I’ve seen a lot of brides go different ways on this one. In a wedding I was in last year, the bride picked one specific brand of dresses, and one specific color, and told us we could get any tea length dress from that brand in that color. That worked well, because we all got to have some flexibility in the dress we chose.

I’m asking my bridesmaids to get a black dress for my wedding, since black is one of my wedding colors, and I know most people are more likely to wear a black dress again. Our other colors (red and silver) will be reflected in the bouquet).

However, it’s all about personal preference! Your bridesmaids have already agreed to be in your wedding, so they already love you enough to want to make your day special. It’s certainly very important to be considerate of your bridesmaids (especially in this economic climate) but I’m sure they also want your wedding to be beautiful, and want you to choose dresses that fit in well with your vision for your day!

Good luck on your decisions!!