Are you paying for your bridesmaids dresses?

[jenniebey]

I tried to pay for their dresses but they freaked out and told me under no circumstances could I pay for them. I only have 2 BMs and since they have to pay so much for travel, I wanted to treat. The dresses ended up only costing about $150 apiece.

 

I haven't decided if I'm going to pay for hair/makeup instead of just add what I would have spent on the dresses on their gifts. Since I only have two I want to go all out. These are my best friends from college and I'm so lucky to have them as my BMs.

[budgetjamaicabride]

I offered to supplement the cost of the dress with a gift of $50 instead of some little gift at the wedding... but we ended up finding a dress at Penny's for $59 with a coupon for $10 off, so instead I am going to buy her jewelry for the occasion.

[frazali]

We didn't have a bridal party, so I can't answer that.

 

But, the last wedding I was in, which we all had to travel for, the bride did pay for the dresses, since we were traveling and had to pay for tickets and accommodations.

 

Being in a bridal party is of course very expensive, with all of the events, travel, presents, etc. Buying the attire is such a lovely gesture and really helps out the bridal party if you can swing it.

 

If not, I wouldn't worry about it since so many brides are unable to do that.

[doblauvelt]

I'm not paying for my BM dresses, they'll be footing the bill. As a gift, however, I'm giving them $250 each toward their booking/flight fees.. I think that's fair enough

[~Nicole~]

My girls picked out their dresses but I'm paying for them, plus accessories, etc in replacement of a gift. They are $100 each and I have 3 girls. My trip is expensive and I got such grief about it that I couldn't ask them to pay for their dresses too. I don't personally see anything wrong with them paying for them themselves but in the situation I was in I thought it was a nice gesture for me to do it.

[BillysBride]

I'm not paying for mine. I think it's a lovely gesture, but not expected and almost impossible for a lot of us on a budget. I do wish I could, with them traveling as they must to be a part of it. So the concession I've made is to choose an affordable designer and allow them to choose their own style, which offers dresses from $100-300+. I would NEVER ask them to pay more than around $150-that's just me because I think much more than that is just excessive. But nope, can't afford to pay for theirs.

[sn0048]

Since we are paying for everyone's trip I am not paying for their dresses but I am just giving them a general description of what to wear and they can find the best deal. I will be treating them to mani/pedis the day before the wedding though

[*Nadine*]

I have been in alot of weddings and every time had to pay for a $200+ dress that I will never wear again so I made a vow to myself when I got married I would save extra money to buy my girls dresses. I am having 8 bmaids and bought all their dresses (even though they all were enraged, but i dont care). I let them pick from three styles on jcrew so they ranged from $165 to $180 each. To be fair we then bought our 7 groomsman pants and a dress shirt from banana and they were $150 each.

We also spent $150 on each of them for their gifts. I would say we are defnitely not the norm but it was our personal preference to treat our nearest and dearest and make their trip down south that much affordable for them. It added a hefty amt to the budget but we just bought things in spurts so it didnt seem much all at once.

[Erika J]

I am paying for their dresses, but I only have 2. We have not 100% settled on dresses yet but ae thinking of some J crew dresses for $70 eac, (with a friends discount). I am also getting them gifts. I just feel like it was so expensive to get ot the wedding. That if they got themselves there I would take care of the dress. However, i am not paying for their hair, just make up.

[Amarillis]

I paid for my 2nd set of bridesmaids dresses. They originally paid for the blue/teal ones themselves.

 

When my best friend (a new mom) admitted that she wouldn't fit in the original dress. I felt badly that they would need 2 dresses, so I bought the second ones.

 

I really think anything goes on this subject, DW or not. But if you buy for one BM, you buy for them all...