Bridesmaid's Dresses for the Budget Minded Women

There are few things more exciting for a woman than getting married. Whether you are a traditionalist or are quite progressive, you've likely been looking forward to this day since you were a little girl. Indeed, even the most tomboy of girls thinks about what it will be like when she gets married.

Although your fiancé and you may be in a financial position that allows you to throw a fairly lavish wedding, given that your bridesmaids are likely to be single women, they may not be. The only challenge this presents is that tradition dictates that they pay for their own dresses. This often has brides considering minimising the importance of their dresses.

There are some simple ways to ensure that the ladies who have chosen to stand up for you look almost as spectacular as you do and that they needn't have taken out a loan to achieve this.

Scour the Internet

Once each of you has settled on a style of dress that they perhaps tried on but couldn't afford in your local boutique, you could do a massive search on the Internet. You may find the exact dress for cheaper, or a "reasonable facsimile thereof". Provided that each of you doesn't have your heart set on the exact dress that you fell in love with and are willing to accept a slightly different version in order to save a bundle, the Internet can help.

eBay

One way to save a lot of money and possibly get the precise dresses that your bridesmaids want is by engaging eBay. Sellers may have a series of the same dress or several dresses that look nearly identical for much cheaper than the ones you found. If your bridesmaids are comfortable with this and know the designer well, and have purchased his or her designs in the past, they should be comfortable with the sizing. Indeed, only consider doing this if the seller is willing to offer a return policy.

Making Dresses

There was a time when we all made our own outfits, be they every day, or more formal attire for church and special occasions. If one of your bridesmaids is handy with a sewing machine or perhaps your aunt or another relative is, making the dresses is a great way to solve several problems.

Not only will your bridesmaids save a lot of money, but each can also get the pattern that best suits her body shape. For example, your girls love a particular Vera Wang dress. However one of your girls is tall and rather lanky, another is a little plump, a third is statuesque and a fourth is rather short. A creative seamstress can take the patterns your girls have purchased and for one dress, take in a little of the torso, bringing up the waistline, bring up the hem on the length, etc. For the tall and lanky one she can lengthen the torso and the overall length. For the plump girl, if the dress originally called for sleeveless, for her dress, sleeves can be added to disguise areas of her arms she's not entirely confident about. And lastly for the statuesque young lady, it's rather likely than nearly any style will suit her.

Using the Dress Again

One selling point you can use with your bridesmaids is that they can reuse the dress after your fiancé and you have tied the knot. Explain to them that while you are asking them to pay for their dresses, they can use the dress again for any number of events. Indeed, if you wish to be especially kind to your bridesmaids, down the road, if they're to attend another wedding or two, offer to let them wear the dresses for the other weddings, too. Although it seems highly unusual, it's a custom that is gaining momentum with the economy continuing to flounder the way it has been the last couple of years. Of course, this requires that the two brides discuss ahead of time the colours and themes being expressed in the individual weddings and can only work if they are similar.

There are many ways to have the bridesmaids you want in your wedding and allow them to adhere to a budget. It's quite a challenge these days when the economy is as uncertain as it is, but with a lot of imagination, patience and even cooperation with another bride, anything is possible.