How to deal with not local bridesmaids?

I wouldn't expect out of state or overseas BM's to be involved in any planning, or pre-wedding activities, other than picking out their dress. If they choose to host a shower or bachelorette, sometimes OOT BM's plan it for immediately prior to the wedding when they will be in town anyhow.

After they have accepted the invitation to be a bridesmaid, check with each of them individually and privately about heir budget for the dress. The easiest choice would be to tell them to all wear a black dress of their choosing. You can pick the length. That would also help to cut costs as some of them may be able to wear a dress they already own.

All my 3 BM's are coming from a different country. They're getting their own dresses and paying for them themselves. I just picked the color. I'm getting their hair and makeup done for the wedding, and they'll get here about a week before the wedding.
We're traveling the weekend before the wedding and I'm showing them around during the week.
Other than that, we're staying at their hotel the night before for small preparations (like getting our nails done and stuff) so we will all have time to enjoy each other and then we'll enjoy the wedding as well

They will likely not be as involved as you might like, but that's okay! My bridesmaids are 2-5 hours from me. It's going really well!

Your friendship with them will have to be very intentional. Involve them in planning as much as they want (share ideas, pictures, ask their opinions) but ensure you're not only texting/calling them about your wedding.

Ask them individually about their dress budgets; see if you can maybe order bridesmaid dresses online (I'm using Azazie).

All of my bridesmaids are long distance. I live in East Texas and they're in Austin, Atlanta, and Charlotte. It's a bit of a struggle, for sure. They're not able to be as involved as I want them to be, but I'm texting pictures for opinions every one and a while and for thing like my bridal shower (FMIL is hosting) I have given as much prior notice as I can to allow for them to make travel plans of they want while also stressing that none of the pre wedding activities are a 'requirement'.

My bridesmaids are all over, including my best friend in... Sydney, Australia. It’s been fine. The few that are local are getting together to plan my bachelorette and are going to try to make it work with the two who are in the US but not local. If they can’t make it, oh well. The friend in Sydney is planning an outing/smaller bachelorette two days before the weddingfor whoever can come down early. I’ve also been texting with her a lot about the wedding since she’s my BM who’s the most into it. The technology we have now makes it way easier than it would have been even ten years ago.

The bigger concern to me is that you don’t know if you will still be friends with these women in a year. If you’re not close enough to know that you won’t drift apart, don’t ask them to be in your wedding.

You're asking your wedding party way too soon. Like you said, you're scared you won't be as good friends with them in a year. And you should be because we see this a lot. You should ask your bridesmaids 8 months prior to the wedding for just this reason.

I havr a similar situation where I have one bridesmaid living in Oklahoma, my sister is in New Zealand, and just one is local here in California. For their dresses I have selected a color and the length and they can choose any style. I am going through Azazie so the colors will be matching. As far as planning goes, I have friends locally that are involved in helping because I know my OOT wedding party can't do much from their locations. They will arrive just a few days prior to the wedding.

As for whether or not you will still be friends a year from now, what is causing these doubts? If they are good friends now then being at a distance shouldnt make a difference. I dont talk to my OOT bridesmaid often, but when we do it is like we have never been apart.

I would say order dresses from a chain store where they can all try it on and order it, or order them online where they can send in their measurements. My BMs are all OOT, so we chose dresses on Azazie that they all ordered from where they are.

My bridesmaids were ALL out of state - actually two were in state but one lives 6 hours away from me still and the other was actually close. She was the only person besides my mom to go dress shopping with me. And she only went because she wanted to and asked if we could together.

I was a little bummed because we are made to believe the whole wedding experience is supposed to be a year of girls bonding and planning and doing things together but that's really not true. The only thing my girls were all at was the hotel in time for pictures to start. I picked out two websites that had colors that matched and the girls had to order their dresses and that's really it. It's just important to remember that you are picking these people because you love them and NOT because you want them to do things for you and for your wedding. If you can keep that in mind then having spread out bridal party won't be an issue. You may have to adjust your expectations but I promise you at the end of the day, you aren't missing anything because they will still be there on your day!

My BMs were spread throughout. None of them besides my MoH (who was my sister) really helped with any wedding related tasks (which I was cool with). I was not a "check-list" type bride though, and dont feel its a BM duties to help with every little wedding detail or attend a million dress fittings. My MoH and some of my friends did plan a destination bachelorette for me though, and a few of them attended. I picked a dress out and had them order at their local shop. Just be understanding with the fact they wont be as involved with every little wedding task (which is not a big deal).

All three of mine don't live anywhere near me, and were not able to go dress shopping or anything, and I won't be having any showers. I picked my top friend from each of 3 areas of my life...high school, college, and grad school, and plan to stand them in that order. I'm definitely closer with my grad school friend right now because of similar careers, but I gave the MOH spot to my oldest high school friend.

I've been extremely busy myself with professional duties. I just ordered them all swatches so that we could lock down a dress color that we all like, and they can start ordering. I think communication is key. None of mine know each other, so all communication is going through me. I set up a group Facebook chat so they were aware of each other (they all live in different corners of the US themselves). I have not involved them in really any planning. I have shown them things (dress, menu, invitations) after I already picked them out just so they could be first to know, but I do not expect them to actually plan anything except for getting a dress.

It's working out so far!! I guess I'll update after the big day

I think you should take a little longer to think about who your bridesmaids should be. You seem unsure about the future of your friendships, so I would take sometime to reach out to them more and get an overall vibe of whether or not the friendship will last.

I personally took a few months to do this before I asked anyone and it worked out great. Honestly, you kind of look at your friendships differently when you're considering asking someone to be in your bridal party. So when I took some time to think about it, I realized what friendships truly were strong and which have dwindled away. To relate to your situation, one of my best friends had moved 5 hours away and we really weren't keeping in touch as much, so when I was considering asking her to be a bridesmaid, I started texting her more, and she ended up coming to visit when my fiance and I got our new apartment. I realized she hasn't changed one bit and is still a really amazing friend.

As far as pre-wedding activities, my bridesmaid that lives 5 hours away drove here for bridemaid dress shopping but can't make it to the shower. And a bridesmaid that lives 7 hours away couldn't make it to dress shopping but will come for the shower. And my bachlorette party will be in the middle of where we all live so that we each drive the same distance. The other bridesmaids live in the same state as me.