Attendant Shopping Tips

MoriaMN

Hi ladies:

I'm heading out to Flutter next Saturday to start looking at BM dresses with my gals. I'm fairly certain I want them to wear a tangerine dress in a style of their own choosing. I've got a couple of questions for those of you who have already shopped.

1.) Recommended places to look aside from Flutter
2.) For those of you who have gone the "choose your own style route", did you give your BMs some specifics like (fabric, length, etc.) or were they comfortable with just a color direction?

cltk12

Flutter is so cute!!  The dresses there I think were maybe on the higher priced side.  I did black cocktail dresses and was going to let the girls choose.  They all decided they'd rather have me choose so we decided on 1 dress and they got it.  So maybe ask your ladies if they want to choose.

saraterra

I have four girls and they got to decide their dress, all in the same color, but we said if they choose different fabics it had to be two and two. Luckily they all ended up choosing satin so that wasn't a problem. I did say they all needed to be the same length, but I really think that's personal preference. Three of them have strapless and one has a halter, but she is my maid of honor, so I think it's ok it's different.

geigs02

on top of the color and frabric, i would suggest choosing the designer as well.  i had a problem with my ladies finding dresses they loved from different designers.  i finally just had to select one and ended up disappointing one of the girls.  selecting a designer is also smart as some designers are more budget friendly than others.

LittleSweetie

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_attendant-shopping-tips?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local%20Wedding%20BoardsForum:81Discussion:f4faf4d6-2a91-4d56-9240-2e8142371ea5Post:2c75cc00-c7fd-4273-b37a-2b8bb4f623ec">Re: Attendant Shopping Tips</a>:
[QUOTE]on top of the color and frabric, i would suggest choosing the designer as well.  i had a problem with my ladies finding dresses they loved from different designers.  i finally just had to select one and ended up disappointing one of the girls.  selecting a designer is also smart as some designers are more budget friendly than others.
Posted by geigs02[/QUOTE]

<div>This is the exact advice I was going to give. Fabric/color can vary by designer, so it would be best if you could also give your BMs direction on what designer they should choose from.  HTH</div>

Izzygrim

I'm going through this right now. I honestly thought it would be easiest for everyone involved if they got to pick their own dress, but I realized it was more complicated and time consuming than I thought. That was mostly my fault though, since I switched my color once and then couldn't decide on a fabric. We ended up going through David's because they had the color I wanted (lapis, or as FI calls it, "dark purple") and the fabric I like (cotton sateen). Luckily they have enough styles everyone found something that will work, and three of the four seem to really love their dresses.

My advice is to definitely pick the designer, color, and fabric before you bring everyone along, otherwise be prepared to make some hard decisions. Once you get a sense for their preferences, which won't necessarily agree with each other or with your own preference, it may be hard to decide. For example, I know my sister isn't a fan at all of the fabric or styles available (we're opposites), so it was hard for me to pick those when I knew she hated them (she's my sister, she wasn't afraid to express her opinion ).  And I'm a pushover usually.

Long story (not so) short, yes, all my BMs said they would go with what ever decided, but bringing them all along while you're still settling on a color/designer/fabric can complicate things because of course you are going to know their opinions. The first saleswoman I ever met at David's warned me about it right away, but of course I didn't believe her I wish I would have. Definitely worth it letting them choose their dresses, I just wish I would settled on the color/designer/fabric before bringing everyone.

MoriaMN

Great advice ladies, very helpful. I think I'll head out to David's this week because I know that they have a large tangerine selection and I may want to have a more affordable option for the gals. Sounds like I'll need to give this a little more thought before Saturday.

Bimbi284

I also did the fabric (satin), color, designer thing, but then half of my girls could not find a dress they liked in a particular designer. So, 3 of them got dresses at Mestad's from the same designer in the same fabric and color, and 2 of them got their dresses at Priscilla of Boston. We made sure to compare the fabric so that it would be as close as possible to the same quality, and that ended up working out very well. So even if you don't go with the same designer, it is still possible to match 'em up pretty well. This is easy to do at a place like Mestad's in Rochester cuz they have lots of designers, and you can compare the fabrics in different lighting (out on the floor, by the mirrors, and near the entryway windows).