How to Find Bridesmaid’s Dresses for Every Body

5 tips to help satisfy everyone in your bridal party

Impossible—the word to describe how easy it will be to find a bridesmaid’s dress that everyone in your bridal party will like. Regardless of if your bridesmaids are all tall and willowy like models or all small and petite (which is unlikely) the idea that you’ll find dresses that flatter everyone—as far as style, color, and silhouette—is pretty much unattainable. And the idea that any of them will ever wear the dress again is almost ridiculous.

I have exactly two bridesmaid’s dresses in my closet that I wore once—to the wedding they were intended for and never again. The reason is because, one is a medieval dress that I would only otherwise wear on Halloween, and the second one is a drab color of grey that’s not at all flattering against my olive skin tone. I’d purchased these dresses, someone hesitantly, at the bride’s wishes, knowing I wouldn’t likely ever wear them again.

That’s why when I started planning for my own wedding I realized that getting cookie cutter dresses for my bridesmaids would be an impossible and foolish task. My main goal was for everyone to look and feel as comfortable as possible, and my secondary goal was to find a color and price that worked for everyone. Since I was asking each bridesmaid to buy their own dress, I knew that I couldn’t impose too many restrictions on them, so I chose basic black as the color and asked each to purchase their own dress in whatever style they desired.

Now this easy-going attitude doesn’t resonate for every bride, however, there are still a few rules that can help you find bridesmaid’s dresses to fit everybody in your wedding party…

1. Consider that not all styles will suit all body types

I was at a wedding last month, and while the bridesmaid’s dresses looked fantastic on a few of them, the others looked terrible. It wasn’t their fault mind you; it’s just a fact that not all bridesmaids’ dresses will suit all the girls in any given wedding party. The last thing I ever wanted to do was make my sister or best friends feel uncomfortable and look terrible in front of a large group of people so that’s why I chose a color and let the girls choose their own style of dress. If you know a seamstress, you can also choose a color and fabric and have all the dresses tailored to each girl.

2. Consider that not all colors will suit all skin tones

The same can be said for colors, unless you go with a very basic neutral colors, like black. So I suggest, instead of choosing one color (i.e., like teal blue or burnt orange) choose a theme—for instance spring or fall, floral or pastels—and let each girl choose a similar style dress in a color of their choice. For instance, if you go with a pastel theme tell the girls they can choose any color they like in a pastel shade or if you choose a fall theme let them select a dress in the fall spectrum of red, orange, yellow, chocolate brown, beige, or green. You can also pick basic black and accessorize with your theme colors (i.e., in a sash or with flowers).

3. Encourage some personality

Compromise is important, so if you do insist that all bridesmaid’s wear the same dress—then leave the accessories up to them. For instance, let them pick their own same shoes, hair décor, and jewelry, and make up and nail color.

4. Pay for the dresses yourself

I tend to agree that if the bride expects the girls to buy a certain dress, shoes, and wear a hair style and make up of her choosing that she foot the bill. That way, no bridesmaid can complain if the bride is being too much of a control freak.

5. Opt for an inexpensive dress

We’re all aware just how pricy bridal salons can be, so to ease the minds and wallets of your friends and bridesmaids, choose a dress from a department store where prom dresses are on sale, one that will have a good selection in a variety of sizes at discount prices.