— How to choose dresses for the bridesmaids that won’t break the budget
Tips for the mother of the bride helping her daughter plan her wedding
As your newly engaged daughter makes her wedding plans, one of the most exciting things for her is choosing the dresses for her bridesmaids. Brides love to picture themselves surrounded by a bevy of young beautiful women, all decked out in her favorite colors and flowers. The bridesmaids are chosen to attend to the brides’ needs that day and help her celebrate this transition into happy marital bliss. As her mother, you may find yourself in the role of helping your daughter choose the dresses for her bridesmaids. The following tips may be helpful as you and your daughter work through the choices.
Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
OPTIONS FOR BRIDESMAID DRESSES
The bridesmaids traditionally pay for their own outfits to wear at the wedding. So, keep that in mind as you research and make choices. It’s nice to be able to dress them as cheaply as possible without having them look cheap!
Before looking for the dresses, the bride needs to decide whether she wants the dresses to match or not. Bridesmaids come in different sizes, heights, skin tones, etc, so it’s nice to be considerate of how comfortable her girlfriends are with various types of dresses or heel heights. You can use the chart below to help your daughter determine the guidelines for choosing the bridesmaid dresses. You two may want to browse on Pinterest.com or Amazon.com to see what colors and styles resonate with your daughter and to see what kinds of options are out there. Your daughter may also want to consult with her bridesmaids about these choices. What features does she want to have matching, mismatched or similar? The following questions might be helpful to ask.
WHERE TO FIND BRIDESMAID DRESSES
1. Dresses they already own
If your daughter is having a small wedding, you might be able to find dresses for the bridesmaids in their own closets or the bride’s closet. My oldest daughter was a music major in college and had purchased several long gowns to wear for recitals. One of these gowns worked perfectly for her sister, the maid of honor, to wear.
If you or your daughter or some of the bridesmaids are handy at sewing and have the time, sewing the bridesmaid dresses may be a good option. The advantage to this is being able to choose the exact fabric and customize the fit to each bridesmaid, as well as saving some money (depending on the price of the fabric and how many yards are needed.) My mother and I did much of the sewing for my wedding and my sisters’ weddings to help with the cost. These days, with the advent of the internet, inexpensive dresses are much more accessible, so sewing the dresses may not save that much money.
3. Thrift shops
If your daughter chose having the bridesmaid dresses mismatched, then finding them in thrift shops is a viable option. Gently used bridesmaid dresses and prom dresses often appear there at a great bargain price. Plus, there is the advantage of being able to try them on before buying, unlike purchasing a dress online. Alterations may be needed, but since the price is so low, you may come out under budget even with the cost of a seamstress.
4. Amazon.com
Many beautiful, inexpensive bridesmaid dresses are available online, often featured in groupings of different styles. Since everyone has a different body shape, it’s nice to let each girl choose the style of dress that becomes her the most. Yet, the bride often likes to have the color be cohesive. With Amazon, the bride can preselect the styles she would like her bridesmaids to choose from, send them the links, then they can take care of choosing the sizes and making the final purchase. Be sure to remind the girls to take careful measurements and check the sizing charts. My advice is to encourage them to do this early on, so there is plenty of time to do fittings and make returns if needed. Choosing the dresses from Amazon also makes it easier if some of the bridesmaids are out of town.
5. Local bridal shops
If the bridesmaids are local, or can make a trip in before the wedding, then you may want to consider local bridesmaid shops. Girls love to be able to shop together and try on their dresses. David’s Bridal has some reasonably priced gowns. Just be sensitive to the budget of your bridesmaids. Also, be sure to do the shopping early. The dresses will most likely need to be ordered. It will take some time to arrive and for everyone to be fitted. My younger daughter chose the dresses for her bridesmaids at David’s Bridal. She chose the color, the length and a group of styles she was happy with. Then each bridesmaid chose from those styles. It worked out well and the wedding was lovely.
CONCLUSION
Helping your daughter choose the dresses for the bridesmaids is part of the charm of planning a wedding. Remember to be sensitive, though, to your daughter’s choices. She may have different tastes than you do. She is growing up in a different time period and in a different culture than you did. The whole wedding culture has evolved and grown since we were brides. Many more options are available now as well. We need to be there to support our daughters and guide them towards making wise choices, but ultimately, the decisions should be theirs about which dresses they want their bridesmaids to wear.
Click on the link below to download a worksheet that helps sort out all the decisions about the bridesmaids’ apparel.
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Disclosure: Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase.
