One question many brides are asking these days is “do my bridesmaids have to wear the exact same dress?” The truth is there is no right or wrong answer to this question. It just completely depends on what the bride wants! Allowing your bridesmaids to wear different styles not only makes your wedding look more interesting, but it also allows each girl to find a dress that best fits her body type and showcases her individual style. However, if you don’t create some form of symmetry between the dresses you can run the risk of looking quite fragmented and not being able to tell who is part of the bridal party. So to help prevent this, we at Bridal Spectacular have a few tips to coordinate the perfect mismatched bridesmaid look!
Be Involved
Oftentimes, brides like to give their bridesmaids the freedom to choose their dresses themselves. The problem with this is if you have five maids and ask them each to find a coral dress, they are all going to come back with a different style, “shade” of coral, length, and fabric. And, if you have too many dress variations your wedding photos will look less than perfect. To prevent this, you can either make the decisions yourself or delegate the task to your maid of honor to ensure the coral dresses you requested have some form of consistency.
Don’t Give Your Bridesmaids Too Many Options
Although we know you want your maids to be happy, they will all have their own opinion on what is the perfect bridesmaid dress for your wedding — and this is going to cause you major anxiety! It’s your wedding and you should be able to choose the dresses. Make a separate appointment without your bridesmaids to decide their options in advance, and then let them choose their favorite. And one other thing, don’t be set on trying to find a dress that they can wear again. This is pretty hard to achieve and chances are they aren’t going to wear it again anyway, so save yourself the hassle.
Try to Keep The Dress Lengths the Same
As you browse online or through bridal magazines, you are bound to come across a photos where bridesmaids are wearing different styled dresses. However if you pay close attention, the photos that look the best include dresses that are all the same length. So whether it’s above the knees, below the knees, or floor length, make sure each bridesmaid is wearing the same length dress.
Keep the Dress Variations to a Minimum
While you are allowing your bridesmaids to choose their own style, you don’t want every single aspect of the dresses to be different. Try to limit the variations to only a couple things. For example, you can let them choose a different neckline and fit, so some girls may opt for a one-shoulder tighter dress while others may go with a strapless A-line dress. If you choose this type of variation option, be sure you select the same fabric and dress length so your bridal party still looks cohesive.
What if you want different of colors? You can vary the color by choosing different shades of the same color or in a similar color family. You can also create a color theme, such as sunset and have your bridesmaids wear oranges, yellows, pinks and reds!
For more wedding planning tips and inspiration, please visit http://www.bridalspectacular.com or follow us on Facebook, twitter and Pinterest. And, be sure to save-the-date to attend our Winter Bridal Show January 16 and 17 at Cashman Center where you can find all the latest wedding fashions!