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I dropped the clue of how many bridesmaids I will be having in my last post, but in case you missed it, I have eight. Eight lovely ladies standing up with me on our wedding day—that’s a lot of girls to worry about dressing. Don’t fret. I will introduce the Honey ’maids soon. Today I’m talking about the search for what to have the girls wear. My bridesmaids’-dress search was, um, not.fun. So rather than bore you with my freak-outs, meltdowns, and indecision-making, I have created a step-by-step guide on how I came to the conclusion of what my girls will wear.
Step One. Image search the crap out of bridesmaids’ dresses:
Image via Love and Lavendar / Image credits, top row: Victoria’s Secret / Image credits, middle row: J.Crew; ModCloth; Ann Taylor Loft / Image credits, bottom row: Nordstrom; Urban Outfitters; Macy’s
Step Two. Being overwhelmed with the choices, go ahead and just pick something and send out an email to your ladies telling them “what they’ll wear.” (My first idea was gray dresses paired with tights and Uggs to make the party look more wintery.)
Gray dress image via Once Wed; photo by Jill Thomas / Tights image via Style Me Pretty; photo by Levi Christiansen Weddings / Uggs image via Clark + Walker Photography
Step Three. Mull over your decision for two months, all the while looking at wedding blogs. Second guess your original decision because of pictures like these:
Image via Ruffled / Photo by Kellie Kano
Image via Forget Me Knot / Photo by Sean Walker
Step Four. Change your mind on original decision because gray dress + black tights + gray Uggs is what I like to call frumpalicious and was a split-second decision. If panic ensues, switch around your color palette and introduce a new color because it fits your vision better:
Image via Wedding Chicks / Photo by Edyta Szyszlo
Step Five. Take feedback from your girls and tweak the color of dresses once more and settle on a new color that is universally flattering:
Image via The Knot / Photo by Pen Carlson
Step Six. Realize the TREND you have fallen for. Collect loads of inspiration pictures from wedding blogs and actually enjoy browsing bridesmaids’ dresses:
Image via Elizabeth Anne Designs / Photo by Tinywater Photography
Image via Ruffled / Photo by Feather Love Photography
Image via Retro Weddings by the Knot / Photo by Stephanie Williams
Step Seven. Go ahead and pour yourself a glass of wine because you, my friend, are done searching for bridesmaids’ dresses. The answer was under you nose—er—on your computer screen all along:
Photo by Jen Rodriguez
One more? OK, twist my arm because this next picture is purrrrfect:
Image via Style Me Pretty / Photo by Watson Studios
Step Eight. Jump on the amazing bandwagon that is mismatched bridesmaids’ dresses. Put full faith in your girls to choose their own dresses (with a few guidelines) and feel the burden lift off your shoulders.
Painless, right?
Who else is loving this trend and gave their ‘maids full control over which dresses they will wear? Who thinks I’m crazy?
I’m so sorry to hear that your BM dress shopping/finding experience wasn’t easy! But your guide is too cute, and I’m so glad you settled on something you and your ladies like. 
What a great idea. I love the guide and am glad you came to a universal decision.
Love the inspiration pics! Are you going to do cowboy boots too? such a cute look for CO! I’m toying with the idea of same color, same fabric, but different styles, since my girls are all different shapes and sizes and I don’t want them to feel uncomfortable - but my mom is freaking out that it will look “weird.” I am totally showing her this post to prove her wrong!
I too have 8 BMs and am wrestling with whether or not let them get whatever. I have yet to find a bm dress I really LOVE and must have them in. Most annoying part of the wedding planning so far in my opinion.
Congrats on going the easier route, you will be so much happier for it! I chose a color, picked up a couple paint swatches with complementary tones of that color, gave my bm’s length guidelines and let them go to town! So far, all the dresses are beautiful, complementary, and it’s made my life infinitely easier! Plus, most are planning to wear them to another occasion after my wedding, so I’ve succeeded in the re-wearable category!
Great post. I love your journey to the solution of BM dresses and think this has brought me to my own Ah Ha moment!!
@ThePinkPeony: I had to show my mom & ‘maids pictures too so they would know my idea wasn’t crazy!!
@jana: The paint swatch idea is great!
@CurlyRN: So happy to help
I had/am having a horrible time with BM & Hostess dresses! At first I was going to do the mismatched look, but realized I only liked them in lighter tones and my main color is eggplant. I picked a few designers that had lots of style options, let the girls pick the designer, picked the fabric, color, and length. The girls can pick any of the styles that fall into that category. It is my modified mismatched look!
I so love the idea and decided months ago to go that route. It is so much more fun and easier on my friends wallet.
Love it! Hilarious. I have only 4 and I totally stressed out. I stressed them out, too. We’re doing “mismatched” dresses in the sense that they’re all from the same designer with the same color, fabric, and length, but their choice of styles. Oh, and mismatched shoes as long as they’re silver, yellow or pink.
Man, I never seriously considered all matching BM dresses. I love my ladies, but they’re mostly living in what could generously be called poverty, and I don’t have the resources to buy the dresses for them. Plus, my thinnest BM is 5′6″ and probably less than 110 lbs, with A cups; one of my other friends who I asked to be a BM is the same height and has DDD cups. There was no way I was going to find a single style that worked on them all. And I hate the shiny fabrics of most traditional BM dresses, even those that come in multiple styles with the same color, and since my BMs are scattered across the country there was no way we could all make it to go shopping at the same time. I could potentially have gone the Modcloth route, assuming all my BMs knew and were right about their sizing (a big assumption), but I prefer the mismatched look anyway.
I told my MOH that my BMs are like a grand bouquet. And I wouldn’t have wanted all white roses–it wouldn’t have been very me.
So I posted a gallery of inspiration pictures for them on FB (along with a couple of notes about length/neckline/footwear), and I have paint chips and ribbon pieces to send to them to illustrate the color range I’m looking for. (I’ve seen weddings where the bride was less specific and got colors over a pretty big range–more than I’m comfortable with–and my FSIL suggested the paint chips because she’s a genius.) I’m going to send them the paint chips and ribbon along with the jewelry I got for them, some local chocolate, and a letter telling them that they are AWESOME.
I think it’ll be a good outcome. I think my BMs will look good and feel comfortable, and maybe, just maybe, wear the dresses again someday.
can i skip right to step #7? i like wine
Haha, I love this post! I’m glad you were able to find the best solution for you and your girls!
Haha, I’m sure many of us (including myself) have gone through this same journey, wine and all. 
I love the trend, and hope it’s here to stay!
I love it! But my girls decided on the same dress anyway! :/
I LOVE that you’re letting your girls pick their own dresses. That’s what my plan will be as well. It makes for happy b-maids and a less-stressed bride…win-win!!
I had a similar fate with BM dress shopping. So happy to finally find a solution. We are going the different dress route too, but the same designer/color/fabric. The new Amsale bridesmaid line in crinkle chiffon was my saving grace! They have so many options for the girls to choose from and the color I wanted was perfect - “French Blue.” The only downside is they are $290! But the girls were happy to pay it because they actually love the dress and the chance of them wearing it again is really high.
I love the mismatched BM dresses. I think its a much more modern and contemporary take on the traditional dresses. I think it will be beautiful! Especially if all 8 of your girls have style 
Yeah I changed my mind to do the unmatched dresses too, but it was to late =(. Maybe I shouldn’t have rushed into my BM dresses.
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Mrs. Honey, Durango, CO Age and Occupation: 28, Financial Assistant Fiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/Phlebotomist Engagement Date: August 1, 2010 Wedding Date: January 2012 Venue: Vallecito Lake About Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
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