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I am putting it out there. I am on the fence about a few things when it comes to my bridesmaids’ dresses. I mean… I know that I have written about them SO MUCH, but it is one of my biggest stresses. I want the look to be “right” and I want the girls to be comfortable. I have given my girls a chance to choose, and if there was one dress that they loved the most, that would make my life much easier. But they are all so easygoing and wonderful, and they want me to decide! So, here are the two dilemmas.
SHORT VS. LONG
We’re having an evening (5PM) wedding in the Fall (October) at a winery. I could go with either short or long dresses.
Short Inspiration:
Jonathan Canlas Photography via Snippet & Ink
Lizelle Lotter via Once Wed
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Long Inspiration:
I have narrowed it down to the following dresses. On the short side, I am considering this dress from Nordstrom. The bad part about this dress is that it is backordered until June, so none of my girls will be able to try it on. BUT, I tried it on a few months ago and didn’t love it. The price is good, at only $138.
(image via Nordstrom.com)
On the long side, I am thinking of going with these 2 dresses from David’s Bridal. My bridesmaids have tried on the 1-strap dress and it looked really nice. I would let them choose the strapless or the 1-strap dress.
Here are 2 of my bridesmaids and my MOH (and sissy!). The far right dress is the 1-strap, and it looks SOOO great on her. I didn’t love the other 2 dresses, but the strapless and 1 strap really looked good.
Okay, so I have a few questions for the hive regarding these dresses.
Thank you for your help!!!
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Share this post: Honest Dress Opinion
I am a huge fan of short bridesmaids dresses. My girls will be wearing tea-length dresses. I am a big fan of the dress from Nordstrom. It looks awesome! And they will definitely be able to wear it again. It would look cute with a cardigan!
I like the raw silk style of the shorter dress…but I own that Nordy’s dress and it’s poofy in the tummy area.
I’m not a big fan of the two tone fabrics in the long style. Although I do like the strapless long dress you show.
Short dresses rule.
# Do the 2 different materials look weird in the pictures? –Nope I think it looks gorgeous!
# Do these dresses look cheap? I don’t think so, but I must ask. –Definitely no
# Does the 1-strap look too Grecian -No! 
I love the the 1-strap and the no-strap, definitely the winners (if you ask me)
I tend to prefer short dresses, and I love the Nordstrom dress. But I REALLY love the long DB dresses - it has the exact same feel as your inspiration photo.
I’m definitely all about the long dresses. Your wedding is in the evening, and wineries are fun but still formal. I think long is more fitting for the season, time, and location. I don’t think the combo of materials looks weird at all! What material is your dress? You might want to consider that. I agree that the one-strap is the most flattering, so the issue of too-Grecian depends on how much it varies from your dress. The short is cute, but more of an afternoon garden wedding feel. I vote long!
In your post you put that you didn’t like the Nordie’s dress, was that just a typo. I wouldn’t have my girls wear a dress I didn’t like. I know what you are saying about the one strap dress. Since you are having a fall wedding maybe think about how the dresses might look with something like a shawl or cardigan like sept wedding said.
I think that the short dress has more potential to wear again where the longer ones don’t, I don’t think they could be hemmed to a shorter length and still look cute. So I would go with tea length is what I am trying to say.
I love the Norstrom dress but wonder if it may look to summery by Oct.
I love the one strap. Very cute. Materials do look a different color in the picture, but I think it’ll be fine especially if you have a good mix of the two.
i personally LOVE the second dress off Once Wed!! We are getting married in October too, and my girls are wearing short dresses. They kinda look like spring type dresses, but I really don’t care. I figure its my wedding, so I can do whatever I want! Which is why we’re doing “winter” colors - black and pool blue
This is a tough one. Generally I think short is more fun and long is more formal so it depends on what feel you’re going for the wedding. If you don’t love the short dress can you find another? The long ones are nice, don’t look cheap, and because it’s purple it doesn’t look Grecian to me…. if it was white and gold that might be another story. I think whichever you pick it’s a beautiful color! So fun!!! And the long 1 strap might be fun to have a hint of Grecian with all the wine/grapes around. FUN! It matches without being too noticeable…
Short dresses! Although I like your inspiration picture more than the one you’ve narrowed it down to. Long bridesmaids dresses just feel so bulky, and way more “bridesmaidsy”.
The dresses from Once wed are lovely.
IMHO I like the dresses from David’s Bridal (the one shoulder and strapless) they look elegant for an evening wedding and flatter all body types , it also helps that they also looks gorgeous in pics!
The one strap dress is so lovely, figure friendly to all, and having a long dress that covers your legs in the fall would sound great to me if I were a maid. Nice choices all around!
The short dress with the flowers on the shoulders - so cute! I would go with that because I looooove it and want it myself!
i typically prefer short but for Oct. @ 5pm atta winery I’d say loooong bc it’ll be cold.
I like the short dress more than the DB long ones. I like the long dresses you posted for inspiration a lot though and think they’d look beautiful at a vineyard wedding.
The two materials do not look weird. They look great. I love the one on the right!
Our wedding is also in the evening in October. I want a more formal feel to it all, so I’m gonna choose long dresses. Other reasons to go with long:
1. You rarely get to wear a long dress so it will be fun to “dress up”.
2. Shoes won’t matter - they can choose their own (cost savings!).
3. You won’t have any pics that look like all the BMs are a four-headed purple monster with tons of legs poking out. (In your 1st inspiration pic, the men’s legs interrupt the women’s legs, but imagine if the men weren’t there.)
4. If any BM has any sort of self-image issue, a long dress will make her feel more “covered”.
I REALLY like the middle dress in the DB pic. I think the one-strap dress looks a little Grecian, but if you like it then go with it. The two fabrics don’t both me at all - I actually like the variety in texture. GL with your decision!!
No, the different materials don’t look weird. And no, the 1 strap dress doesn’t look too grecian. I had tried on that dress before, and loved it.
Are you wearing a long or a short dress? Your wedding is in October, so I think they would look really nice.
I’m partial to short dresses, but that’s just me.
I’m a fan of shorter dresses. The last time I was a bridesmaid I fell in love with the tea-length dress and I’ve actually been able to wear it 5 other times! (Thanks, Ann Taylor!) After that, I became a firm believer of wear-ability. Where do you wear a long dress these days? Do your ‘maids a favor.
I’m actually planning to wear a tea-length dress to my wedding so the ‘maids will be wearing shorter dresses by default–I’m looking at places where we can get dresses in the same color/fabric but they can choose from a number of styles.
My thought is, if you love the dress so much, just buy one for yourself and give the ladies some room for personal style.
But that’s just my two cents!
I generally like shorter dresses for b-maids. This is so tough–I like the look of the material for the short dresses, but I like the cut of the long ones better. Ugh, I feel your dilemma.
I LOVE the 3 styles
Usually I’m all for shorter dress b/c I think they would be worn again, but I really like the look of those 3 long dresses.
I adore the “Once Wed” dresses but maybe in a more wintery color? Like the deep purple which would look great with a winery as a venue!
Btw, do you know who designed those dresses? I LOVE THEM!!!
The one/side strap looks really awesome. She is rockin that look!
Forgot to add..short dress too! The once wed short dress! I’m having the b’maids wear short little black dresses!
My wedding is April 18th and the girls are wearing the purple Nordstrom’s short dress. I will say as a caution, the fit is a little odd, of the 4 girls, only one liked the dress ‘fit’ once they tried it on, the other 3 made alterations to the dress to avoid the poofiness in the stomach area and to make the straps a bit smaller.
While I love the look of long gowns, my girls are wearing short ones. How often do you wear a floor-length dress other than one day in a wedding? With a short dress, there’s a better chance they’ll get more use out of the dress.
I am all about short dresses in the spring and summer. heart them. However, I think winery in October kind of = long dress. The dresses from the InStyle Wedding photos would be perfect. If I were getting married in a winery, I think I would do earth tones in different shades like that too.
oof I really don’t like the long dresses in the last picture. It’s the two-tone thing and also the dresses make the girls look like they’re wearing velvet drapes.
I’m doing both! My MOH is wearing a long dress, and my other five bridesmaids are wearing tea-length dresses. All of the dresses are crimson taffeta; other than that, they’re different styles. My girls have unique personalities and senses of fashion, and they’re all going to look comfortable and so beautiful!
Wow! I’m so excited. I chose a dress very similar to the one with the one shoulder. It is a pink dress and all of my bridesmaids loved it. They are calling it the goddess dress. I love all of your inspirations and any of those dresses would be gorgeous.
I was iffy about my decision as well, since I haven’t actually seen it on 2 of my 3 bridesmaids yet, but it is truly the most flattering one. Can’t wait to see other elements of your wedding.
The 1-strap does look beautiful on her. I would go short. You don’t want it to compete with your dress. Plus, the bridesmaids will be able to wear the short dress again.
i love short bridesmaid dresses as well. the ones from j.crew are so beautiful!
Oh my gosh! Lizelle Lotter (the photographer for the Once Wed dresses, which I love by the way) is my dear friend! I’m so excited to see one of her pictures on Weddingbee! If anyone wants an amazing photographer, go with her. She is so talented and one of the sweetest people I know!
If you didn’t like the short one from Nordstrom, maybe the David’s Bridal ones are a better choice?
To me, the perfect BM dress is a dress your girls can wear again, and they are more likely to find a place to wear the short dress to, vs. the long dress. However, that one strap dress is so pretty and I would def make an excuse to wear it again!
I like the look of the two fabrics together…have you considered doing the different styles like the picture?
but OMG….the second dress with the flowers on the strap… LOVE IT!
I had a hard time choosing between long or short as well. I ended up with the Jim Hjelm Occasions JH5818 style (they have a short version of it as well). I ended up making a list of pros and cons for both. One of the deciding factors of the long version was that they could tailor it to be shorter after the wedding to get more use out of it. I say that if you get a long one, just make it either a maxi style or easily able to be shortened so the girls can get more use out of them!
I really like the short dress, but I am partial to short dresses. I don’t think evening necessarily has to mean more formal. We are having an evening wedding and my bridesmaids are wearing short cotton dresses!
I LOVE purple but alas it’s not my wedding colors. I’ve been eyeing up that short dress from Nordstrom!
I would go with long only because it’s a fall evening wedding and nights will be cooler especially at a vineyard. Big open area tends to be chillier. I think your maids will be comfier this way.
I don’t think the one shoulder is too Grecian. My MOH loves one shoulder dresses so I’m 95% sure she’ll pick a one shoulder dress.
Can’t wait to see your vineyard wedding pics!! I’m having one too!!
I fell in love with the nordstrom’s dress the first time I saw it. I adore the short dresses from once wed, do you know who makes those? BUT I think long dresses might be more appropriate for an evening wedding and I really love the one shouldered number for DB (I even like the 2 tone thing going on in the pic)….sorry I guess I’m not much help
Love the dresses from Once Wed, does anyone know who makes them or am I just missing the info somewhere among the comments?
I can’t find the designer for the Once Wed dresses but I love them!
Thanks to everyone for the great advice. It sounds like it is 50/50. Hoping to decide soon!
Ok, totally honest opinion: I love the look of the long dresses. I think they would be the most appropriate for your wedding.
As for your questions, no, no & no. I love the long dresses in the pictures. The colors don’t look odd, the dresses don’t look cheap, and I definitely don’t think the one-strap looks to Grecian. There’s something about it– maybe that it comes up more towards the middle of the dress, rather than full off one shoulder– that doesn’t make it look too stylized.
The short dress seems like it might poof out over the girls’ stomachs. I think that looks good on the extra-skinny (and only .0001% of the population) but if your girls have curves, sometimes those dresses poof out a little too much. I used to think they sort of camouflage, but from the pictures, your girls don” have anything to camouflage and it might just add material over their tummies when they don’t need it.
Ooooh, love the long ones!
1. No, the two materials don’t look weird. It’s just more interesting, more texture than just one fabric!
2. No, not cheap at all!
3. Is there such thing as too Grecian! I love goddess dresses!
I think the short dress looks the best. The others don’t look rewearable, and the bottom fabric clashes with the top fabric.
Great choices. We tried on the DB ones. Honestly, the middle one (v-neck w straps) looked cheap but the others didn’t. LOVE the “Grecian” one. It’s beautiful!
my 2 cents
Neither the long or short dress is going to keep them warm. The long ones are stapless or one strap
SO, if you love the short…get the short
It is a cold Oct day…they are going to be cold in a dress regardless. But that’s what the drinks after the ceremony are for! haha
def the short, but maybe something a bit more formal for an evening wedding in a winery. maybe check out jcrew…or another popular site?
I absolutely LOVED that Nordstrom’s dress when I saw it - so much that I went in to try it on and buy it. I’m a pretty standard size (4) and the dress was not flattering AT ALL on me. I would be a little worried about having them get that dress without trying it on first. Nordstrom’s has a great return policy though if it doesn’t work out for some reason!
long all the way!
I think the longer ones are nice–if I’m super honest, I think the fabric of the bottom could end up looking a little cheap. I don’t know if you’re set on having your maids all in the same dress–but if not, I would look on JCrew.com; you could pick the fabric and color you want, then let them choose the style. They’re all really simple, so you could accessorize however you wanted to. They’re also not much more than David’s Bridal…and some of the dresses are on clearance, which is 30% more off right now. Also, I think a combo of short AND long looks cool if they want different things.
I love both, but the long dresses from David’s Bridal are SO comfortable!! And I don’t know if your BMs are traveling or not, but they’re really easy to pack and don’t wrinkle - plus they look really good!
First off I have to say, Miss Apple Cider, you are my favorite bee. Not only are we getting married in the same month, but you always seem to be thinking the same thing I am! (Even down to your Anne of Green Gables knowledge!)
I couldn’t decide between long and short either, getting married in STL which can get a little cold in October. I went with long and of the two dress you picked out I like the long ones from DB. It looks great on your sis in that pic!
Good luck!
i really like the look of the one strap dress and the style is quite popular right now. the difference in material looks a bit weird though. do you think you could take a photo of the dresses in day light?
love the long dresses (esp for your time/season) except, as the preceding comments have pointed out - wearability may be a bit of an issue - UNLESS your ladies have the dresses altered into cocktail dresses after the wedding.
love the one-shoulder and middle dress too (deep V-neck). i agree with some other comments that the Nordstrom’s dress may look too pouffy - bad if it makes yr ‘maids look preggo for no reason!
Your girls look great in the three styles.
Since your wedding is in the evening, I would go with long.
No one is going to wear the dresses again, so even though people say they will, they won’t.
I think the long dresses you picked out make the girls look like they have no shape. The top parts look good but the bottom is not flatterning. I would put them in shorter dresses personally.
Nope, nope, and nope. I’m partial to the longer bridesmaid dresses actually. I’m not a huge fan of the middle dress, but love the other two. The girl on the right looks fabulous rockin’ that dress!
We are acutally using those DB dresses in that color in October. I didn’t really love them until I saw them all in the actually dresses they picked. I think they will be perfect for your winery wedding!
I agree with you on the Nordstrom dress. I wanted to love it, but when I tried it on, it was not flattering. It has a maternity look to it. Your sister is rocking that one-strap! If you found a one-strap, short dress, I think that would be perfect.
Bridesmaids’ dresses were my biggest stress, too, for some reason - I think it’s because they set a tone for the event and we want to make our girls happy! But whatever you choose will be beautiful.
I really LOVE the look of the three long dresses together.. I know you said you only like the strapless and the one-shoulder, but I think the other two styles look great too!
I think it would look amazing if all of your girls had a different style of the long dress… whichever looks best on them.
They DONT look cheap, the DONT look too Grecian, but they do look beautiful and show a difference in all of your girls!
I love the one strap! This post has me reconsidering my bridesmaids dresses. I may go with maxi dresses now too!
I usually prefer short BM dresses, but the long dresses are stunning! They won my vote!
Oh, I’m loving those oncewed dresses. I tend to go for the shorter dress as well, because I do think ithey can be worn again. That being said, I don’t like tea-length personally… i think this length does not look great on everyone. Those short dresses in the pics you have are all knee length and would be super re-wearable again for your girls. Have you asked your girls which they would prefer?
and I do think that one strap dress looks fantastic on your bridesmaid.
All I can say is that I ordered the purple dress from Nordstrom and thought it was super unflattering! It made me look like I was 6 months pregnant, due to the shape, so I don’t think it is a great choice for bridesmaids.
I had the same dilemma when it came to my BM dresses. We are also having an evening October wedding and I originally thought it would be fun to have the girls choose their own length (so some would be in short and some would be in long). They all vetoed and said I had to chose one or the other. We ultimately went with the long gowns in marine from David’s Bridal. My girls are all wearing different dresses in different fabrics and I think they look fine in the pictures I took at the store. I really like the one strap dress, but if you want them to be in different dresses, just go for it!
Hi! I am OBSESSED with the short dresses with the floral straps from OnceWed. I would love to find out who makes them. I can’t find the dresses on oncewed.com so if you could please help me I’d really appreciate it. Thank you!!
Go short. For your bridesmaids’ sake. I like the long dresses though, and with broad shoulders, would definitely choose the one-strap (not too Grecian!)
the single strap dress is beautiful!
I’m biased because the short dresses from Nordstrom’s are my BM dresses! We are getting married in October as well, but here in SF its more like summer than fall at that time of year. Thus, short was the right choice for me. I’ve loved the way the dresses look on my girls.
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Mrs. Apple Cider, New York/Charlotte
Age and Occupation: 27, Corporate Communications Manager
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Grad Student – Clinical Mental Health
Engagement Date: September 13, 2008
Wedding Date: October 2009
Venue: Banner Elk Winery & Blueberry Villa
About Me: I am a North Carolina girl with a New York City spirit. I love crafting, blogging, laughing and dreaming. I know every word to the Anne of Green Gables and Little Women movies. I own every single Martha Stewart Wedding Magazine and have been dreaming of weddings since I was little. I believe life is about doing what makes you happy. If you aren't happy re-evaluate what you are doing. You should never look back on your life and not be proud of what you are doing. If you want to travel - travel. If you want to sing - sing. If you want to start a company - start a company. If you want to blog – blog!
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