5 Tips on Picking the Best Bridesmaid Dresses for Photos

Real Weddings

Sep 14

Picking the best bridesmaid dress for your favorite ladies can be daunting. You want everyone to feel confident, comfortable and amazing, but you also want them to look the way you've been envisioning. Combine that with a variety of heights, body types and skin tones and how in the world is this going to work? You might also want to be sure each person feels like they can express their own personality and style in some way, which really complicates things when you want to be sure there's a cohesive look. The continued trend of mismatched bridesmaid dresses is helping, but man, is that hard to pull off!1.Keep the Colors Subdued I put my favorite suggestion first, so if this is all you read, it's okay. ;-) The thing with bridesmaids, is that typically, there are more of them than there are of you. So if you pick a really strong color (such as a jewel tone, bright blue, red, etc), the thing everyone will look at in the photo will be the dresses. Given these ladies are some of your closest friends, you want to be sure the photos emphasize your relationships together. Keeping the colors subdued allows you to focus on the faces in your photos while the dress is a gorgeous supporting actress. The other bonus is that you can have a lot more fun with the colors of your bouquets or, my personal favorite, the colors and textures of your table linens (!!!) when they aren't competing with what your entourage is wearing.2. Mix & Match, But Keep Same Length (and Designer)I love the mix & match trend, but it is much harder to pull off than you think! The key is only having a slight difference. Maybe it's all the same fabric, but just different necklines? Or all the same dress but only slightly different colors. Simply telling your ladies "Wear a black dress" doesn't often get you the gorgeously curated look that you are pinning to your Pinterest board. The easiest way to pull off the mix & match look is to keep all the dresses the same length and ordered together from the same designer. If you want to be sure your ladies have the opportunity to infuse their own sense of style and personality, let them pick their jewelry. A great statement necklace on one friend versus those classic pearl stud earrings on another will give each person their own individual look while keeping your photos cohesive.3. Go with the SeasonThere is nothing stranger to me than seeing a photo where it is clearly a warm July day and ladies are in long black satin dresses. Save those gorgeous options for winter! And naturally, vice versa for summer cocktail dresses in December. I love the unique twist Alison took on Fall colors for her Ivy Room wedding day. Not only does this coordinate with the season in a totally interesting way, but it also is a great example of the fun you can have with floral colors when the bridesmaid dresses aren't competing. Aaaand it's also an example of my 2nd favorite tip, coming up in #5! 4. Don't Try to Match Your Dress, but CoordinateIf your dress has a lot of beading or lace, keep your bridesmaid dresses simple. Rather than trying to find a lace that coordinates with yours (talk about difficult!), put your ladies in a smooth, simple fabric. This will keep your dress super special while not overwhelming your photos with textures. On the flip side, if your dress is all silk and sleek, pairing it with a little texture in your bridesmaid dresses. Just don't forget the golden rule - There are more of them than you, so keep it simple.5. Shop at Non-Bridal StoresSome of my favorite bridesmaid dresses aren't listed on store's sites as bridesmaid dresses at all. And here's the thing about shopping at a store you might typically shop at - When you are hoping that you've picked something for your ladies that they can actually wear after the wedding day, your odds are exponentially greater! I loved these structured cocktail dresses seen below so much I searched JCrew to buy one for myself! That is a dress you will wear again. Aside from JCrew, my other favorites are Anthropology (yes, they also have BHLDN for a more bridal look), Kate Spade and Rent the Runway.