Guest Author - Sandra Sable
It is a question that goes through every brides mind. What should my bridesmaids wear? How many bridesmaids should I have? What will they wear? How much will it cost?
The answers to these questions are multi leveled. The biggest deciding factor is your budget. How much are you willing to spend on each person in the wedding party? The other factors are how much room your church has, for people standing up with you at the altar. Finally how big do you want your head table to be, is there room in the catering facility for a large head table?
Having answered these questions let’s deal with some math. Again this is a matter of cost. The cheapest amount I have managed to pull together a Bridesmaids ensemble for is $100.00. That was dress, accessories, shoes, jewelry and flowers. This involved a lot of shopping around, a few trade secrets and a bit of give and take. You can also plan “sky is the limit” but again it is back to budget. So there we have a rough cost. $100.00 give or take, times number of bridesmaids. There is your cost.
Another option that some brides choose is asking the bridesmaids to buy the dresses themselves. This is not my tradition, I do not like this option, but it is an option. It does lower the cost of the dresses for you personally. If this is a choice you make of a way to go, I feel it would be best if you choose the color. After you have chosen the color, let the bridesmaids and maid of honor shop around. They can decide on a style, and it would be an item they would probably wear again. You can also let the maid of honor chose a dress in the same color but a slightly different style. My theory is if they are willing to pay for it to help out, they should have some say in what they are paying for. My choices would be to head for a prom dress type store, and look for a cocktail style dress.
So the wedding part has agreed to pay for the dresses, in turn you should pay for the shoes, accessories and the flowers. This way it is a fair return. They pay for the clothing, you accessorize.
I hope this has given you a few things to think about, before creating your bridesmaids list. If you are interested in my $100.00 bridesmaids ensemble, contact me at the bottom of this page at contact the editor or through the bio page, and contact me that way. I will email you my pictures and the purchase links. If you have any other questions, join us in the forum and lets talk weddings.
