Tips on Choosing the Right Dresses for your Bridesmaids

Naturally, it’s the bride who will be the focus of attention on her wedding day, but it’s important for the bridesmaids to look gorgeous too. Choose something simple and not over decorated or detailed, but which will make your bridesmaids look elegant, sophisticated and feminine. It’s important to choose a dress style which will flatter everyone’s figure. This is never an easy task, but empire waists and A-line or princess skirts will tend to suit most shapes and sizes. If your bridesmaids have very different figure types and heights, and you think they might feel uncomfortable in matching dresses, a nice alternative is to choose the fabrics and colours, and allow each individual bridesmaid to choose her own dress style.

Classic Looks for Bridesmaids

Any kind of formal gown, semi-formal or evening dress can be chosen as a bridesmaids gown, so you have literally thousands of options. Satin, organza, chiffon, georgette, tulle, lace, brocades, and crepe are all classic fabrics for bridesmaid dresses. Whether you choose real silks and imported laces, or more economical alternatives will depend on your budget. It’s traditional to choose a one-piece dress or gown, but separates are definitely an option. Mixing and matching separate blouses and skirts makes it easier to find a style which suits each individual bridesmaid.

You should think about the time of year you plan to hold the wedding, and how this will affect your gown choices. Choose lighter fabrics for summer, and a sleeveless or even a strapless dress style. If your wedding is planned for a cooler time in the year, long skirts and sleeves are best, or include a shawl or wrap as part of the outfit. Alot of churches require that ladies shoulders are covered, o if marrying abroad check with the priest or you wedding planner about approriate dress.

It’s a nice idea to choose your colours according to the time of year also. Fresh, soft colours are lovely for spring and summer; golds, copper tones and rusty reds for autumn, and deep marine blues, teal green, deep burgundies and plums, or platinum shades for winter. Choose colours which will match the flowers which are in bloom at the time of year, so your gowns will tone in nicely with the bouquets. Discussing your colour ideas with your favourite florist will make the job of choosing colours much easier. For a very sophisticated, formal look, black or black and white never goes out of style. For a more romantic look, use white or a solid colour overlaid with black lace, either as a feature of the dress itself, or as a shawl or wrap. Soft, pretty pastel shades like lilac, powder pink, cream, platinum and eggshell blue are always popular colours for bridesmaid dresses, because they always look good together with the white or ivory shade of the bridal gown.

Adding dramatic colour accents in the bouquets creates a very attractive look for the wedding party as a whole. Accessories for Bridesmaids The simplest look will tend to work best, so accessories should best be kept to a minimum. Often a simple pair of earrings or necklace is all the jewellery you’ll need. It’s traditional for the bride to give the bridesmaids their jewellery as a gift, which is a lovely idea. For a very formal look, shawls, gloves and even small tiaras are always appropriate as bridesmaids’ accessories.

Keep comfort as well as style in mind when you choose shoes for your bridesmaids. Very high heels may be uncomfortable to stand in for any period of time. Also consider the fact that the bridesmaids will most likely be wearing the shoes for the wedding ceremony and the reception, so choose shoes which will be comfortable to wear all day, then dance away the night.