Wedding party

1. I would recommend asking your wedding party 12-10 months prior to your wedding. If you ask too soon, you could end up regretting who you pick because relationships can change. I wouldn't select a dress until you speak with each girl. Normally the bridesmaids pay for their own dresses, but you should talk to each girl privately about their budget then select a dress within that budget. So if one says she can afford up to $150 and another says $200 you would want to pick a dress under $150. As for gifts, it is nice to get each girl something as a thank you for being in my wedding. It doesn't have to be anything expensive.


2. I ordered my invitations online. They came out very nice. There are a ton of different options for ordering invitations. We sent save the dates approximately 8 months prior to the wedding. Then we sent out invitations 6 weeks prior. Save the dates are great way to let me know ahead of time when your wedding will be.
3. As for the cake, the bakery you use should know how large of a cake you will be based on the number of people that will be attending your wedding.

Typically They Pay For Their Own Dresses-I Gave Mine Their Color Swatch And Am Letting Them Pick Their Own Dresses, As long As It Matches The Color I Want Them To Be Comfortable With What Theyre Wearing.

I Ordered Both My Save The Dates And Invites Online. STD's Were From Etsy And Invites Were From Stylishwedd. I Recommend Both! Our STD's Were Sent Out In March, Invites Are Going Out In July.

People Don't Really Pay Attention To The Cake In Aspect Of Size:Guests, It Is Made To Accommodate A Certain Amount Of People So Don't Worry

I ordered my magnet STDs from Minted and they came out beautiful! Simple and chic. They have so many design options that you can customize and offer free envelop addressing which is a really nice bonus. I sent them out as soon as we picked a date so my guests were aware of our plans. The magnet is nice because it goes directly on the fridge and people can’t forget about your date I’m going to use Minted for my invitations, too. I don’t see the point in spending a lot on invites since the majority of people will just throw them away.

If interested, I’ve included my referral link to Minted below so you can get $25 off your first order of $100 or more!

https://refer.minted.com/chelsea76

For bridesmaids dresses I picked a designer (Bill Levkoff) and a color and let the girls choose their own dress. Everyone has a different body type so I want my girls to feel good in the dress they’re going to purchase. This also allowed them to purchase at different stores who might be selling the dresses at different rates in order to try to accommodate all budgets.

How soon do i need to pick the wedding party? your date says sept 2020, so i think now would be a good time to pick your party

Having trouble finding bridesmaids dresses i like. Does the wedding party pay for their clothes or do i? usually they pay for theirs but you could definitely pay for it if you're feeling generous. sometimes i've seen people do that.

Do i need to get them all a gift and what is appropriate? i personally think it is a nice gesture to give them gifts for taking time out and being in your party. it doesn't even need to be anything big it can be as small as just a card.

Has anyone ordered invitations online? How do they come out? i didn't but i hear great things about zazzle or minted

How far in advance do i need to send them out so that people wont throw them away or forget? this really depends on how far in advance you need your final headcount by

Why does a wedding cake appear so small but accommodates so many people? Is this something people pay attention to? i think it's the way people cut wedding cake. from weddings i have been to the cake is always cut super tiny slices so that's how sometimes a seemingly small cake ends up being able to feed so many

I asked my bridesmaids 9 months in advance, but we only get engaged 10 months before our (originally planned) wedding date. I just asked each person in person. We kept it all mostly in the family, with a couple really close friends. My maid of honor lives in another state so I drove down to ask her. I think it's up to you what you want to pay for and what you don't/can't- just try to be mindful. From past experiences as a bridesmaid I knew I wanted a maximum cost of $100 because I planned on asking the bridesmaids to buy their dresses. I love Lulus.com, I have ordered numerous dresses for myself from there so I felt comfortable picking the bridesmaid dresses from there. I worked with my maid of honor to choose the dress and then let the bridesmaid know what we decided on.

Gift is totally up to you. As a bridesmaid I've been given earrings to wear on that day so that we all matched-sometimes there is no gift and I think that's ok too if you don't have it in the budget- in this case just show you care and write a thoughtful note maybe to each person on a nice card. I think the most important thing is showing thought. It is important to me that my bridesmaids feel special on this day because it is so special to me that they are people that have always supported me. For this reason I have chosen to pay for their hair and make up and I also purchased necklaces to go with the bridesmaid dresses ($50 each---I used Kendra Scott- they come in super cute individual boxes and you get a discount for bulk orders) as well as matching robes for while we are getting ready (very cheap on etsy). I also purchased customized cards for each person that I plan to write a note about how much each person means to me to give with the other thank you gifts (also found this on etsy).

I wouldn't stress about invitations-ordering online should be fine and I would look at what the website says as far as how long it takes. We did save the dates that we sent out- a family member was able to do this for us which was amazing. One of my friends did email digital invitations which were beautiful and so easy and she said it saved a ton of money. We may do this now with all of the uncertainty surrounding COVID- we are too nervous to print invitations so it will likely be a last minute thing.

The bakers know what they're doing- if you tell them the guest count you can trust them! The guests will never remember/ notice though. Guests care about good music, good alcohol, and good food. They won't notice the decor, the size or how fancy the cake is, or most of the things we stress about. These details are for us!

I asked my bridesmaids in January, we’re getting married in December.
Being a bridesmaid can be expensive and mine have to fly for our wedding too so i wanted to give them a heads up as early as possible.
I got them some gifts to ask them to be my bridesmaid, and will get them a little thank you as well. Gifts are not mandatory, especially if you have a tight budget. A thank you card is a great gift, or even a little framed picture of you and your bridesmaid I think is super sweet!
I think it is pretty normal nowadays to have bridesmaids pay for their own dresses. If you have the budget though, it is nice to pay for their dresses, but not necessary. Like someone said above, please be mindful of their budget. There are plenty of sites that have dresses under $100 like Birdy Grey, Azazie or Lulu’s.
I have used Minted for my save the dates and they were really amazing! I actually did postcards style because it’s a lot cheaper and super cute still. Plus they had them pre-printed for free so all I had to do was add a stamp and post them.Your invitations can be sent 6-8 weeks before the wedding date, but it does depend on when your venue needs your head count/food choices and if your wedding is a destination wedding then you should send a little earlier.
You tell your bakery how many people you have and they’ll make a cake accordingly. For cost savings purposes some people do a small cake for visual purpose/cutting (maybe just one tier) and then they have a sheet cake in the same flavor in the back in the kitchen as that can be cheaper.
Hope this helps!!