THOUGHTS TUESDAY #8: Bridesmaids Shopping Tips

Today here to talk all about shopping for your bridesmaids dresses. And just going to pre-warn you... Adrienna + I both worked at David's Bridal for 2 years and have had a ton of experience selling bridesmaids dresses... and so lets just say we are extremely opinionated. Some may even say a little too much so. But that being said, now that I've warned you its time for us to be straight up and honest with ya'll about what we really think about bridesmaids dresses and how to pick out winning combinations. Before getting started though delving deep into the minds of yours truly, we have a huge announcement we are so excited to reveal... 
ALVINA VALENTA SPRING 2014 BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES OCTOBER ONLY. 
Yes, you heard us right. We are testing out Alvina Valenta Spring 2014 Bridesmaids Dresses the entire month of October. So if you are looking for your bridesmaids dresses for your wedding next year and are interested in shopping the collection call us at (912)200-4794, e-mail at ivoryandbeau@gmail.com or click here. ***$20 off each bridesmaids dress if 4 girls purchase.***

1. Enough with the days where you want your bridesmaids to look hideous... these ladies are supposed to be your best gals. They should look good too. Haven't you ever heard that saying about if you want to look good then surround yourself with girls that look good? Or maybe I just made it up... maybe that's just my single girl mantra, but whatever. Seriously... your girls are going to be in your pictures and wouldn't you rather your entire bridal party look seriously fabulous as opposed to ridiculous?! All eyes are going to be on you anyways... trust me on that. No matter how good your girls look you will still be the shining star. That being said, put your girls in something flattering for their shape. Every girl has a different body and looks good in different styles. Me? Not so good in strapless unless you want me to look like a linebacker... but I can rock a one shoulder dress so good. Adrienna? Form fitting booty hugger oh please no unless we are at a night club and you want her to wiggle it... but she can rock an a-line flowy chiffon dress like its her job... oh wait, she does do that everyday already. So let your girls pick a style that makes them look good too or your guests may just be cringing and snickering at how terrible they look, which in all honesty would take more attention away from you then if you had just let them look good in the first place.

2. Pick a fabric for your girls and a color and go from there. If you're having a hard time picking out your color palette do not fear! We wrote a Thoughts Tuesday last week all about our tips on picking out colors + themes - click here. Then once you have your color down pick a fabric you want all your girls in. Do not mix shiny with matte. Just don't. So if you want all girls in shiny then they all need to be in shiny: satins or silk fabrics. If you want them in matte: cotton, chiffon, organza, lace all works. Also, keep in mind how a certain fabric will look next to you and will fit within your wedding theme. Lace wedding dress in a rustic setting? Then stick with chiffons or other matte materials and definitely keep them as short dresses so not too formal. Huge ballgown in a ballroom? Satin full length gowns are definitely the way to go. [Outdoors --> short and matte; Indoors --> can go either way. Casual --> short and matte; Formal --> long and any fabric.] *Bonus tip: If you were a guest at a wedding at your venue what would you wear? Use that as a rule of thumb when picking out what your bridesmaids should wear.

3. Please all the same length. It looks choppy and disjointed in pictures when the lengths are some short and some long. Self centered Nicole speaking now... remember who is the center of attention... don't draw attention to another girl in your bridal party by putting them in long when everyone else is in short.

4. When your girls are picking out different shades of the color you gave them try to keep them pretty close together. If dark then they should all be in dark and if light then they should all be in light. That doesn't mean they have to match perfectly. But they should be close together unless you are going for an ombre look or a rainbow effect.

Now that you've learned all of our insight on how to pick out your bridesmaids dresses... here is a handy dandy tool that you can pin to your wedding planning board to reference in the future when you get to the bridesmaids.

{Photo Credits} [1st Look] Long Gray Bridesmaids, style 9429 and style 9431, by Alvina Valenta, available October at Ivory and Beau // Dress by Alvina Valenta [2nd Look] Long Champagne Bridesmaids Dresses, style 9424 and style 9434, by Alvina Valenta, available October at Ivory and Beau // Dress by Blush by Hayley Paige [3rd Look] Short Tulle Bridesmaid Dresses, style 9420 and style 9427, by Alvina Valenta, available October at Ivory and Beau // Dress is Marion by Sarah Seven, Photographed by Stephie Hicks [4th Look] Short Blush Bridesmaid Dresses, style 9246 and style 9425, by Alvina Valenta, available October at Ivory and Beau // Dress is Rosaline by Rebecca Schoneveld, Photographed by Izzy Hudgins