How to pick bridesmaid dresses for your wedding
Outside of picking your own wedding dress, you also have to pick your bridesmaid (or bridespeople) dresses. While some people prefer to explicitly tell their bridesmaids where to shop and which dresses to buy, others can have a more hands-off approach with simple color palettes or patterns to follow. Either way, the dresses your bridesmaids will wear will influence the theme of your wedding and be in your wedding photos—so it’s important to put at least a little consideration into what you want your people to wear.
This can seem like a daunting task. Where to you even begin deciding what you want your wedding party to wear? There are a lot of things to consider:
Are you having a traditional wedding or creating your own traditions?
Are you having a wedding party?
If so, how many people on each side?
Will you have a mixed wedding party with multiple genders on each side?
Will your bridespeople wear dresses or something that reflects how they present themselves or their personal style?
Do you want your wedding party to match or do you want the specific sides to match?
How much control do you want in deciding what your wedding party wears?
There are a lot of factors that will go into your decision making process—but don’t let that overwhelm you. Whether the people in your wedding party are comfortable wearing dresses or not, there are plenty of ways to make sure everyone can dress in a way that is true to who they are and still matches the theme of your wedding.
3 easy ways to pick your bridesmaid dresses
For those in your wedding party who will want to wear a dress—regardless of what side they’ll stand on—here are some tips and tricks to help you pick!
1. Put together a Pinterest board for inspiration
Pinterest is your new best friend when it comes to getting inspiration and ideas for your own wedding. If you already have a general idea in mind about what you want, search those keywords and see what comes up. If you are starting from scratch, just search bridesmaids dresses or non traditional bridesmaid dresses and see what shows up!
When you begin to find styles, colors, and patterns that you like and feel like you and your wedding, create a Pinterest board and save them! This way, you can easily go back and reference styles that you know you like when it comes time to deciding where to purchase the dresses.
2. Determine the color palette of your wedding
This is a big one (and it affects almost all parts of your wedding’s decor and theme): color palettes. Once you and your partner know the color palette you want for your wedding, you’ll be able to pick florals, decor, wedding party attire, and so much more! Here are a couple ways you can determine the color palette for your wedding:
Go back to Pinterest for inspiration if you need it. Search for specific wedding color palettes that you’ve seen before that you think you liked or just search for wedding color palettes. If you’re having trouble, keep it simple. Search for a single color and see what other colors are typically paired with it.
Another easy way for you to hone in on a color palette is to also consider the season you’re getting married in. Are you have having a summer wedding? Consider bright, vibrant colors. A fall wedding? Look at dark, warm tones that scream pumpkin spice latte! A winter wedding? Embrace those cooler, white tones.
Finally, what are your favorite colors? What are your partner’s favorite colors? If you’re obsessed with the color maroon, but you’re getting married in the spring, who cares! After all, it’s your wedding.
3. Decide if you want matching or mismatching dresses
Once you’ve pinned a few of your favorite styles and looks, and you’ve honed in on your color palette, it’s time to decide on matching vs mismatching. Do you want all of the people in your wedding party wearing dresses to match? Or do you want to mix it up? You can mix up styles, cuts, patterns, colors—you name it!
A great way to decide is to look back at your Pinterest board. Are all of the dresses you pinned matching or is there a lot of diversity between the styles and colors? That’ll give you a good indication on which way you’re leaning.
Being able to give your dress-wearing wedding party parameters and directions will help them when it comes to buying their dresses and it will help you have a consistent theme throughout your wedding.
It’s your wedding
I’ve said this once and I’ll say it again: it’s your wedding! When it comes to picking color palettes, patterns, and all the other details, you and your partner’s opinions (budget allowing) mean more than what anyone else thinks.
That being said, when it comes to wedding party outfits, you want to make sure your people are comfortable in what they’re wearing and how they’re presenting themselves. Even if you want the color and pattern to match, being flexible on the style can be a really awesome way to make everyone feel their best on the day—cause let’s be real, not every dress style fits every body type and that’s okay!
