Paying for Your Bridesmaids Dresses?
You Might Not Need To!
It can be far too easy to stick to tradition when you’re planning your wedding day. Following those old-fashioned rules without really thinking about it can be an easy trap to fall into. However, high street fashion brand Oasis have found that this might not be necessary at all and could potentially be making planning your big day more expensive and stressful. They recently completed a survey of 1,563 brides and 673 bridesmaids, asking what their expectations are when it comes to bridesmaid dresses, shedding some light on how the wedding party really feel.
Footing the Bill
We all know that weddings can be expensive affairs. With everything from venue hire to table displays, paying for your bridesmaids’ dresses just adds to the list of expenses. And it seems this is a very common occurrence, with the research showing that 75% of the brides expect to pay the full amount to kit out their bridal party for the big day.
However, the research highlights that brides-to-be could be making the wrong assumption and might even make a saving on their wedding expenses by avoiding the bill for bridesmaid dresses. After all, just 59% of the bridesmaids asked thought that it was necessary for the bride to pay for their dress, meaning that almost half would happily foot the bill themselves.
Counting the Cost
So, there’s a chance that brides could make a big saving when it comes to bridesmaid dresses, but what is the average cost and how much could be saved? The research went on to investigate how much brides and their bridesmaids spend on dresses for the big day, with the most common cost being between £50 and £100 per dress according to 44% of respondents.
Further to this, the average cost of a bridesmaid dress came in at 114. Considering a bride has an average of three bridesmaids, this means they could stand to save up to £342 by asking their bridesmaids to purchase their own dress. An amount that could be very handy throughout the planning process.
Decisions, Decisions
There’s one factor that could make a big difference on how forthcoming a bridesmaid is when it comes to paying the bill picking the dress. With over one-third of brides saying they chose the exact style and colour of their bridesmaid dresses and 45% of bridesmaids saying they had their dresses chosen for them. Having no say whatsoever on what dress they get to wear is likely to make bridesmaids less inclined to step forward and cover the costs.
This is further supported by the fact that, although 97% of brides were confident in the dress they chose, only 80% of bridesmaids felt the same. In fact, one in five (19%) said they didn’t like the dress they wore, perhaps making them less likely to wear it again and want to pay for it.
Advice from the Experts
In Britain, we tend to be polite sometimes to a fault. So, it stands to reason that many brides are just too nice to even ask for a contribution to bridesmaid dresses. Diane Gottsman, national etiquette expert and author of Modern Etiquette for a Better Life, says Be clear on expectations as early on as the bridesmaid proposal. Set expectations by saying something along the lines of: If your time and budget allows, I would love for you to be part of my bridal party.
For those brides who insist on taking control, there could be lessons to learn. Diane Gottsman goes on to say, If you’re asking your maids to buy their own dresses, expect to be flexible on the choices they suggest. You can suggest a theme but bear in mind that asking your bridesmaids to pay means they’ll have a greater say in the style of dress they wear.
Planning a wedding is a tricky time and can sometimes feel overwhelming. Remembering to be open and honest with your bridesmaids and accepting that the weight doesn’t always lie on the bride when it comes to payment will help to make your wedding planning much easier leaving you free to enjoy the experience of picking your dresses.
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