Non-Matching bridesmaids dresses - anyone do this?

sarahufl · August 2014

We told BMs and GMs to wear grey. Didn't specify anything else- just grey. It turned out great and we loved it. Stupid TK won't let me add a photo....

ETA: Photo

slbetts1 · September 2014

I am doing this. My wedding colors are blue and silver. My bridesmaids are wearing different shades of blue. The dresses are all chiffon, but different cuts. I am doing the hombre affect, so they will walk in darkest to lightest shade.

LillibetteV · September 2014

I am doing this and we did one "inspiration" trip so they knew what I was going for and then they were on their own. To avoid people buying the same style by mistake I actually made the rule of not buying a "bridesmaid" dress. I asked them to get a floor length evening gown in a champagne to gold kind of color. And my girls were resourceful! between sales, eBay, poshmark, and rent the runway they all are wearing gorgeous designer evening gowns that speak to their personal styles. I wanted us to look coordinated but not matchy.

huthe1302 · September 2014

I am doing this in a much more extreme way. All of my bridesmaids are wearing the same designer (Alvina Valenta) and are in the same fabric and their dresses have similar lines. However, I've allowed them to pick the shape and color they wanted, as long as it fit within the color scheme I was going for. I won't be able to post pics until after October, but I can share the basic idea...

Maid of Honor: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/380906080955754301/ in red

Bridesmaids: http://www.pinterest.com/pin/380906080955754311/ in platinum

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/380906080955754293/ in black

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/380906080955754305/ in acorn (champagne)

It's very different, yes, but I felt all of the dresses were very appropriate for fall and for our theme (Old Hollywood Movie Premiere). Maybe not for everyone but I love it and my bridesmaids were happy not to all be stuck in the same color/dress.

DnD2014 · September 2014

I am presently organizing my wedding this way. Not only are my girls mismatched but the groomsmen are as well. Be sure you emphasize the parameters that matter to you (color, length, fabric, neckline, etc). EVERYONE will fight on you this but if you stick to it, EVERYONE will be happy. You can tie everyone together using the same bouquet, jewelry, or hairstyle... if you want them to have some type of cohesion. In all, I love the mismatched look and love every dress and vest that each person has chosen.

Jeanqcook · September 2014

I'm am doing this because I have 22 bridesmaids that are coming from all over the country. I picked a website, there are several, and gave them the color, material etc.......so far, all of the dresses are have been great. Will post pictures in February. This is a beach wedding...... Good luck.

Knottie66969322 · September 2014

My friend gave me a great tip for mismatching bridesmaids. Have them all hemmed at the same height off the ground. She asked her bridesmaids to have their knee-length navy bridesmaid dresses hemmed to be 20" from the ground when wearing their shoes. That way, it looks a lot cleaner for pictures and makes everyone look united, even though they are different.

sarahjane222 · September 2014

Yep - no pics because the wedding isn't until December. I gave my 3BM's pretty much free reign though and they all settled on a sparkly/metalic on their own. So my MOH got a sparkly short gold/champagne dress, 2nd got an all sparkly mocha loose fitting short dress, and the 3rd is still looking for something. I'm also letting the groomsmen just wear a suit of their choice that doesn't clash with our gold/brown colour scheme. I wanted our party to look more like a group of friends in photos rather than the traditional line-up.

Viczaesar · September 2014

Knottie66969322 said:

My friend gave me a great tip for mismatching bridesmaids. Have them all hemmed at the same height off the ground. She asked her bridesmaids to have their knee-length navy bridesmaid dresses hemmed to be 20" from the ground when wearing their shoes. That way, it looks a lot cleaner for pictures and makes everyone look united, even though they are different.

I would not be a fan of this as a bridesmaid.

Kranks1127 · September 2014

My bridesmaids will be mismatched because I want them to be comfortable in what they are wearing. The only issue I'm having is the dang color I picked....grayed jade- it impossible to find without it being $300+ If anyone comes across a decently priced designer let me know.

theartistformerlyknownas · September 2014

Viczaesar said:

Knottie66969322 said:

My friend gave me a great tip for mismatching bridesmaids. Have them all hemmed at the same height off the ground. She asked her bridesmaids to have their knee-length navy bridesmaid dresses hemmed to be 20" from the ground when wearing their shoes. That way, it looks a lot cleaner for pictures and makes everyone look united, even though they are different.

I would not be a fan of this as a bridesmaid.

Me neither. Especially since I'm tall, so 20" off the ground would look really dumb on me. I promise the last thing your guests will care about is the hem lengths of your bridesmaids matching!

If you had floor-length gowns would you make them wear different height heels so all their heads were at the same level? Or maybe a nice stairstep effect for pictures?

OliveOilsMom · September 2014

lolo883 said:

Viczaesar said:

Knottie66969322 said:

My friend gave me a great tip for mismatching bridesmaids. Have them all hemmed at the same height off the ground. She asked her bridesmaids to have their knee-length navy bridesmaid dresses hemmed to be 20" from the ground when wearing their shoes. That way, it looks a lot cleaner for pictures and makes everyone look united, even though they are different.
I would not be a fan of this as a bridesmaid.
Me neither. Especially since I'm tall, so 20" off the ground would look really dumb on me. I promise the last thing your guests will care about is the hem lengths of your bridesmaids matching!

If you had floor-length gowns would you make them wear different height heels so all their heads were at the same level? Or maybe a nice stairstep effect for pictures?

Also, why even bother having knee length dresses when they won't end up as knee length on everyone? And you also just added to their out of pocket fees, by requiring a hem on a knee length dress.

Viczaesar · September 2014

Kranks1127 said:

My bridesmaids will be mismatched because I want them to be comfortable in what they are wearing. The only issue I'm having is the dang color I picked....grayed jade- it impossible to find without it being $300+ If anyone comes across a decently priced designer let me know.

So why not pick a different color?

amieschoeff · September 2014

So I think I have decided to go with Tevolio from Target (budget friendly) in knee length cool mint dresses. I don't care if they're satin or chiffon. At the end of the day no one is going to notice or care.

Knottie13754362 · September 2014

I am doing this as well, and I think it's a great idea! A few went with me to try on some things and we found a designer that they all liked! In my case, it's Alfred Angelo, which is another plus because his designs are carried at almost any bridal shop and are easy to find online. So what I did was went to his website, picked out all of the dresses that come in my color and I will share that with them so that they can each pick whichever one they like best. At that point, they should be able to order it either online or from a store near them very easily! Overall, I think it's a really great way to do things

jnm7222012 · September 2014

Since it seems everyone is doing this... can I ask for some advise?? I have 2 matron of honors and 2 groomsmaids (bridesmaids that stand on the grooms side during the wedding). We have three wedding colors (Navy, Teal, and Purple). Should I let the 4 of them pick any of the three colors? Make the Matrons one color and the other two can be the other two colors? Or make the Groomsmaids the same color and my Matrons the other two colors?

Thanks for the help!!!

theartistformerlyknownas · September 2014

jnm7222012 said:

Since it seems everyone is doing this... can I ask for some advise?? I have 2 matron of honors and 2 groomsmaids (bridesmaids that stand on the grooms side during the wedding). We have three wedding colors (Navy, Teal, and Purple). Should I let the 4 of them pick any of the three colors? Make the Matrons one color and the other two can be the other two colors? Or make the Groomsmaids the same color and my Matrons the other two colors?

Thanks for the help!!!

This doesn't make any sense. Either they're groomsmaids or they're bridesmaids. Are they your attendants or his? If they're your attendants, they're still bridesmaids, and I don't understand why they're standing on the groom's side (sides don't have to be equal). If they're his attendants, they're groomsmaids.

Most of the time when wedding parties are mixed, I typically see those on the bride's side in one color and the groom's side in another. In my friend's wedding with a man of honor, he wore a purple tie that matched the bridesmaid dresses (and stood on the bride's side, because he was her attendant) while the groomsmen wore teal ties (and stood on the groom's side).

HarleyCouple · September 2014

When I got engaged, I decided that my bridesmaids would be wearing dresses or gowns that fit them comfortably. I don't want to have unhappy women in my bridal party. So the 3 bridesmaids, 1 junior bridesmaid and flower girl are wearing dresses and my maid of honor is wearing a gown. This way they are wearing what fits them the best and they're comfortable. My colors are wisteria and plum and the groom and groomsmen are wearing light grey. We're getting married on May 9, 2015 in Wildwood Crest, New Jersey and I cannot wait.

amyc227 · September 2014

I've been in a wedding where I was told which dress to wear, what shoes to wear, and even how my make-up and hair should be done. I promised myself I would never be "that bride."

For my wedding, I asked each of my ladies to pick out their own dresses as long they're the same fabric and knee length, and the colors are different shades of blue. Each of the girls have different body shapes and budgets; I told everyone to pick out dresses they would wear again after the wedding. Most importantly, I love their unique personalities so I want them to shine through in photos.

I think some brides get drunk on power and are too controlling so it comes out in ways like telling their bridesmaids what to wear and how to do their hair. Yes, this is the bride's wedding and it's her day, but that doesn't mean her friends are there to be servants.

arrippa · September 2014

All I said my WP was black. I am sure they will all be different material and lengths, but honestly, I really don't care.

proctorgardiner · September 2014

My brother and sister in law did this. They let the girls pick any dress (had to be short) in any neutral skin tone type color. Style and fabric was up to us (there were 8 bridesmaids ranging from five foot nothing to almost 6 foot and wide array of sizes including one girl who had just had a baby and one who was due a couple weeks later). All the pictures are amazing and i know everyone appreciated being able to pick the dress (especially the pregnant MOH) but i think they key to what made it go so well was that the groomsmen didn't match either. They were told white shirt grey pants were what you needed and then they posted different accessories on Facebook and first come first serve basis for what you got to pick, so 4 boys had sleeves rolled up, 4 had sleeves rolled down, 2 had vests, 2 had bow ties, 2 had regular ties, 2 had no ties, 3 had suspenders, etc so they were all different. I think it looked way better and much more natural then when a bride lets her girls pick different dresses but then puts the groomsmen in matching suits.

majesty318 · September 2014

My girls all wore the same dress but in different shades of purple. We got so many compliments!

chrissy0905 · September 2014

majesty318 said:

My girls all wore the same dress but in different shades of purple. We got so many compliments!

I love how the various shades of purple turned out! I'm doing knee-length dresses of their choice (no satin) in various shades of purple for my December wedding, but only 2 of my 5 bridesmaids have purchased their dresses at the moment. Deep down I know that it will look good, but as we get closer to the day, and with so few of them having already purchased their dresses, I'm starting to get a bit anxious. Thanks for sharing your purple maids.

themermaidbride118 · September 2014

I'm doing this, for sure!

Everyone kept insisting I pick the dress, but honestly, I don't want to. They are all different body types and I'm not into the "matchy" look of all bridesmaids wearing the same dress.

All will wear the same color, fabric, and pick from 9 different choices.

Lewis345 · September 2014

My girls get to wear what they want within my color scheme. So anything leaf green, brown or blush... I'm excited to see how it all turns out. One of my girls already had a dress I her closet which was perfect. Mine too are all different shapes and sizes with crazy hair and some covered in tats. So keeping an open mind that my redhead that 6 feet tall won't look good in the same dress at my brunette gal that's only 5 feet and size zero. :-)

MandyMost · September 2014

Lewis345 said:

My girls get to wear what they want within my color scheme. So anything leaf green, brown or blush... I'm excited to see how it all turns out. One of my girls already had a dress I her closet which was perfect. Mine too are all different shapes and sizes with crazy hair and some covered in tats. So keeping an open mind that my redhead that 6 feet tall won't look good in the same dress at my brunette gal that's only 5 feet and size zero. :-)

Yeah, I'm doing this as well. I just gave them a color scheme--jewel tones. The rest is up to them. However, I'm also not having the bridal party walk down the aisle. We will be getting pictures together, and they'll be sitting up front (although with their significant others) during the ceremony.

I feel that the I love the personality and identity of each of my bridesmaids. I can't imagine telling them all to wear the same thing. For me, even the same color/fabric/length/designer things is way too much. I really don't understand why it's a tradition to dress them all the same to begin with!

bremnerschmitz · September 2014

I'm doing this - I only have 2 bridesmaids and they have polar opposite body types. Plus the three of us live super far away from each other. I just picked out a color at Davids Bridal and the length and they each picked their own. I figure that looks much nicer than trying to find one dress that flatters both, which in all likelihood would not look great on either girl in the end

Kerigirl9 · September 2014

My girls picked their dresses from the same color at Davids Bridal. We realized that putting my 41 year old sister and my 13 year old niece in the same dress was ridiculous. My sister looked like a geriatric tinkerbell and my niece looked like she was dressed up for a play. These are the two they chose in plum.

Non-Matching bridesmaids dresses - anyone do this?

Re: Non-Matching bridesmaids dresses - anyone do this?

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