Wedding Party

Out of Country Bridesmaid

My best friend is currently living in Japan.  My wedding is in August and she will only be coming home for the wedding.  I'm trying to coordinate dresses with her and my in the states bridesmaids, but I'm super worried about size issues, alterations, and finding something that will look flattering on her (when I won't be able to see her in it before purchasing it).  

I really would like all my bridsmaids to have the same dress/color, but I'm not sure if that's possible.  What is the best way to accomplish this?

I've been joking will all the bridesmaids about just ordering everyone Yukatas (Kind of like Kimono's) from Japan and having them all wear those since they don't need alterations, but I'm afraid that will just look tacky at my very traditional wedding.

Re: Out of Country Bridesmaid

  • Can she take her measurements or have them taken in Japan somewhere and have them sent to the store where you are ordering your dress? How soon before the wedding can she come into town? Is it enough time that she could quickly have it altered by a seamstress if need be?

    Are there any chain BM dress stores in Japan like DB (I am admittedly clueless about this so it may be a stupid question). OR could she order her dress online in the size she thinks she is according to her measurements, have it shipped to Japan, and could she find a seamstress there to alter if necessary?


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  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_out-of-country-bridesmaid-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:37Discussion:d575101a-1458-4930-b287-9c2696c070d5Post:963f508a-eb31-4f43-8216-ea0e2be3cf12">Re: Out of Country Bridesmaid</a>:
    [QUOTE]Can she take her measurements or have them taken in Japan somewhere and have them sent to the store where you are ordering your dress? How soon before the wedding can she come into town? Is it enough time that she could quickly have it altered by a seamstress if need be? Are there any chain BM dress stores in Japan like DB (I am admittedly clueless about this so it may be a stupid question). OR could she order her dress online in the size she thinks she is according to her measurements, have it shipped to Japan, and could she find a seamstress there to alter if necessary?
    Posted by Summer2011Bride[/QUOTE]

    <div>
    </div><div>She can take her measurements just fine, I just know how it is when you buy certain dresses they either run small... or large or something screws up.  She will only be here about 3 days before the wedding so no real time to get anything altered.  I also am not aware of any big chain stores in Japan.  It's also still one of those things about picking out a dress taht may look horrible on someone...</div>
  • Certain stores ship internationally and have customer service emails/chats that can help her with sizing. Have her go to a seamstress to be measured (in imperial measurements) and she or you can work with the retailer to figure out her size. It may not help to order a size up, as taking it in is easier/cheaper than letting it out.
  • Is her body type one that may be harder to flatter?  I think it would be easiest to allow the bridesmaids to choose their own dresses...  I'd also recommend using Davids Bridal as I think they'd be the easiest to work with and given that she does have to ship, it'll be the most cost efficient.  
  • In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_wedding-party_out-of-country-bridesmaid-1?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding%20BoardsForum:37Discussion:d575101a-1458-4930-b287-9c2696c070d5Post:f1bcb28d-dfc0-4c15-a1b9-bb885cb2d961">Re: Out of Country Bridesmaid</a>:
    [QUOTE]In Response to Re: Out of Country Bridesmaid : She can take her measurements just fine, I just know how it is when you buy certain dresses they either run small... or large or something screws up.  She will only be here about 3 days before the wedding so no real time to get anything altered.  I also am not aware of any big chain stores in Japan. <strong> It's also still one of those things about picking out a dress taht may look horrible on someone..</strong>.
    Posted by dalralmi[/QUOTE]

    Well you can always give them 4 or 5 different styles of a dress to choose from and she can decide which one is most flattering for her body. I know you said you wanted everyone in the same dress, but you also sound like you really want to make sure they are comfortable in them and that they are flattering (which is good), so I think multiple style choices, esp. with a BM who can't personally be there, is the way to go.


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  • I had a similar issue.  One of my BM lives in Spain.  I had the girls all pick dresses in the same color & fabric from one designer.  I specifically used Jasmine/Belsoie because they have stores abroad (Europe anyway, not sure about Japan).  She was able to go to the store to try on some dresses over there, but they didn't have much of a selection.  She basically just picked a dress off the website that she thinks will look good.  All the girls ordered their dresses through one store local to the majority of the girls and myself.

    I guess I was lucky that the dresses were ordered by everyone in October for my May wedding as the dresses are expected to be in any day now.  I plan on picking up her dress from the store and shipping it to her myself (at the time she ordered the dress, she didn't know where she was going to be living...like Spain or the US or somewhere else in the world so it didn't make sense to have the company ship it directly to her).  Then she'll have a few months to do any alterations over there that may need to be done.

    August is still 6 months away.  My girls dresses came in 4 months but you can also have the dresses expedited (for a fee of course).
  • Lots of great ideas.  Thanks everyone!

    I've thought of a few of these I was just curious how they worked for other people.  (picking a color specifically to make sure the dyes aren't slightly off)


  • I think as long as you have them go through the same designer, then the color is going to be fine.  Unless it's black, I think telling the girls "pick any dress in emerald green" isn't going to work well because everyone has their own idea as to what shade exactly "emerald green" is.  So unless you don't care if they're different shades of green, I'd pick the color and designer.

    Also, most designers have many options in classic silhouettes which I think help to make it a bit easier to find a dress.  Like I know I will always look good in an A-line dress.  It may need to be altered, but it will always fit my body-type.  So if I had to pick a dress out of a catalog, I'd be drawn to that style if I couldn't try it on.
  • One of my bridesmaids is out of the country too (in El Salvador)...I wasnt planning on having matching dresses (only wanted them to be the same color and length) but me and my bridesmaids took a trip to Macys Bridal Salon a few months ago and they all decided on the same dress. I figured it would be ok to get her the same dress as well. I sent her a picture of it and she was happy with it...so macys just made me get her measurements and CC# and we ordered the dress for her. When it comes in, I will ship it over to her and she can get whatever alterations she needs to get done before the wedding. So far, so good. We'll see how everything ends up :)

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