You’ve asked your best friends to be your bridesmaids — and they said “yes!” Now for the tricky part: dresses. These ladies are your dearest friends, sisters, and sisters-to-be. You chose each for her own special reason, so why put them all in a cookie-cutter dress? Nowadays, it’s on trend to work with your bridesmaids to find dresses that suit each person’s body type, skin tone, and personality.
The Basics of Mixing and Matching
The idea behind mixing up your bridesmaid dresses is that all your girls will coordinate, but not match. In general, you could mismatch in terms of color, style, or length. Changing up one or more of these in each dress not only adds visual interest to your bridal party in photos, but your bridesmaids will be ever-grateful to you for letting them have a say in how they outfit their own body. But it’s imperative to set some ground rules. These rules could be as open-ended as “Find a dress with a floral print” or as refined as “Here are two dresses; pick one.”
Though each girl will be dressed differently in some capacity, you’ll still want these ladies to look like they belong together. Make sure each dress has at least one common element for a cohesive overall look. To maintain this cohesion, your bridesmaids might:
- Wear the same fabric
- Wear the same color or color theme
- Wear the same dress with different necklines or waistlines
- Coordinate the length of their dresses
- Stick to a certain style (ex: bohemian, 1950s silhouette, etc.)
- Wear accessories to bring the look all together (ex: shoes, necklaces, etc.)
Making the Trend Your Own
So what do you envision for your bridesmaids? Reach a firm decision before alerting your girls; you don’t want to tell them one thing, then switch directions after they’ve already started shopping. Once they hear what you have in mind, get some feedback — but stand firm as needed. Know when to say “no” and when to be lenient. After all, these are the most important ladies in your life — this should be a fun experience!
If you want things to be a bit more structured, there are some big-name bridal shops across the country that offer many dress options in the color of your choice. Choose a color, then have each girl visit her local shop to pick out a dress in that color. This is particularly helpful if your bridesmaids-to-be live in different cities; each can do her own thing on her own time, and cohesion is still guaranteed.
If you’re open to a more eclectic look, give your bridesmaids some loose parameters such as color, length, or vibe (more casual day dress vs. elegant evening wear). A fun way to approach this is to create a group Pinterest board. Each girl can pin potential options and you can all weigh in and see how the dresses look side-by-side. If not a Pinterest board, at least have your girls run their options by you before they finally decide on a frock. And, if you feel strongly about it, make it clear up-front that you have the power to veto. In the end, you have to do what works best for you: your style, comfort level, venue, and your bridesmaids as a whole.
Would you like to see more tips and advice for your wedding day? Would you like more creative ideas for your wedding, read more on our blog!