Bridesmaid Dresses...
I thought the hard part was trying to find MY dress...it turns out that the hard part is getting the bridesmaid dresses! With 9 different girls varying in shapes and sizes, heights and bust sizes...its tricky trying to find ONE dress that fits them all. So yes, I have thought about going with the same manufacturer but different styles of a dress, and that is still on the table, but my MOH and I went shopping on Saturday for bridesmaid dresses, and we found one we really liked. She lives in Philly and I live here in wonderful DC so we decided to Meet in Baltimore. We met at a lovely salon that I highly recommend if you are ever in the area. Betsy Robinson, they have a great selection of bridesmaid dresses ( one of the best selections I have seen) and they are very helpful and accommodating! There were a couple of dresses I liked, one was $300 and that quickly got nixed, however the one that MOH and I decided could be "the one" is below. So I have a question for the fellow brides out there. 1. What do you think is "too much" to ask your bridesmaids/MOH to pay? Honestly--don't worry about hurting my feelings :) This dress below will be $203. I was hoping to land more near the $150 range. I've even thought of offering the bridal party the option of not having me pay for there mani/pedi's but to pay an extra $40 towards there dress to take it down to a more manageable $163. (Do you think this is a bad idea?) 2. what do you think of the dress? It would be in burgundy! Thanks :)
posted by Bsam at 9:50 AM
6 Comments:
Umm, honestly? If you really and truly have a wide variety of heights and sizes (and, I'm assuming, bust sizes)? I kind of doubt that dress will be flattering on more than one or two of your maids. It's a cute party frock - but I think it would make the average girl look kind of dumpy. From my experience shopping as part of a bridal party of 6, the most flattering dresses on the range of body types had a more defined waist (for example, a sash or ruching).
I think the dress is a good price for what it is. Most bridesmaid dresses won't go for much less. And any expenses you can help with is great on your part!
I recently asked a wedding photographer (the unbride) what she thought of bridesmaids with different style of dresses in shades of the same color (mine is grey). My concern was how it would look in my wedding photos. She said that having your girls where the same dress doesn't really add to the photos and the recent trend (my idea) looks very elegant.
I like the recent trend because:
1- Your maids can stay within their personal budget
2- You're more likely to get better deals for dresses that are not defined as 'bridesmaid dresses'
3- And because it's not defined as a bridesmaid dress, they are that much more likely to wear their dress again
4- No resentment towards the bride for asking them to purchase an expensive dress they will never where again
5- As a bride, you don't have to rake your brain trying to find something that they all look wonderful in within a set price limit (you have enough to worry about)
6- You can be certain they will feel wonderful since they chose the style that they feel most comfortable in
For all these reasons, I would encourage you to go this route if it's still on the table for you. More and more brides are doing the same.
What I'm going to do is set up shopping days this fall to look for their dresses. This way I can still have some say in what they wear and make sure it pairs up well with the other dresses.
Good luck in your search either way!!
For me i put a personal limit of no more then $200 for a bridesmaid dress b/c that's what I would feel comfortable paying. After $200 that's when that dress better be
1) totally rewearable and nothing looking like a bridesmaid dress 2) or amazing quality and something I'm totally in love with.
I think $203 is perfectly acceptable and you shouldn't worry about having to help your bridesmaids pay unless you have a bridesmaid you know it will be a burden on.
I agree the dress might be difficult to fit on a ton of different body types but if your girls like it then that's all that matters. In general I'd say take your hardest to fit bridesmaid and whatever she says will work will probably work on everyone else.
I'd say $200 is too much, especially if you're expecting them to
1. throw you a bachlorette party
2. throw a shower, and show up with gifts.
3. buy you a wedding gift
4. get their hair, nails and/or makeup done on the day of
5. travel to get there, paying for hotels, flights, ect.
seriously, 9 girls are going to be spending a grand on your special day? 6 of them are talking smack about you right now, i'm sure.
I like the idea of having the girls select from a range of dresses by the same designer. That way everyone will feel comfortable and know they look their best, which is definitely what you want come picture time. I would try to keep the price $225 and below. No matter how gorgeous the dress, it is unlikely your friends will ever wear it again. I think it's great you're covering the mani/pedis, now that's what I call a cool bride!
The problem with bridesmaid dress prices is what's reasonable versus what's realistic. I agree that $150 sounds like a reasonable price, since most of us could easily find a party dress for that price. But good luck finding a bridesmaid dress for that price. As with everything else wedding related, the prices are marked up for reasons not related to quality, appearance, trendiness, etc.
I'm lucky and found dresses I love at Ann Taylor, and I also have a coupon for 20% off and free shipping that I sent my girls, which makes the $200 dress come down to $160. They can order online (and AT offers free shipping on returns of their bridal party dresses), so no one has to worry about measurements or getting a dress that turns out to be 3 sizes too big because the salon insists you order to your largest measurement. Also, since it's Ann Taylor, I'm more confident in the quality, plus the styles they have are flattering on a lot of types and I don't think they look excessively bridesmaid-y (having a shorter dress helps with that).
I certainly don't envy you having to shop for 9 different girls ....
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