where the bride gave me options, either by giving us a color, length and fabric or by letting us choose from among several dresses she liked.  

I've been in one wedding where the dress was prescribed and the bride didn't ask our opinion.  That was my least favorite bridesmaid dress I've ever worn; it didn't flatter me and it didn't have a lot of bra options since it was low cut in the back, so I was really uncomfortable all night hoping that the pins holding my bra in place wouldn't come undone.

jennyd412

I've always gone to try them on with other bridesmaids. Usually can't get everyone to LOVE the dress. For my sister's wedding, we were all happy with the choice (Long, flowy, comfortable) For one cousin's wedding we all tried on a bunch of options and most people left happy. (Her sister didn't agree on choices and picked her own style) Another cousin picked the dress and color and I HATED the dress, but wore it with a smile. My best friend had me (her MOH) and her youngest sister try on (mostly because we have the largest chests and the others weren't available to go the day we went) and she picked the dress we liked.
For my own wedding, I had so many different ideas before we went to the shop. Once all 4 girls tried dresses on, we went in a totally different direction. So, everybody goes a different route...I just wanted to be sure nobody was uncomfortable in the dress. All 4 lare happy with the choice and I picked the color with some input from them as well.

Overall, most bridesmaids in my experience take the cue from the bride Good luck and have fun!

negirls009

http://www.cathypromdresses.com/maggie-sottero-wedding-dresses-style-afton-32603_p2570.html