How are you doing mismatched bridesmaid dresses?

I literally picked a length, the colors from my wedding color palette, and gave them the reigns. I told them to text me a pic when they found what they wanted. They all picked so well! No one dress is like the other, they are all going to be beautiful, and each one felt so much happier picking their own rather than me forcing one down their throat.

As for the color ideas, I'll post some pics.

I was going to ask this question as well, so thank you for posting this thread!

ETA: @Whitney, those dresses are all so pretty!

A total mix of jewel tones.

I had them wear the same color/length/designer.

But i have seen other weddings where they have different colors in the same family and think it looks really cool!!

maybe different shades of burgundy/plum/berry??

I totally love your palette choice because mix-and-match jewel tones are so luxurious to me! You really could have two in the blue, two in the emerald, two in the plum and accent them all in gold? Idk, something like that seems gorgeous to me.

What I did was tell them my color scheme and length and that was really it. I let them go free reign, so if they wanted a cheaper dress they could, if they wanted to go a little more expensive, they were allowed. I think this made it much easier for everyone to find something that they liked and didn't have to worry about the budget at all. Of course I did tell them to send me a picture before they were set on something.

I don't have any idea what these dresses will look like together, but fingers crossed they turned out well. I just didn't want to have the stress that others have been saying bridesmaids are. And luckily it's turning out well. They are all different shades of red so they should go together. We won't find out until the day of though.

I gave the girls a color pallet (about 6 different colors to choose from) and asked that they be long and chiffon. It worked out better than I could have imagined!

I also sent a couple "inspiration" photos to them so they understood what I was looking for

I'm having my girls wear infinity dresses. No one can make up their mind on what they like, and since I'm paying for the dresses, I make the price point. I can afford $150 a dress for 3 girls, but even that was pushing it for me. None of them could come to an agreement so they get can figure out the tops of their dresses themselves, but they'll all be in the same color and length.

One thing I'd recommend is to ask them to show you the dress before they buy. I've seen weddings where just by chance all the girls but one picked the same color, or the same neckline, or whatever, and so instead of looking intentionally mis-matched, the girl who was in something different just stuck out. All the examples posted here are so pretty!

Mine are doing the same color, and style up top, but a different skirt: fuller figured ladies opted for circle skirts, slimmer ladies opted for a pencil skirt (although it was totally up to them which one they were comfortable in.)

Maybe ask them to let you see what they decide on before they order it?

My ladies will be choosing their own dress designs from azazie.com as well! I chose the color and the length and they're thrilled to be choosing their own design! It's a great way to see their personalities shine, to ensure that they're happy and so is their wallet! =)

My girls are doing 2 different colors from azazie! 2 girls will be in 'Watermelon' and the other 3 in 'Coral' (it looks a lot less white-washed in person). They'll be in alternating colors when they're standing up with me!

My ladies will be wearing neutrals/metallics think, nude, taupe, gold, bronze, blush. I gave them free reigns. They can wear short dress, long dress, pant suits, skirts I don't care as long as they feel like babes and are fancy looking They haven't bought their outfits yet, but I trust them fully and we will work together to find looks that go well together.

There are so many different ways of doing mismatched dresses. I guess you should figure out what look you want to accomplish and go from there, that may decide the guidelines you give the gals.

PS. I love the pics Whitney posted with the jewel colors! yum

I have them material, color and length. They get to decide after that.

My colors are all purple family and silver/bling...I am doing with my maid of honor and bridesmaid in same dress, same color (only because it looked really pretty on them) and my fiance's and my daughters (17, 11 and 10) in same material but shorter dress, also in purples

image is longer dress for the friends and shorter are for the daughters

I will probably maybe add bling belt to the longer dress and my daughters already have blingy thing for their hair

I'm giving my girls color swatches (MatronOH and 1st BM will be in sapphire, MaidOH and 2nd BM will be I'm emerald) picking the length (tea), and the fabric (chiffon) and letting them choose from there. They're all the kind of girls that will probably text me and wait for my approval before purchasing, but I want them to be comfortable. They all have vastly different body types.

I love all these ideas! Now my question is: I was thinking about purchasing their dress. If I let them choose on their own then the costs will be all over the place. Below is kinda how I thought I could divvy up the costs. I would like to be able to spend the same on every girl. Some girls don't want to get their hair and make up done so I can't really offer to pay for those things when some won't have it.

I would pay for:

Dress (Under $150 each)

Bridesmaids pay for:

Alterations

shoes (nothing super fancy. they could buy $10 gold sandals for all i care)

hotel (optional)

hair (optional)

make up (optional)

I did mismatch and loved the way it turned out but it depends on your style. I literally told my girls a general color and for it to be short and I wanted to see it before hand. They went wild and it turned out awesome. Some guests didn't even realize they where different color through it was just different style...others noticed and loved it. I know my girls appreciated it cause as you can see in the picture there all very different and the same dress never would have worked

We are using azazie. I picked a color and asked my bridesmaids to agree on a fabric and length. They are each doing different styles. For my brother's wedding, we all got the exact same style of bridesmaids dresses, but each was in a different shade of purple. It looked fantastic in photos. Lots of options!

We all worked together to make sure they coordinated.