Bridesmaids....

[delitefulmane]

Ladies,
What requests did you make of your bridesmaids?
Did you request them to have similar hairstyles?

I am trying to debate on what I do with my girls.
I like the look of uniformity (i.e. similar hair and dresses), however, when it comes to shoes, I don't know if I want to have them to buy the same shoes.

Let me know what you did and any suggestions you have.

 

[CoilyFields]

I picked two dresses and let them vote on which to wear and we went with that one. I did the same for shoes. One of my braidesmaids made jewelry so she volunteered to make earrings and simple necklaces for everyone. And I asked that if their hair was shoulder length or longer that they wear it in an updo.

I went on to payless.com to pick out the shoes. I didn't want them coming too much out of the pocket. They were cute little strappy kitten heels.

It helped them to feel involved but not so many opinions that nothing could be settled on.

 

[Amarilles]

I asked for the dresses to all be from the same designer and long. They chose the style, I chose the colors. I also asked for their hair in an updo of their choosing.

I left the rest (shoes, jewelry, makeup, nail polish, etc.) up to them. I didn't want to micro-manage all of it because in the end, they were paying for everything and I wanted them to feel comfy and actually like what they were paying for.

My BMs did such a lovely job...I love the dress choice. And I'm so glad that they do too, they all plan on cutting it to wear it again.

 

[SuchaLady]

Very pretty ^^^^

 

[delitefulmane]

I picked two dresses and let them vote on which to wear and we went with that one. I did the same for shoes. And I asked that if their hair was shoulder length or longer that they wear it in an updo.

It helped them to feel involved but not so many opinions that nothing could be settled on.

^^^ This . CoilyFields I like that idea of selecting two dresses and letting them pick the final choice. My BIGGEST dilemma is majority of my bridesmaids live in different states so I am gonna take my sister to help select my faves.

I asked for the dresses to all be from the same designer and long. They chose the style, I chose the colors. I also asked for their hair in an updo of their choosing.

I left the rest (shoes, jewelry, makeup, nail polish, etc.) up to them. I didn't want to micro-manage all of it because in the end, they were paying for everything and I wanted them to feel comfy and actually like what they were paying for.

My BMs did such a lovely job...I love the dress choice. And I'm so glad that they do too, they all plan on cutting it to wear it again.

Amarilles, I your BM's dresses. Very elegant and they looked amazing.

Normally, if you are wearing a long dress, shoes don't matter because you can't see them. Since my BM dresses will be tea length, I am trying to figure out if mix matched shoes would look okay. That's why I am torn. What do you ladies think?

 

[CoilyFields]

^^^ This . CoilyFields I like that idea of selecting two dresses and letting them pick the final choice. My BIGGEST dilemma is majority of my bridesmaids live in different states so I am gonna take my sister to help select my faves.

Amarilles, I your BM's dresses. Very elegant and they looked amazing.

Normally, if you are wearing a long dress, shoes don't matter because you can't see them. Since my BM dresses will be tea length, I am trying to figure out if mix matched shoes would look okay. That's why I am torn. What do you ladies think?

Most of my bridesmaids were from out of town too so I wanted to keep costs down as much as possible also.

The shoes should match. If you don't want them to be exactly the same then tell them to keep it in the same style. But color and style can vary so much I would just have them wear the same one. It looks better in pictures with tea length dresses for the shoes to match also.

 

[delitefulmane]

Thanks CoilyFields, how did you go about ordering the dresses and sizing since they were out of town?

 

[Miss617]

My bridesmaids all had the same dress, shoes, and jewelry, and the same general hairstyle (low side bun, but they were all styled differently). My MOH (my sister) set herself apart by wearing her dress strapless with a different necklace. We all went together for the dresses and shoes, and I bought their jewelry.

 

[Foxglove]

Same dress, silver sandals, hair however they wanted, I provided the makeup stylist but let them get it done however they wanted. They got to wear whatever jewelry/accessories they wanted as long as they went with the theme. Everybody looked uniform but still got to keep their own personality

Edited to say everybody didn't wear the same shoes. I asked them to wear silver strappy sandals (I sent them general pictures so they could see the look I was going for)

 

[delitefulmane]

Thanks Miss617 and @Foxglove.
I need to figure out how to go about getting the same shoes, if I decide to go that route, since they live all over the place :scratchch

 

[Foxglove]

Thanks Miss617 and @Foxglove.
I need to figure out how to go about getting the same shoes, if I decide to go that route, since they live all over the place :scratchch

We went this route for a wedding I was in. The local bridesmaids found the shoes and the out of towners paid one of them to pick up their size. The other option is to buy from a national brand so everybody can buy the shoes in store or get them shipped

Thanks CoilyFields, how did you go about ordering the dresses and sizing since they were out of town?

When I found the dress I wanted, the store took down my info and told me what the BM needed to get measured. The BM got measured wherever was local for them (most went to Davids Bridal who will measure for free even if you aren't buying from them). They called the store with their measurements and paid over the phone and the store shipped the dresses to them. They did have to order early enough to get adjustments made if the sizing was off.
Most bridal stores don't have the actual dresses in stock and they have to get ordered anyway based on measurements.

 

[Amarilles]

Thanks girls! I can only take credit for the colors, the rest was all them!

What color shoes will they be wearing? If it's a color without shades you can give them the color and style. My cousin did this for her wedding last year, she asked us for silver shoes with heels, either open-toed or closed. If the color has different shades, then you can specify the shoe from any shoe-chain where they can either go to the location or buy online.

I had one out-of-town BM and she got measured and gave the measurements to the shop where all the local girls got their dresses. She could've also placed the order in any store that carried the dress in her city but then would've missed out on the discount. It's not hard to have BMs find dresses in big cities, the designer will always have a store locator on the site. It's a good idea to all order from the same place though, to possibly pay a little less.

 

[locabouthair]

Ladies,
What requests did you make of your bridesmaids?
Did you request them to have similar hairstyles?

I am trying to debate on what I do with my girls.
I like the look of uniformity (i.e. similar hair and dresses), however, when it comes to shoes, I don't know if I want to have them to buy the same shoes.

Let me know what you did and any suggestions you have.

I was a bridesmaids about a month ago and we all wore the same dress and had the same jewelry. We chose two different shoes. I think 3 of use chose one shoe and the other 3 chose a different pair.

We wore out hair differently. Two of us had short hair (I have a twa) and the others wore their hair up.

The maid of honor wore a different dress, different jewelry and shoe.

 

[CoilyFields]

Thanks @CoilyFields, how did you go about ordering the dresses and sizing since they were out of town?

I sent them the pictures of the dresses straight from the designers website to vote on. Then when they decided I found an online distributer who sold that designers dress and I sent them the link to order from there. On that website it showed how to take your measurements, how long it would take to get the dress and I made sure I picked the site that sold the dress for the most affordable price. The name of the website escapes me now but they had a nice large selection and we were all pleased with the overall service.

 

[CoilyFields]

Thanks @Miss617 and @Foxglove.
I need to figure out how to go about getting the same shoes, if I decide to go that route, since they live all over the place :scratchch

I used Payless online. So then they could order them online or walk in a payless store in their area that had them.

You could try that with other national or regional stores. Most of my bridesmaids were in the Midwest but I had a few in NY but all of them had the store in their area.

 

[delitefulmane]

Thanks so much @Foxglove, @locabouthair @Amarilles!!!! This thread will give me a reference point!

@Amarilles, I haven't pick out a dress yet but I am deciding between silver or gold shoes depending on which color matches better with my colors.

I am also trying to be cost effective for my girls. I wouldn't want to force them to buy a shoe that they may never wear again, BUT, the big but, is that I think coordinating shoes will look better with a shorter dress. Thoughts?

 

[Foxglove]

Thanks so much @Foxglove, @locabouthair @Amarilles!!!! This thread will give me a reference point!

@Amarilles, I haven't pick out a dress yet but I am deciding between silver or gold shoes depending on which color matches better with my colors.

I am also trying to be cost effective for my girls. I wouldn't want to force them to buy a shoe that they may never wear again, BUT, the big but, is that I think coordinating shoes will look better with a shorter dress. Thoughts?

That's why I went with a metallic. Everybody will need to wear a gold or silver shoe at some point so I knew they would reuse them

 

[delitefulmane]

Foxglove, is that more silver or gold?

 

[calm_delight]

My 3 bridesmaids had on the same dress, a short black dress with a fuchsia belt/sash. My maid of honor and matron of honor both wore matching short fuchsia dresses. My daughter, who was a junior bridesmaid wore a short fuchsia dress with a black belt/sash/ribbon.

I didn't have any hair or jewelry restrictions and they all wore the same shoes (black, open toed slingbacks) with the exception of my sister (my maid of honor), who wore open toed fuchsia pumps.

 

[brittle_hair]

my bridesmaids are all wearing the same gold shoe even though i didn't specify the shoes all had to be the same. They will wear them with knee length red satin dresses, with a big bow detail on the left shoulder.

 

[GeorginaSparks]

I was just in a wedding and she specified the dress(all different styles and colors) and asked for gold sandals. She paid the MUA to do our hair and makeup.

For my wedding, all im asking is for them to wear a long dress in the same color(probably from DB). Shoes dont matter cos you wont see. I am paying a MUA to do their hair and MU including my mom and FMIL. Im also planning to give them whatever jewelry that will be needed that day also as a thank you(probably from aliexpress).

 

[delitefulmane]

I was just in a wedding and she specified the dress(all different styles and colors) and asked for gold sandals. She paid the MUA to do our hair and makeup.

For my wedding, all im asking is for them to wear a long dress in the same color(probably from DB). Shoes dont matter cos you wont see. I am paying a MUA to do their hair and MU including my mom and FMIL. Im also planning to give them whatever jewelry that will be needed that day also as a thank you(probably from aliexpress).

GeorginaSparks, wow. How much is all that gonna cost? :shock: I would love to have done something like that for my ladies but that's not in my budget.

 

[sj10460]

At my mom's wedding all the bridesmaids wore the same dress but chose their own shoes. My mom brought all the bridesmaids dresses and a necklace as her gift to them. She had a destination wedding, and shipped the dresses from NY to JA where the wedding was. She wanted everyone to wear their hair up and they did except for me. I wanted to wear mines down so she allowed me too. My stepfather cousin is a MUA so she did everyone's make-up and one of his other cousins did our hair. Our dresses were long so the shoes didn't matter but I think everyone wore silver.

 

[PrissiSippi]

GeorginaSparks, wow. How much is all that gonna cost? :shock: I would love to have done something like that for my ladies but that's not in my budget.

I have nine bridesmaids. We picked out the same dress together. It was $145 from Alfred Angelo. It's a long dress so they I bought them all $15 silver sandals from Payless as a gift (they are buy one get one half off and I used a coupon)
http://www.payless.com/womens-starl...gender&q=silver+sandals&prefv1=Women&start=12

and $1 drop down crystal earrings from one of those cheap jewelry stores.

I bought them the rhinestone bracelets from ebay for $2 a piece.

Dress