The Bridal Party

Having been in several weddings in addition to my own, I know that the bride's/family is not the only one strained for money.

Many brides want their attendants looking perfect - meaning their bridesmaids have to spend upwards of about $150 or so on a dress, about $50 on an up-do, and shoes, jewelry, not to mention the wedding gift.

Fortunately, for the weddings I was in, the brides did a wonderful job on cutting a lot of the costs for the attendants.  Personally, at my wedding, I tried to do the same - I felt bad asking my sisters and closest friends to spend hundreds on my wedding.  So here are a few tricks-of-the-trade that I used, and some I saw others use, to help your attendants look great without spending a fortune.

Bridesmaids

-For my girls' dresses - I chose a color (clover green), and a length (knee or tea) - and told them to choose whichever David's Bridal dress they wanted.  The color I chose gave them a lot of options - DB has A LOT of clover green dresses.  And remember - it's really important that your girls feel comfortable in what they're wearing - which is why I tend to favor a variety of dress styles.  My matron of honor and I also discovered that if you search for "David's Bridal bridesmaid dresses" on eBay - many options turned up - several in clover green.  One of my attendants even chose this option - it was a full length dress and she had her mother shorten it.  And she looked fab :O)

-At Kate's wedding - one of the bridesmaids made the dresses herself - we just paid her for the fabric.

-Amazon has a lot of options for bridesmaids dresses also - at Katie's wedding - she bought the dresses off Amazon and we paid her back - they were adorable and only $60!

-Shoes - Since I had a summer wedding I took this option - David's Bridal has come out with adorable, dressy flip-flops in their signature colors.  I asked my bridesmaids for their shoe sizes, and bought them the flip flops as their gift from me :O)

-Nails - go to a store (or stores) and search for a nail color that perfectly matches the dresses (it is possible - we did it for Katie's wedding and mine) - buy a couple bottles and have a mini-salon the night before the wedding - we managed to do this at Katie's after we went out for drinks, and at mine after my bachelorette party at home.

-Jewelry - if you want your bridesmaids to have matching necklaces/jewelry - this makes the perfect bridesmaid favors!  Katie got us all pearl necklaces.  Kate got us matching shawls (it was a late-September, outdoor wedding).

Hair - if you know someone who does hair (again - look at your resources) - ask her if she'd be willing to do the bridesmaids' hair for a slightly discounted price.  Katie did this for her wedding - we only had to pay $20 each for an up-do.  You could also give your girls the option of either going to the salon with you or doing their own hair.

Groomsmen

-Apart from having the groomsmen wear a full tux I've been to weddings that used one of these options - and the guys still looked great - 

-Black pants, white dress shirt, and matching ties.

-Black pants, white tux shirt, and full back vest (no jacket)

Hopefully this helps some brides who are in the same dilemma I was in (feeling bad asking the bridesmaids to spend money) - and hopefully you see that your girls don't have to fork out a bunch of money to look fabulous at your wedding!

Happy Wedding Planning!