- Blog
- Bios
- Boards
- Classifieds
- DIY
- Gallery
- Vendor Reviews
- Shop Weddingbee
Weddingbee Blog
I’d love to be an attendant in a wedding where the bride gives just “a few parameters and lets each choose her dress.” It’s a great excuse to buy something new and cute that you actually like! I especially liked the look of the sparkly cocktail dresses.
I’d do this for our wedding, but I’m not quite so loosey-goosey. 
I don’t need them all to be “twinsies”, but I would like my bridesmaids to “match” a bit more.
Do you think the standards on bridesmaid’s dresses are changing? Are more brides opting for loosely matching dresses, or do you think matching dresses are still widely the standard?
with 11 bridesmaids, i would die if they were all wearing the same thing! i’m trusting them and letting go just for sake of my sanity!
I opted to pick a designer/dress line and a color, and will let the girls pick from there. I think it’s better this way — I know that if it were me, I’d be less resentful if I got to pick it myself. 
I love the new trend to have BMs dress differently. Love it. It’s my favorite wedding trend by far.
I asked the girls to choose a black dress from JCrew. I didn’t want them to be too matchy-matchy, but I liked the look of black dresses. I do think it’s getting to be much more common to have BM in a variety of dresses, maybe fitting a color scheme or theme. I love the idea–it’s next to impossible to find a dress/color that looks wonderful on a variety of girls.
I picked the color and 2 styles and let them pick. I’ve been a bridesmaid a few times, and I would have appreciated someone letting me pick so that’s sort of why I did it that way.
My mom is the only person that seems to not understand why I wanted to do it this way. She thinks I’m trying to hard to make everyone happy- when in actuality, it makes me happy to know that the girls are going to have a dress they are comfortable in and might actually WANT to wear again!
i think it’s starting to change but not so much to become the standard. it’s more like a more acceptable alternative.
i’m thinking of going this route since if i only have two bridesmaids, there no real need for them to match
I really don’t like everyone matching, I love that now the standards are changing and we can get away with a little more variety!
I was never a huge fan of the bridesmaids matching exactly (although it’s been done very well by other Bees), so I’m happy it’s becoming more of an acceptable alternative to have them wear the same color in their own style or versions of the same style.
However, I think the trend is not fully understood by the older generation - specifically my mom and my FMIL! They are both up in arms about the possibility of the girls wearing different dresses. I am hopeful we can come to a happy compromise
Oh I love love love the first dress that’s posted. Those shoulder details are fabulous! I’ve actually just given my BMs a few parameters and they want more guidance. I think the idea of similar but not matchy matchy BMs is so fresh and fun.
Ooh, I love that first one! I’m currently trying to figure out what my bridesmaids are going to wear, and it’s a challenge!
I’m definitely loosey goosey. I’m just going to ask them all to find a little black dress that they love. I don’t want to make grown women dress the same and I would love for them to buy a dress that suits their budget and that they would wear again.
I love these types of looks! I’m all for the ‘choose something tea-length and block.’ Simple.
It definitely appears from these comments that the norms are definitely shifting! I can honestly say it never occurred to me to pick a single dress and just insist that everyone wear it… but I’m probably picking a single line, color, and fabric rather than just a few guidelines.
As far as I can tell, around here it’s still pretty standard to match. I have noticed a huge trend with at least the brides online to pick dresses that aren’t meant specifically to be a bridesmaid dress. J. Crew has definitely been ahead of the game on this, using silhouettes people were already buying and offering a variety of colors. I picked a dress I saw at Banana Republic that ended up going on sale once my bridesmaids purchased it, and I had them either go to the store or order over the phone the size they wanted. I didn’t really care about matching but once I saw the dress I thought it would work really well. It’s navy with a white polka dot print, and a wrap dress with short sleeves. I felt like that would be pretty flattering for different body types.
I really feel like 99% of girls are not going to rewear their bridesmaid dresses anyway, but if you make them get something long, taffeta or silky, the chances are even slimmer. See what’s important to them, the style, the price, etc. and I think letting each girl pick out their own dress is a nice way to let them bring their personality to the wedding.
Matching shoes is a fun option if everyone does pick a different dress, though shoes might be a hard thing, expensive, and they may or may not have any need for a [insert wedding color here] shoe in their wardrobe.
I let the girls chose dresses that they liked, and we narrowed it down to 3 dresses that were all made of the same material and I let them chose their style. I still don’t think any of them will wear it again, but at a minimum, they were comfortable in the size, style, length of the dress and they all looked great!
I wanted to let my bridesmaids pick their own dresses but none of them wanted to -_- They all wanted me to pick a dress.
And ironically, despite always reading that long bridesmaid dresses are less re-wearable…..most of my bridesmaids explicitly said they’d prefer a long dress!
Oooh, sparkly sparkly! I love this idea, but you have to have the right kind of girls as your bridesmaids. Not everyone can (or would even be willing to try) to pull off those looks! (I’d do it, though! Someone pick me as your BM and ask me to wear that short, sparkly dress. Please?)
Seems like it’s 50/50. I feel like in the blogging world people are a little more laid back, but then a lot of recaps all the dresses match. Plus a lot of my friends have had matching BM dresses. I think either way works. Love those looks, can’t wait to see what you come up with!
| Visit our sister sites | eHarmony Online Dating |
eHarmony Advice Dating Advice |
Project Wedding Wedding Songs |
JustMommies Pregnancy Calendar |
Mrs. Spaniel, Los Angeles Age and Occupation: 28, Law Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Psychologist Wedding Date: March 2010 Venue: Calamigos Ranch About Me: I'm a third-year law student trying to balance graduating with starting my career, keeping up a relationship, and, oh yeah, planning an Old World, multi-cultural, "mountain lodge" wedding for 180 guests! A South Asian Jewish girl getting ready to marry my handsome Catholic Dane, I'm hoping to blend our cultures in our wedding just a bit more gently than by providing samosas as appetizers and offering æbleskiver for dessert. (Although that would also be awesome.)
| Sun | Mon | Tue | Wed | Thu | Fri | Sat |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 29 | 30 | 31 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 |
| 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 |
| 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 |
| 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 |
Latest Gallery Pics