Are you paying for your bridesmaids dresses?

[Danielle77]

I (and my mom) are going to pay for my BM dresses. I am trying to find some reasonably priced dress but most are around $200. My mom is paying for them because she didn't want the girls to have to worry about paying for their trip and their dress.

[jawedding]

hmmm.. I'm thinking that maybe I should be contributing.. I am getting my girls gifts (worth close to $150 each).. if you were a BM.. would you rather have your dress paid for or recieve a gift? bah I don't know what to do!

[Danielle77]

I am not getting my BMs much in the way of gifts besides the dresses and the jewlery. The are getting sooped up OOT bags and a spa wrap.

[MissBlade]

If I were a bridesmaid I think I would rather have my dress paid for. Especially if you have a wedding party who has been in multiple weddings! In my experience, no matter how nice the dress is, I never end up wearing it again so I would really appreciate a bride who was willing to pay!

 

Quote:

Originally Posted by jawedding hmmm.. I'm thinking that maybe I should be contributing.. I am getting my girls gifts (worth close to $150 each).. if you were a BM.. would you rather have your dress paid for or recieve a gift? bah I don't know what to do!

[JamieJ]

I have 5 BMs and a BridesMale and I am paying for everything.

Dresses need no alterations and were $70

Shirt & shorts for my BridesMale = $60

[soontobeMrs.L]

I am paying for all my ladies dresses because it is costing them all to travel for our wedding, we wanted to make it easier on our wedding party.

[PaddleAddict]

I have one bridesmaid and I let her pick any dress she wanted because she has a troublesome figure when it comes to dresses. I didn't want to stress her out by making her wear something she was not comfortable in. Anyway, it ended up costing $300 and I offered to pay for it (quite strongly) but she flat-out refused to let me pay. I have a pretty wonderful bridesmaid (there is a reason she is my best friend).

[rodent]

Quote:

Originally Posted by BillysBride Something else I wanted to add; I think it is really unnecessarily rude NOT to take an individual bridesmaids financial circumstances into account when selecting a dress.

I agree. So often people compare prices of the norm for a BM dress & assume that means it's acceptable to ask friends to spend so much money on a dress they probably don't even like. The most expensive clothing I have ever bought (by far) have been bridesmaid dresses. I've spent more on a single BM dress than I did on my wedding dress. So often they forget to consider alterations in the cost. I won't even get started on matching shoes...

Quote:

Originally Posted by purrfected Ok, I think I may be the cheapest bride thus far. I recycled! My 2 bridesmaids are wearing the dresses that we wore in my maid of honor's wedding 2 yrs ago. They are simple champagne colored tea length dresses that are sexy. I loved that dress. I gave the dress that I wore to my maid of honor and my other BM was in that wedding too, so she is getting to wear her dress for the 2nd time!!! I bought their shoes and jewelry and am going to pay for our spa treatments the morning of the wedding. My friend is a makeup artist and her gift is to do all of our makeup! (One less expense, I told u guys I was a cheap bride!) I don't think there is anything wrong with paying for your BM's dresses if you have the extra money, but I don't think that most people expect it. I do think that it is a nice gesture in this economy to try to be somewhat conservative and not expect the wedding party to go into debt. Just my opinion....

My friend did the recycled dresses. I loved her for it. I understand that not everyone can afford to buy $100+ dresses for their entire bridal party. But, it doesn't have to stop people from still giving the bridal party a break. Get creative & look at other possibilities. We had fun rewearing the dresses. We recreated some pictures from the first wedding.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jawedding hmmm.. I'm thinking that maybe I should be contributing.. I am getting my girls gifts (worth close to $150 each).. if you were a BM.. would you rather have your dress paid for or recieve a gift? bah I don't know what to do!

I'd much rather get the dress than a big gift. My favorite BM gift ever was a photo album with funny pictures of us together. We laughed so hard flipping through the album together at the rehersal dinner.

[~Debra~]

I paid for my bridesmaids dresses since they spent so much money to come to Jamaica. It was a surprise and they were very appreciative. They paid for their own alterations though. The dresses were 120.00

 

I think if I had to choose between a gift and the dress I'd choose the dress.

[slapsappyhappy]

I still have not decided, I have not picked out a dress yet and I think the price will be the final factor.... I would love to buy the dresses but I am up to 8 bridesmaids with 2 more that want to be in the bridal party but I am up in the air about having 10... if it was a cheap dress and I had only a few bridesmaids I would definitely pay though....