Most brides think about their wedding dress before making any decisions on what the bridesmaid’s will wear. But when you get to this question, don’t forget to think about the morning of the wedding day. If you can provide bridesmaid robes or personalised pjs for them to wear, it will certainly be a help for them to change into their outfits without damaging their hairstyles or makeup.
In addition, any before photos will look really wonderful if all the bridesmaids are wearing such robes or silky pjs, rather than their pj’s or jeans and shirt. Of course, the bridesmaid’s outfits should in some way reflect the choice of wedding dress so that the overall look becomes cohesive rather than piecemeal.
To do this, bridesmaids dresses can be styled in a similar way to the wedding gown, but they could be short frocks instead of long. Or they could have one feature on them the same as the wedding dress. For instance, if the wedding dress had a ruffled frill around the neckline, then the bridesmaids frocks could have that same feature, even if the skirts were different.
When choosing outfits for them, don’t just go with the colours and styles that you as the bride like best. Make sure the outfits suit the bridesmaids colouring and figure shapes as well, otherwise they will look and feel bad for the whole wedding.
Some outfits show up certain body parts more than others. For instance, dresses that have a longer skirt at the back than at the front really show off the lower legs. But if your bridesmaids’ legs are not their best feature, this can make them look quite weird. If they have short or chubby lower legs, don’t choose a style that highlights them.
If your bridesmaids are little overweight, don’t choose a dress with a full skirt as this will make them look like powder puffs, especially if those dresses are pale pink. If you are not used to choosing fashions to suit figures, ask each bridesmaid to choose a style they know will suit them. You can still add a feature from the wedding dress if you want. If not, go with something quite different and simply make them the same colour or length as each other for that cohesive look.
You can also make sure their shoes are the same as each other, both in colour and in style. This is not important if the dresses are long, but for short dresses the shoes will be easily seen. It’s good if they can have similar hairstyles to each other, if not to the bride.
Jewellery is another way to link the look of the wedding party. If they all wear similar necklaces or pendants and/or other items of jewellery then they become a group instead of separate. This will give the best look on the day and in those photos.