Chooseing Bridesmaid Dresses (Sorry I ramble...)

JeremiahsBabe · February 2011

So I am finding it much more difficult to choose bridesmaid dresses that I had thought. Like more difficult than picking MY dress....

What was your process of finding the right dress/es?

SO far, my MOH and I went and tried on a few, picked one that I really liked, I emailed that pic to the other gals and thay all thought it was cute too. My vision originally was to have all the girls in the same dress with my MOH in Fern (DB) and the other three in Sangria (DB).

Then last week we went shopping with my MOH and one BM and the dress looked good on her, but she was not comfortable in it so we kept looking. I found a long dress that I LOVED on both of them but I was set on short dresses... BUT since I am getting married in NOV i am thinking long would be more appropriate but Both BMs liked the short ones better...

NOW we have an appt at The Wedding Shoppe next weekend and hopefully all three BM's will be there (my sis is the 4th but has disabilities and will be much less stressed if we narrow it down first, then she and I go alone to do the final pick)

I can't decide between long and short and can NOT make a decision to have them all in the same or all diff. I am leaning towards all diff with the same color/fabric so they can pick what they are comfy in.

I really want them to wear what they want but still want it to be cohesive... I want them to feel beautiful and comfortable!

What did you do and how did you pick?

jeepbaby54 · February 2011

Long posts never bother me...ESPECIALLY when you use paragraphs and break-up the thoughts!!

For my BM I picked out the color and the length and then told them they could pick the style that they wanted. I have BM that range in size from 2 to 30 and heights 4'10 to 6'. So, I figured the possibility of finding 1 dress that worked for everyone would be close to impossible. (I also didn't want to pick anything that everyone hated, which is why I let them chose.)

Since you are having it indoors in November I would think either length would work. When you go with the girls to the wedding shoppe I would have them all try on both. You may be surprised how quickly you decide on which length you like better based on what you see them in.

The last thing that I would have you consider is where are your pictures going to be? That may also help you decide which length you like better based on the background of the pictures as well as the environment.

HTH

Sara191431 · February 2011

Well to try to make this short, I definitely had some BM dress drama, due to a couple picky ones, including my sister. Originally myself and my MOH went and tried on a million dresses, we finally found one we loved, was a good price, and thought everyone would have loved it too. Some did not, however, I figured when they all saw it in person everyone would love it just as much as we did.

However, once everyone tried it on, it just did not look good on the ones that were taller etc., petite it looked great on, but was just not the shape for everyone. So we proceeded to try a ton of dresses on at the Wedding Shoppe and ended up finding a new dress that everyone liked, felt comfortable in, and was in our price range.

I would just see how your next appt. goes with all your BM's there, and hopefully you'll have the same luck we did, everyone likes one dress. If not, then you can figure out the girls wearing different dresses etc.

Good luck!

wittyschaffy · February 2011

Do keep in mind if you go with the "same color, different dresses" route, you are limited to having all the gowns be created by the same designer to ensure the fabric is the same color.

For my wedding, I had my sisters go shopping and pick a gown. I knew what color I wanted but I pretty much let them decide what would work best for both of them. They really couldn't be more different body type wise, but they found something that looked lovely for them both.

For my sister's wedding - we all went shopping as well. My sister had asked all of us individually what we would feel most comfortable in ahead of time and we all got on the same page. I had respectfully asked for straps on the dress because I am busty and didn't want to be worried about my dress not staying put all day. We ended up getting a gown that was long and strapless. The bride decided to have them hemmed tea length and used the leftover fabric to create straps for the gown. You'd never know that they were anything other than tea length strapped gowns.

graysquirrel · February 2011

Sorry this has been hard for you. We didn't seem to have much trouble. My mom and I scoped out dresses we liked at 2 places, and I picked out a couple that would work for a Victorian theme & the girls' budgets. The girls and I then all went to look at the dresses at one store and tried on the 3 I'd picked. We then looked through them all again and they showed me one that they all liked that met my requirements and we ended up getting it instead.

It can sometimes take a while to find something that looks good on everyone. If you really dont care what dress they pick as long as it is in a certain color, that might be your best bet-- or at least pick a length and just go with it. I know that some of mine liked the short dresses, but I really wanted long and they ended up picking one that is able to be altered when done to become a cute party dress. If your girls don't want to buy a long one, then the option of cutting it up to become something new later might be a good plan for them.

shan87 · February 2011

We also had some drama... I knew I wanted the BM's dresses to be under $150 because all my BM are on tight budgets. I also wanted straps but asked each girl what their "must have" was for a dress. They all individually asked for straps.

My girls all vary in size and height too ... My MOH went with me to my first dress fitting and tried on a couple dresses we both decided we liked the thicker straps and V neck.

When I got together to try on dresses with the rest of the girls they all decided on the same dress in my siggy. The hardest part for me was picking out the color. I wanted a deep pink or coral- but FI didn't want to guys wearing pink vests etc. Red was thrown out by my mother -- My third choice was purple and the color pictured in my siggy is the only purple it came in.

My MOH has sinced complained about the style even though it is almost identical to the one she originally tried on and 2 of the other BMs don't like the color. I politely told them they could burn, shred, cut or sell the dress after May 28th, I didn't care, all I want is for them to wear it for that day. It also was only $100 which everyone liked. Had it been a $200 dress I would have reconsidered.

EmilyCMN · February 2011

So I decided yesterday to have BM's so I proceeded to search online for dresses and put them all in a power point (I am a nerd). So then I sent the presentation to all of the girls and said I would like them to all be in the same color family and preferably the same length but at the end of the day I want them to be happy with the purchase. The dresses I chose are really casual and should be usable again. I am looking at a similar style to Shannan's.

As for short dresses in November unless you are going to be outside for a long time I don't think it matters. They can always wear nylons to keep their legs warmer. I really don't think the extra skirt length makes the dress that much warmer if it is really cold out.

KateJ10 · February 2011

My wedding is beginning of October- so possibly cold but in 2010 it was over 80 degrees so who knows. I generally prefer short dresses and knew I wanted a champagne color, and that I wanted a shimmery fabric for them. I ended up going with J. Crew dresses because they had a wider variety of short styles. Also, I had the BMs order in December and everyone used a promo code for 25 or 30% off and free shipping, which made them much more reasonably priced.

I didn't care if they weren't the same exact dress, I wanted everyone to feel really comfortable and have "their" style represented a little bit in their dresses.

Also, I am getting them all wraps for the wedding, for when it gets cold. Even if it was 80 degrees again ( I wish) the nighttime would get chilly I think.

brink131 · February 2011

I personally like the cohesive look of having the bridesmaids in the same dress and since I only have three, the matchy-matchy doesn't hit you in the face quite like having say 8 girls all in the same dress. I did some searching online and came up with a general style of dress I wanted - knee length, chiffon fabric, v-neck with straps. I have a petite BM and a super busty one and I figured that style would look good on both.

Then I took the two in-town girls shopping at the Wedding Shoppe and they just went around pulling and trying on dresses in that general style until we found one we all liked. I encouraged them to try on some dresses in other styles too for the heck of it, but we all agreed my original style would be the most flattering on them. I had hoped to keep the dress below $150, but they ended up falling in love with a $200 one so we went with that.

acw016 · February 2011

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/local-wedding-boards_minnesota-minneapolis-st-paul_chooseing-bridesmaid-dresses-sorry-ramble?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Local Wedding BoardsForum:81Discussion:fa4efaa2-7357-49e9-90e7-7a902769cf9cPost:58629b02-e4c8-471d-a55a-256b83a03b0b">Re: Chooseing Bridesmaid Dresses (Sorry I ramble...)</a>:
[QUOTE]For my BM I picked out the color and the length and then told them they could pick the style that they wanted. Posted by jeepbaby54[/QUOTE]

Ditto. My BMs are all diff shapes & sizes so I wanted them to pick something they felt comfortable in. David's makes that pretty easy so they all got dresses from there.

maybe984 · February 2011

I think you're on the right track. Take as many of the girls to a dress store as possible and have them try on a variety of dresses, and see which one (or ones) spark an interest and seem agreeable to everyone.

I, as well, had a difficult time picking BM dresses at first. I had, from the beginning, wanted to use the 'different-style-same-fabric-and-color' approach. Originally, I had wanted to use Coco Myles, the online custom dress store. I had heard nothing but good reviews about it, but my sister/MOH threw a fit about not wanting to buy something online.

So, onto step 2... I went with one of my BMs to scout out popular dress lines that multiple stores carry and that offer all of their styles in all of their fabric options. We found a few cute Alfred Angelo dresses and I thought we were good to go. I was going to let them choose ANY Alfred Angelo dress, they just had to use the same fabrics and colors... and I didn't want anything shorter than knee-length. Considering two of my BMs are in the Cities, one's in Milwaukee, and the fourth in Columbus, OH... I thought this would be easy and agreeable for everyone.

Then, I go to Milwaukee for a weekend to visit my sister/MOH, and she was still not onboard. She was pulling for 100% matching dresses, since she's much more finicky about stuff like that than I am. I agree to go to a boutique with her and look at dresses. Within 20 minutes, the girl at the boutique steers us to a line of Alfred Sung dresses that all have the same skirt with different bodices. Of the four dresses, my girls ended up choosing three (two opted for the same style) and they looked super adorable.

As much as I hate to give my sister the credit, I'm sooooo glad we went with something a bit more coordinated.

Point of my overly long story? Don't worry yet. Just go into a store or two, and have some fun. Something will jump out at you and everything will fall into place.

JeremiahsBabe · March 2011

Thanks for all the advice ladies. It just makes me feel better knowing Im not the only one struggling with this! I just thought ths would be the easy part :P

pastries · March 2011

My bridesmaids got their dress at Macy's! It's teal cocktail dress from Calvin Klein, on sale for about $60. I was going to have them all wear different dresses, but they all ended up liking the same one.

I'd definitely recommend looking in department stores if you don't find something everyone loves at your next appointment.

elizabeth0703 · May 2011

If you are looking for an amazing dress experience try the Glass Slipper Bridal Salon in Andover, MN.

I posted the link below! The shop is tailored for Plus Sized Brides and they carry various sizes for the bridesmaids. It doesn't matter what your size is because they can order in any available size from the manufacturer.

www.glassslipperbridalsalon.com/index.html">http://www.glassslipperbridalsalon.com/index.html

Chooseing Bridesmaid Dresses (Sorry I ramble...)

Re: Chooseing Bridesmaid Dresses (Sorry I ramble...)

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