As I mentioned before, I am forgoing a bridesmaids dress that exemplifies my own style and my 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. For one, it kind of creeps me out when I see a bunch of girls wearing the exact same dress. It’s like they are decorations instead of people. Also, didn’t we spend all of middle school getting upset with each other when someone wore the same thing as you (gasp!)?
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?
My Big Colorful Wedding 