5 HOT Spring and Summer Bridesmaid Trends

Individuality seems to be the word for bridesmaids this spring and summer. Brides are letting their bridesmaids have more options for their choice of bridesmaid dresses. And when the bridesmaids are happy, the bride is happy!

Trend # 1: Wear again dresses. Yeah, we've all heard you'll wear them again, but brides are choosing short dresses in wear again fabrics. Alfred Angelo has a line of wear again eco friendly maids dresses in silks and cottons and voiles. (Hence, the eco friendly fabrics). They've photographed them with day to day accessories for the wear again part. Actually, the voile print dresses look like cute sundresses.

Trend # 2: The LBD...little black dress. Everyone has one, its the ultimate wear again dress. Bride accessorizes them with matching shoes and jewelry. Maids save tons of cash by not having to buy another dress that sits in the closet.

Trend # 3: Bride picks the color of the maid dresses and the fabric...like satin or chiffon and the length of the dress...and the maid picks the dress that she loves, will wear again and makes her look fabulous. Bride maintains the ultimate veto, she should shop with any maid with questionable fashion taste and sense. ;)

Trend # 4: Bride lets bridesmaids choose their own jewelry from their own collection. Bride specifies the color of the metal or the pearl, maid wears what she has in her jewelry box. This adds a little panache and individuality to a ho hum maids dress, yet keeps some uniformity to the wedding party.

Trend # 5: Hot colors....coral paired with turquoise, orange with hot pink, lime green with brown! Outside of the box colors are a lot more fun than mauve and baby blue.

Ugly Fugly Bridesmaid Dresses, Pics of Bridesmaid Dresses from the 80's

Before you complain about the butt ugly bridesmaid dress you have to wear in your friends wedding, lets go back in time about two decades. Here's a blast from the 80's and early 90's. Be glad you don't have to wear these voluminous confections today! You say want to wear the bridesmaid dress again? You think these dresses ever saw the light of day again?

Notice how the bride always looks way more amazing than her maids...hmmm.

So the next time you go into a bridal shop and complain you can't find a dress with sleeves.......






Scarlett O'Hara would have felt right at home in these hoop skirted ball gowns. The back of the dresses had HUGE butt bows.








Mauve pink and white lace, how girly! Nothing like making your maids wear a flower girl dress.






For all of you who wish you could find dresses with sleeves, I rest my case.







Floral print AND sleeves!! The sleeves are bigger than their heads!
The bride would sometimes make the maids pad the insides of the
sleeves with tissue paper to make them stand out farther.
The bigger the sleeve, the smaller the hip appears. OMG.



Tiers and tiers of pink lace. Another fugly flowergirl, I mean bridesmaid dress.




Mauve taffeta, balloon skirts, big puffed sleeves and huge butt bows and
another huge poof hanging in the back...WTF? Don't you just love the strand of
pearls with the maids dress?







Big peach satin puffed sleeves with a peplum at the hips...and check out the bride's dress!
Do these dresses make my butt look big?




Black and white is always in style....right????

Wedding Trends 2009: Bridesmaid Dresses

Part three in my market report of 2009
wedding trends. This time we'll talk about
dresses for your maids.

Bridesmaid Dresses: Color, color, color
is the trend. Mixing and matching two bright
colors for maximum impact. More dresses can
be two toned. I actually liked the fuchsia apricot
color combos I saw, it gave a very tropical summery
Caribbean look to the dresses. Unusual? Yes,
but it worked! And most companies have increased
their color choices. In bridesmaid dresses, you
have so many amazing choices.

All shades of browns still reign, as well as cinnamon,
tangerines and spices and other colors that compliment
brown, including Tiffany blue and pink.

We saw shorter dresses and tea length , but full length
dresses still remain the most popular because of formal
weddings. They are still showing balloon skirts, even
though they've never caught on in my area. Also saw
some asymmetrical hemlines and high low waterfall hemlines.
(Shorter in the front, longer in the back.) So as far as length,
anything goes for 2009. Its all about personal preference.

As far as necklines, halters, strapless, spaghetti straps, the
same necklines you've been seeing with some different
bodice treatments. We are seeing the same bodice details
such as pleats and draping on the maids dresses as
we reported on the wedding dresses. Some lines
like Alexia are showing embellishments and bead work
on some of the dresses, other lines like Levkoff are showing
minimal embellishments.

Forever Yours has come out with a selection of bolero
jackets in different fabrics and sleeve lengths for the
maids who want sleeves or want to cover a tattoo.
Its about time these girls have a choice of something
other than one basic jacket! I think I counted like 12 variations.

Fabrics run from satin, taffeta, iridescent taffeta, chiffon,
crinkled taffeta and all the usual culprits. Nothing earth
shattering, just lots of fabric choices and lots of color
choices.

Here's a cool newsflash: Eden Bridals are coming out
with matching tuxedo vests, ties, and cummerbunds
in 4 different styles. They are available in satin
or taffeta and they match the Eden bridesmaid
dresses exactly. How cool is that? No more matching
swatches and just settling for a complimentary color.
If you are a picky bride who needs exact matches,
check out Eden maids.

Bridesmaids Dresses in 54 Colors!

Forever Yours Bridals, Expressions Bridesmaids , sent out their new color charts and their dresses are now available in 54 different colors! 54 DIFFERENT COLORS! I'm totally blown away by the color choices. Most manufacturers offer a fraction of colors, they offer all the colors in all their fabrics:, satin, charmeuse, chiffon and bobinette fabrics. They are also doing taffeta in 25 colors. If you are looking for that special color and you can't find it, check out Forever Yours Expressions Bridesmaids.

If you want to match a Tiffany blue, their aqua is the match. We've even matched the color chart to a Tiffany bag, its exact!

Expressions Bridesmaids come in a large range of sizes from size 0 to size 30 and they are sized generously. They also have nice sized seams for alterations. Most bridesmaid companies size their gowns smaller than normal sized dresses. These run true to size or larger than normal size.

And, here is the best part: every dress has a matching flower girl AND junior maid dress! Now you won't have to shop in a tri state area and spend weeks on the net looking for a dress for the grooms 12 year old sister. She'll look like everyone else! Woo Hoo! Junior maid dresses for that tween age are nearly impossible to find. Not only does FY do the junior maid, they are age appropriate. Not too old, not babyish. Just right. Junior maids want to be one of the girls and FY pulled it off with style.

All of their strapless dresses come with detachable spaghetti straps that hook on in adjustable loops inside the dress. All their dresses come with a matching handbag, a drawstring bag that matches the dress. Its the perfect place to stash your cell phone, lipstick, tissues and mints.

The prices are very affordable. Expect to spend somewhere around $150, give or take a few dollars. They do some nice Levkoff knockoffs. If you don't want to spend the money for a Levkoff, or Levkoff has the style but not the color, check out Forever Yours.

Top Wedding Trends for Bridesmaids in 2008

Top bridesmaid trends for 2008:

• Tea length dresses

• Wear again dresses, dresses that can be worn to a dressy party after the wedding.

• Flowing chiffon skirts
  

• Bubble skirts

• Citrus and Caribbean colors

• Expresso and chocolate browns accented with bronze or soft gold

• Neutral taupes, ivories and champagne accented with colored sashes.

• PINK! Any shade from blush to hot sizzling pink.

• Different dresses from the same manufacturer in the same color so the maids can choose the style they feel fits and flatters them. And happy maids make a happy bride!

• Gold or silver strappy shoes that can be worn again.
  

• Sweep trains on the back of long formal maids dresses.
  

• Strapless still rules, halters are gaining.

• Chiffon, charmeuse and taffeta fabrics are gaining on satin.

• Softer hairstyles

• Crystal jewelry

• Spa day with the bride instead of a wild bachelorette party
  

Show your bridesmaid your appreciation with a personalized gift from Things Remembered.

Bet you didn't know that strapless dresses always comes with spaghetti straps that can either be sewn on or hooked onto the dress!