As I mentioned before, I am forgoing a bridesmaids dress that exemplifies my own style and our wedding theme in favor of dresses that work for my bridesmaids. All of my girls have their own fabulous sense of style, and more importantly, most have a style very different from me. They are also all different from each other. Bridesmaid KT has a very feminine and romantic style. L is very classic and favors neutral colors. KJ is also very classic, but she favors occasional bold colors. And R is the closest style to me; she’s trendy and modern (but not too crazy).
So what’s a girl to do? I decided almost immediately that the girls would be mis-matched!
Harnessing the power of Google (and Pinterest, of course), I started browsing the internet for photos of mis-matched maids. One of my first favorite looks was maids either in black or grey with pops of color.
Image from Southbound Bride Image by Meg Perotti
But this just doesn’t feel…right. I want people to know who the bridesmaids are, and some guests might wear black. Plus, it feels too dark for an outdoor wedding (to me).
The next look that caught my eye features each girl in a different color dress.
Image from Inspired by This Image by Jillian Mitchell Photography
I love this look. It’s very “me” without the girls looking like they’re wearing my clothes. But…I only have four bridesmaids. They would each need a different color. I’d like to repeat a color, but there’s not really room for that. And what if two girls want to wear the same color? What if one girls dress isn’t bright enough or fancy enough? How do I decide all these things? (Is your head spinning? Mine is.) This option seems like one of those things that, in the photos, appears effortless, but would actually be a lot of hard work to make it look right. Another look gets the ax.
Fortunately, Pinterest has so many bridesmaid inspirations that I could probably spend a year looking at them all. I was bound to find something. I ultimately decided to go down what I think is the path of least resistance. (This is a great path to take when you’re planning your wedding. I would direct any bride down this road.) I’m giving my bridesmaid a general color direction (some shade of bright watermelon pink), but it’s up to them to choose their own dress. These girls are my inspiration. I’ve probably looked at this picture fifty times.
Image from Belle the Magazine Image by Paper Antler
Of course there are problems with this look, too. What if the colors clash? What if someone chooses something I don’t like? But really, my bridesmaids have been dressing themselves for nearly three decades. They have jobs and generally look fairly pulled together (and often look spectacular!). I think they can handle buying a bridesmaid dress. While it could go wrong, I’m completely not stressed about my bridesmaids. I’m actually pretty excited to see how it all turns out. I think they’re going to be gorgeous!
How did you decide your bridesmaids look? Do they have any say in which dress they wear, or are you choosing?
OH, stop it! you’re making me want to change my mind and go with mismatched dresses because your inspiration pic is so fabulous! 
I have a friend that did five different color dresses and then five different color shoes. The girls wore mismatched pairs (like pink shoes and a purple dress, blue dress and purple shoes, etc). I thought it was going to look ridiculous, but it ended up being beautiful! I think your wedding will be the same
I officially cannot wait for your wedding – I love ALL of the details you’ve shared!
Lovely inspiration! I like pink but it wouldn’t have worked with the wedding we had. My colours I chose when I was young were light pink, light blue, light green, and pale purple.I also really like the black dresses with the pops of colour! I was really hoping that one was the one you were going to go with, but it was too close to the top.
I tried giving my bridemaids a say in their dresses, but none of them would answer my emails/facebook messages/texts (we don’t live close) so 3 months out I ended up making the decision with my one bridesman who was the only one who lived nearby and I just had them all buy the dress. The only suggestions I got from the rest of them during the planning were long dress (for an afternoon July wedding? She just thinks she doesn’t have nice legs…which isn’t true.) and no red (our colours were red and black and I wanted them to be in black dresses with a bit of red. It was the same bridesmaid and she had some crazy idea that red hair doesn’t look good with red clothes. I sent her a bunch of pictures of gorgeous redheads wearing red clothes.). I sent them all sort of pictures of dresses and asked for their opinions on them and never got reponses, so I ultimately had to make the entire decision myself.
I love your choice of having them wear different shades of pink! I think the clolor is enough of a guide that it will look cohesive without being matchy-matchy.
I do think it’s good to give your girls some guidelines, like length or fabric. That way they will “go” and not “match” (What Not to Wear, anyone?)
My bridesmaids all wore different styles of dresses in the same color and fabric — I think they looked great and they were able to pick a style they felt comfortable in.
that’ll be a great color for an outdoor wedding – beautiful pops of color.
We did the exact same thing and it turned out really well! Pink is one of those colours where variance in shades will look great (that’s why we went with yellow).
I tried to let them pick simple, short grey dresses and it didn’t work out. I was too picky I guess. We are going with Bill Levkoff’s Pewter instead, in any style they want. Sometimes it can be more of a headache to let them pick their own.
I love bright, vibrant colors too, and think they photograph so well. Great choice! The only issue I see with asking bridesmaids to pick their own dresses is it seems like certain colors can be hard to find. The stores may be filled with coral, coral and more coral (like last year) but no pink! Will they have the option of buying from bridesmaid dress designers as well as off the rack?
I love that color, your girls are sure to look gorgeous!
The inspiration photo is gorgeous. And although I agree with you that black is too dark for an outdoor wedding, I think that first picture is awesome!
I had my girls choose their own dresses out of an entire color “scheme”..and I had 9 girls! I got a bit nervous, but overall I was thrilled with the look! Everyone was comfortable, the dresses were actually much cheaper than traditional bridesmaids dresses and they most will wear them again seeing as though they completely picked out something they wanted. I’ll post pics when I get them back from the photographer.
My suggestion would be to just show plently of photos to them so they get the idea you are going for. Dont be afraid to tell anyone you don’t think their choice fits your look. there are millions of dresses out there, which means I’m sure there are many you and she can both agree on!
Another option might be having two in one color and two in the another, that is what I did and people keep marveling at what a great idea it was and how nice it balanced out in pictures. Good luck whatever you decide!!!
I love all your ideas, and I think watermelon pink is a great choice. I wouldn’t worry too much about them not going together: I’ve seen lots of “mismatched” dress looks that look just fabulous (and actually have never seen one I DIDN’T like yet!).
Miss Blue Whale, College Park, MD Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate Student Fiance's Age and Occupation: 33, Graduate Student Engagement Date: March 10, 2012 Wedding Date: May 2013 Venue: Southern Tree Plantation in Blairsville, GA About Me: I love bright colors, glitter, sugar, cheese, tiny animals, talking in silly accents, dancing, and all things music. I love to plan things, but when it comes time to execute the plans, I tend to panic. My friends tell me that I remind them of a mix between a cartoon character and a Disney Princess. Mr. Blue Whale and I are Southerners at heart, but we’ve been transplanted to the East Coast for school. We both love barbecues, star-gazing, bonfires, music, making up nonsense words, and generally being silly. Our wedding will be a fun-filled destination wedding in the Blue Ridge Mountains. It will most certainly feature bright colors, '80s music, and glitter.
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