Should Your Bridesmaids Choose Their Own Dresses?
As much as you want everything to be perfect on your big day, you don't have to oversee everything.
Make your life easier by outsourcing! The ordeal of finding a beautiful dress that will flatter all of your bridesmaids does not have to be your problem anymore. In a growing trend that can compliment the most formal to the most casual of ceremonies, more and more bridesmaids are choosing their own dresses.
By allowing your bridesmaids to do some of the choosing for you, you are freeing up more time for yourself and for other arrangements that need to be made. And letting your bridesmaids work with their own trouble areas does not mean that you give up control. With these simple guidelines, you can make sure that you wedding party looks gorgeous wearing something they love.
Tell them your plans.
Don't expect them to know how you want them to look. Assigning simple parameters is an easy way to keep everything to your liking. Tell them about any themes that your thinking of, or specific colors that you want them to stick with (don't say blue if you mean periwinkle, for example).
A good place to start is your bridal gown. You'll want them to pick a dress that will compliment it, in color and fabric. Maybe your gown has a sash, or you're wearing a tiara, that they can coordinate with. Maybe your gown is made of duchess satin; if so, they should think about silk dresses, rather than lace. You never know where and when inspiration will strike, so tell them all about your gown. You know you want to!
Explain what you want.
You know how much you trust their taste. Maybe it's similar to yours, and they won't need much instruction. But if not, and you only want to give them a little wiggle room, you can assign them certain colors and allow them to choose a style of dress that they like. There are countless variations to the mixing and matching they can choose from to give the wedding party a sense of unity, while allowing their individual personalities to shine.
Tell them about any centerpieces or color schemes you may want implemented into their choices, like your flower arrangements or your wedding cake. If you'll be carrying bright red tulips, you wouldn't want them to be wearing flaming orange dresses!
Keep communications open with your bridesmaids about any decisions that they're making. You don't want any surprises, so swap pictures back and forth or go with them to dress fittings.
Know the rules.
Be aware of certain rules of etiquette that apply. Depending on the ceremony, you may need to keep an eye on of the length of their dresses. For a formal or semi-formal wedding, they should be floor-length, or tea-length. With informal weddings it's not as important, but they should not wear short dresses if your gown is floor-length.
Bridesmaids' dresses should be simple and elegant, and not too busy or complicated.
However eclectic the dresses may be, your shoes should still be uniformed. Traditionally, bridesmaids wear the same shoe or heel height as the bride.
Distinguish Your Maid of Honor.
The Maid of Honor is usually distinguished from the bridesmaids, even if they are dressed eclectically. This can easily be accomplished through the length of her dress, or giving her a particular headpiece or a larger bouquet. Your Maid of Honor should choose her dress before the bridesmaids, to make the decisions easier.
Mark your calendar.
All of the dresses should be selected at least 5 months before the wedding. The sooner you give them your instructions, the sooner you can relax. It's never too early to start looking for ideas, and you'll want plenty of time to make any necessary alterations.
And that's it. They look just as you want them to, and you didn't have to do it all for them. If only the rest of the planning was so simple!