Having watched the movie 27 Dresses about 27 times over the course of my life, two important life lessons have been drilled into me: people will always love a drunken singalong to “Benny and the Jets,” and don’t put your bridesmaids in a dress they hate. The bridesmaid dress is an oft-discussed topic that can provoke strong opinions. Should everyone match? Do you force everyone to shell out a ton of money for a garment they likely won’t wear again? Are they truly even necessary?
When my wife and I began discussing our bridal parties, we quickly arrived at the question: What will they wear to our November wedding? Between the two of us, we had 14 bridesmaids and one bridesman to outfit—a whopping number that could fill out an NBA roster. Deciding on my brother Garrett’s look was easy. The wedding was black tie, and he would just wear the tuxedo he already owned. The ladies were another story.
From the beginning, we agreed that placing everyone in matching outfits was out of the question. With the range of heights from 5’3” to 5’11”, different body shapes, pregnancies, and the varying personal styles in our circle, we knew that finding a one-size-fits-all solution would take a level of magic that could inspire another Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants series. We also just love the look of a beautifully curated mix of styles on a bridal party. We wanted the outfits to feel unique to each individual, yet cohesive as a group. While the two of us quickly settled on the idea that having them all choose styles in shades of green to fit within our palette, we also discussed how much creative control to relinquish while ensuring the dresses would fit the overall vision for our wedding. If we sent everyone off to find their own looks, there was a chance that a few pieces could look off, but it would be a hassle to approve each one before they were purchased.
During a press dinner with Hafsa Mulla, the Senior PR and Communications Manager at Anthropologie Group, I was happily reminded of what an amazing curation of bridesmaid-worthy looks the retailer carries. Not only does Anthropologie Weddings make their own line of high-quality dresses for wedding parties, but they also sell pieces from a number of smaller designers that can bring some variety in the mix. After we discussed the vision for my own wedding, she invited me to Philadelphia to visit their offices and preview all the green formal dresses in their upcoming fall collection to see if I could find options for our bridal party.
A few months later, I hopped on a quick Acela train ride to Philly to the massive URBN headquarters. After a campus tour, Hafsa led me to a room that was a sea of green. Dresses of every silhouette, style, and hue filled the space, ready for me to shop. I felt fabric, considered fit and formality, and saw how different selections would look together as a group. I also made sure to think about what would work for different body types with a mix of body-skimming, A-line, and flowing styles. While I absolutely love shopping online, being able to really see these pieces all together was so helpful to curate everything with cohesion.
Ultimately, I selected 19 different dresses as options for our bridal party with pieces from their BHLDN line, L’Idée, De La Vali, V. Chapman, and more, giving our bridesmaids plenty of choices that could fit their bodies and style. Some pieces felt more classic, others felt sexy, and others were a little more daring. No matter what they chose, though, they would look good as a group.
Next came the logistics. The Anthropologie Weddings team sent me a deck that I could easily pass around to our party to give them options to choose from. They even allowed us to special order exact colors and lengths to fit within our palette and dress code. We gave our maids of honor first choice on their selections, then gave the rest of the group a go at finding dresses they loved. As with any virtual shopping experience, not every first pick fitted just right. A few bridesmaids had to rotate through a few options to find a look that worked with their proportions. A very exciting pregnancy meant swapping for a dress with more stretch. There was even a case of a stolen package that led to an emergency rush order of a new style. Ultimately, however, every bridesmaid ended up with a dress they loved and said they would absolutely wear again.
I admit that mix-matching your bridesmaids’ dresses does require effort to get it just right. But when it works, you not only can create a very stylish army of friends by your side, but your closest circle will actually be happy with what they wear as they dance into the night.
