Buying bridesmaid dresses as gift?

Thoughts?

I think that is enough. I actually forgot to give the gifts to the girls the morning of. It was very hectic!!!! You can always give the gift to the fsil earlier or later, sometime alone. Don't feel guilty. I bought the bm dresses too and honestly, I don't think that the girls expected anything else from me.

I don't understand why someone cannot afford their BM dress, sounds like BS to me. But maybe I'm just naive. Most places let you pay 1/2 upfront and 1/2 when they buy the dress. You are being more than generous paying for their tan and make-up. Maybe instead of a tan put that money towards their dress if they prefer?

Every time I've been a bridesmaid, I've bought myself a dress that the bride promises I'll be able to wear again. And I've never worn the dress again. If any of those brides had offered to buy me the dress, I would have been thrilled. Buying them the dress is a much better gift than paying for a tan and make-up.

Myabe instead of buying the dresses, offer to help with the dresses. That way you can take left over money and apply it to BM gifts.

I'm doing the same thing as you and putting a large portion of thier gift towards the dress costs, and then I'm getting them each something small. If you're buying your FSIL a gift, I would agree that you should give it to her descreetly.

I'm paying for dresses and making these cute yet simple necklaces in glass beads that match our colors. That's all the girls are getting for gifts from me, but I figured it was the least I could do, I'm asking them to be in my wedding so I should be able to buy their dresses if I am telling them what I want them to wear. It would be one thing if I was letting them pick out their own dresses and letting them wear whatever they wanted but because I'm making them wear dresses I picked out, in colors I picked out, I feel I should have to pay for it.

Of course BMS wear dresses of the bride's choosing (most of the time) They should WANT to be in your wedding and they SHOULD pay for these things like dresses and shoes. They are LUCKY if the bride decides to help out with one of those items.

Now I'm thinking of going a different route for the style of dresses. My colors are brown and cream so their dresses will be brown. If I took the time I could probably find something they would wear again and maybe even less expensive. Will it look funny if the girls have more casual dresses and then my dress is a traditional gown?

Nope, because you're the star of the show. lol... as long as you're happy and they don't look awful...you're paying for it, you should be happy with the overall look. that's all that matters.

I really dont think there is anything wrong with paying for your BM dresses if its within your budget. I can see and understand both sides of the argument. I bought my girls dresses because they didnt have the cash to purchase them and I definitley wanted them to have the dress. Sure we say that they should not have a problem with buying a dress, but I certainly didnt want to have to pick my girls based on who was financially able to be in the wedding. The way I saw it was that if I had a certain vision of what they would be wearing then I should pick up the cost of something so expensive that will only be worn once. But that cuts out thier "gift"....

I think don't go overboard just do what would be less akward.. I myself thought about buying the bridesmaids dresses as a gift but not in the budget...

I still don't know how to post pics in my forum thread so can you ladies check out my IB in a minute minute. I found some great dresses that I want your opinion about. I wear dresses constantly and love poofy things so I want a normal persons opinion on whether you'd wear these dresses again!

Go under the "my wedding" tab, then go under the "photo album" tab and click "add photo", then upload from your desktop.

OK, they're on my IB for bridesmaid dresses. Check them out and tell me if you would ever wear them again. The one in the center is my #1 choice right now. Thanks!

I actually really like the center dress...are they comfortable with wearing strapless? I agree too though that--The top left, they could probably wear many times again.

I think buying their dresses for them would be a great gift!

Ok, I think I've found it! The one in the center can come with an ivory sash, which matches my colors perfectly. They would need to have a nice dinner or party to go to but I think they could wear it again. And the sash comes off so that would dress it down a little. I'm so excited! I want to order them now!