The big day is arriving, and you want everything perfect.  You want everyone’s hair to be in place, makeup to be on point, and nails to be polished to perfection. But, is your crazy control worth the expense of your friendships with your bridesmaids? There may be some beautiful surprises awaiting you if you let go of the Bridezilla condition you are tempted to take on.

Today’s topic is bridesmaids’ dresses.  The long standing tradition is to let the bride pick everything out, but today I’ll talk about some benefits of letting your bridesmaids choose their dresses while you still maintain some control of how you want things to look. So what do you say? Are you ready to let your bridesmaids help you out today?

Dress Style

If you have a color scheme as most weddings do, you can still stick to those colors, but allow your bridesmaids to choose the style of the dress.  This is going to help them to feel empowered, and they may even walk a little taller and carry a bigger smile down that aisle.  You want them to feel comfortable, after all, they are the ones you’ve chosen to stand by you as you take your vows.

They are most likely your best friends and family members.  Each bridesmaid is unique, and each has their own assets and perceived flaws. You don’t want someone who is self-conscious of their arms to have to go sleeveless on your wedding day. Just like you want your bridesmaids, who may be a little more endowed, to be properly secured on your wedding day.

Because of all the different bridesmaid dress options, it is easier to give your bridesmaids three different options, and they can pick the style they like best.

Colors

This is an area you can still maintain control of or throw caution to the wind and say anything goes. Many brides-to-be like to pick a color and let their bridesmaids choose the shade of color for their dresses.  The same concept holds true for shoes.  Not everyone will want to wear high heeled shoes, though maybe your shortest friend loves to wear  6-inch spikes.

Another idea is letting your bridesmaids choose what color they want to wear from your two or three wedding colors. This will help brides that don’t look as good in the color you picked, to still be satisfied.

Dress Price

By letting your bridesmaids choose their dresses, you are letting them pick a dress that they can afford.  I once had to turn down being in a family wedding because of the dress price.  Being young and in school, I just didn’t have the money to be able to buy the dress that was picked out for me, so I had to decline the offer of being in the wedding.  Even though your bridesmaids may not admit it to your face, many are eyeing up that tag price.  Unless you are paying for their dresses, it’s doing them a big favor by letting them choose.  Also, they are the ones that get to keep those dresses afterward, so it is a kind thing to let them buy what they’d like to purchase.

The center of attention is going to be on you, the lovely bride walking down the aisle.  You and your fiance are the ones that everyone came to celebrate with on your big day.  By letting your bridesmaids decide on their dresses and shoes, you aren’t taking any focus away from you.  All of the other details like what flowers they carry, what flowers they wear in their hair, what the menu will be at the reception, can still be decided by you.  Allow yourself to release some stress while empowering your bridesmaids.  You may just be pleasantly surprised.