Spin off: Bridesmaid dresses you'll never wear again.

My bridesmaid dress that I wore for a friend's wedding was horrific. It was black satin tea length, wide straps and empire waist. Very plain but... she added a hot pink LARGE bow on the back, to match hot pink shoes, and a hot pink bow in our hair. It was awful... I very much plan on letting my girls choose a dress they feel comfortable in, I will say I want them all the same color and length but other than that its their decision.

I feel like when you agree to be a BM, you're accepting the fact that you're buying a dress that you will never wear again. We ordered from Azazie, so I picked like 19 styles and told them to pick from that. I already know one girl threw hers away that night because somehow it got wine all over it. MOH really wants to wear hers again, but I have no idea what she would wear it for. It screams "BM dress" to me.

All of my BM dresses.

I lost a ton of weight after the weddings and wasn't able to wear the dresses again.

The only outfit that I ever wore again was the one that I picked myself when my friend had a private ceremony.

I have one black BM dress that has absolutely no shape to it. It is the most unflattering dress I have ever worn. Plus, it is a long dress, but not floor length, so it's just awkward. The bride picked it from Macy's, and I haven't been able to bring myself to look online to see what kinds of BM dresses Macy's now carries. This has also influenced my decision to let my BMs pick silhouettes that are actually flattering on them.

I almost got to wear a different BM dress a second time. I was asked to dress up like a princess and come to a friend's daughter's birthday party to read princess stories to them. This ball gown BM dress would have been perfect, except it no longer fit me. To me, the ball gown BM dress was a bit much. I didn't enjoy wearing it that much, and would have felt more comfortable wearing something a little simpler. It was a Texas wedding, in July, and the dress was a heavy satin with layers of itchy tulle underneath. The dress was picked by the MOH, and the rest of us weren't asked for our opinions. This is just another reason I have for wanting them all involved in picking the fabric and length of their dresses, and then turning them loose to pick their own style dress that they will be comfortable wearing. No idea if this will make it possible for them to wear the dresses again, but at least I'll know they like their dresses.

I have one that I will never wear again. One word - Bubble Skirt! haha! That, and it was ordered too big for me (when you exboyfriends new girl is taking your measurements...). I didn't want my girls to spend a lot! We got dresses this weekend from DB for $129 a piece!

I have only been in two weddings up to this point with the third I'll be in will be next month. At least this one I can rewear the dress.

The first was my cousin's wedding when I was about 11-12. The dress was this horrible lacey, scratchy thing that is best described as something off of Toddlers and Tiaras. It eventually went to my uncle's new wife's daughter for their wedding. Was so glad to be gone of it.

The second was my estranged brother's wedding where I was the MOH. I was 19, in college and broke. The dress was nice but because I only weighed about 90 pounds at the time it had to be heavily altered. It sat in my parents' closet for years before my mother donated it away.

The attached photos are the best I can find.

One of my mom's old BM dresses i got altered and wore to prom junior year (i was going with my ex bf and we had only been official 1 month before prom so I didn't have time to save for a new dress plus hair, etc). Another Junior BM dress i had I wore to a friend's prom the next year. I went to 5 prom's total between my junior & senior prom, my ex's proms, and my dateless friend's prom. So i used those dresses again. As an adult I've only every been a hostess and got to pick my own dress.

You can always donate your old dresses for girls in need of prom dresses.

Talked about this with the bridal party, and haven watched 27 dresses more times than I can count I knew my wedding would be different. So I am picking out the colors, giving them a swatch and letting them find the dress that they like.

I've been in a wedding like 6 times and only once rewore the dress- it was black and strapless. Not that the other dresses were that awful, it's just- BM dresses LOOK like BM dresses!

That was one of my main questions. Will you wear this again. I dont want them buying something they wont wear again. I think i asked five times!!!

I feel really guilty about the bridesmaid dresses my girls are wearing. There is no way they are ever going to wear them again. They basically have free reign on everything else (hair, makeup, shoes, jewelry) and they think its weird that I'm not telling them what they have to wear. I think its because I know they will never wear this expensive dress again is why I'm letting them pick out everything else.

Six years later and it still hurts.

The only time I was ever a BM was 7/4/09 in my aunt's wedding. The dress was nice, but I don't often wear long gowns so it ended up just going in the closet at my parents' house. Add to that the fact that I was at my highest adult weight at the time of that wedding, and then went on to lose approximately 75lbs (I am actually about 15 lbs heavier than I was in the after photo), and I'm for sure never wearing it again.

ETA that yes, it did play a role in my picking of dresses. I actually want one of the BM dresses for myself! This is the dress they're wearing: http://www.eshakti.com/m/ProductPage/CL0035569

@marion you win. Period.

@JerseyJen, that is the dress my mom got for her MOB dress, and in that exact color. We aren't having bridesmaids, but she is adding a black wrap for more coverage.

I'm having my ladies rent their dresses for $80. I have 5 dresses in my closet that I will probably never wear again. 3 of them have been there for over five years. I have spent 200 plus for each dress and I just didn't want to ask that of my ladies.

Hahaha @julie. That bride was a BM in my recent wedding and she appreciated picking whatever dress and shoes she wanted

My view is that if you want them to have a dress they'll wear again, have them pick it out. I've managed that in both my weddings by having only one female attendant, and letting her wear whatever she wanted. For those with larger parties, you can do much the same thing by giving them a color and a length, and letting them pick. There is simply no way to pick out one dress for a bunch of BMs that they will all want to wear again.

I was in a wedding this past fall and the bride wanted us in evening gowns not traditional bridesmaid dresses. Head to toe floor length sparkling tight fit gown... its an ok dress but way to dressy for me to where anywhere other than the Oscars or something. It also was not that flattering to begin with. $200 to buy and another $200 in alterations now just sitting in a garment bag in my closet never to be worn again.

For my own wedding I have a ton of different body types with my bridesmaids and the major theme for the entire day for everyone is comfort! I've heard great things about Henkka and I like the idea of different styles but with the same dress. Comfy and not that expensive! Thats definitely the way I'm going!