Should All of My Bridesmaids Wear the Same Color?
Many brides wonder about bridesmaid dress colors at some point during their wedding planning journey. Should bridesmaids wear the same color? Can bridesmaids wear different colors? As you’ve probably discovered about a lot of your bridal options, it’s truly up to you how you style your bridal party! If you want matching bridesmaid dress colors, then that’s what you choose. If you’d prefer mixing bridesmaid dress colors, then go for it! Either option works, and both can still be true to your wedding vision. Read on to explore all of the bridesmaid dress color options, or select a topic below to jump right to the type you’d like to consider most.
How to Match Bridesmaid Dress Colors
How to Mix Bridesmaid Dress Colors
Tips for Pulling Off the Mismatched Bridesmaid Dress Trend
Let’s get started on how to put together the perfect bridal party look.
How to Match Bridesmaid Dress Colors
Choosing the same dress in the same color for all of your bridesmaids is a traditional approach that allows you to get a fully cohesive look. This is also the easiest way to stick to your wedding palette, since you’re choosing one color for your bridal party to wear. That said, you can still do your best to select one of your wedding colors that will best flatter your bridal party. Here are a few flattering bridesmaid dress colors to consider if you want to stick with one color for your bridal party:
- Pink Bridesmaid Dresses: From muted to vibrant hues, pink bridesmaid dresses tend to be extremely popular due to their versatility and ability to complement a variety of skin tones. With popular shades like pale pink, dusty rose, and marvelous mauve available, get your girls in on the fun of choosing just the right pink hue to truly make your bridal party pop.
- Purple Bridesmaid Dresses: Especially true of the eggplant hue, purple is a regal and elegant hue that is universally flattering. Even if dark shades of purple like eggplant or plum are not for your wedding, there are bright hues like lilac and soft hues like dusty lavender to consider.
- Teal Bridesmaid Dresses: A perfect balance between blue and green, teal bridesmaid dresses are incredibly flattering and can easily mix with shades of pink or neutral hues for accessories, makeup, and floral arrangements to make the most of each bridesmaid’s skin, hair, and eye color.
- Red Bridesmaid Dresses: True red looks great on bridesmaids, no matter their skin tone or hair color. Other bridal favorites when it comes to red bridesmaid dresses are burgundy/wine, ruby red, and maroon.
The four colors above are special because they are either an opposite color of common skin tones on the color wheel (making them complementary) or they exist in a neutral space on the color wheel. That means they’re sure to look great on most, if not all, of your girls, no matter their skin, hair, or eye color. Of course, the best way to make sure your bridesmaids have the most flattering looks so they can focus on celebrating you (not worrying about their dresses) is to make sure they each have colors that suit them best. Read on to discover a few ways you could arrange that within your wedding palette.
How to Mix Bridesmaid Dress Colors
If you’ve ever asked yourself if bridesmaids can wear different colors, the answer is a resounding, YES! However, it’s probably best if you don’t just give your girls free reign in the color department. It is, afterall, YOUR wedding day, so you’ll want to give your bridal party a starting point so they’ll all still blend right into your wedding theme. Here are a few ways you can approach mixing bridesmaid dress colors:
- Have Your Maid of Honor Stand Out: Did you know that the maid of honor doesn’t have to match the rest of bridesmaids? In this case, all of your bridesmaids wear a matching bridesmaid dress color except for your maid of honor. She’s special! You can show her just how special by allowing her to choose her own bridesmaid dress color. Give her a few color options that will still coordinate with the other bridesmaid dresses. This might mean a complementary color, a brighter or darker version of the hue chosen for the other bridesmaids, or a gorgeous print that features the color that the rest of the bridal party will be wearing.
- Choose Two Shades of One Color: Can’t you just picture it? All of your girls lined up for photos, alternating between a light and dark shade of the same color…picture perfect! You select the two shades of a color that best suits your wedding palette, then allow your bridesmaids to figure out which of the two shades best suit them.
- Go Light to Dark in One Color: This ombre or color gradient effect is so eye-catching, both in photos and during the walk down the aisle! While there’s lots more detail on this visual masterpiece in the section below about mismatched bridesmaid dresses, the simplest version of it is choosing one color and allowing your bridesmaids to choose any light or dark version of that color, based on their personal preferences.
For even more ways to explore mixing bridesmaid dress colors, read on! The mismatched bridesmaid dress trend involves a blend of styles and colors to create unique bridal looks that are also personalized to the special women who will be standing by your side on your wedding day.
Tips for Pulling Off the Mismatched Bridesmaid Dress Trend
Mismatched bridesmaid dresses are all about personalizing a look for each of your girls while creating an overall unified look across your wedding party. The best way to go about doing this is to only vary one or two elements across your bridal party. Here are a few ways to successfully pull off the mismatched bridesmaid dress trend:
- Bridesmaid Dresses in Different Styles, Same Color: Probably the easiest way to implement mismatched bridesmaid dresses, this method keeps all of your girls within your chosen color scheme but allows them to choose styles that look and feel the best on each of them. Not every bridesmaid will appreciate strapless styles (we see you, our busty bridesmaids!) or curve-hugging mermaid styles that limit walking, bathroom breaks, and dance moves. You can give your bridesmaids the chance to choose any style they prefer, or keep the overall look similar by only changing one part of the style for each bridesmaid. This might mean giving your girls a choice of silhouette (a-line, sheath, mermaid, etc.) while keeping necklines, straps, and sleeves the same or changing up the necklines (strapless, one-shoulder, off-the-shoulder, etc.) while keeping the same silhouette.
- Bridesmaid Dresses in Same Style, Different Colors: Simply pick a dress style that looks great on everyone in your bridal party, then give your girls a color scheme to work within so they can choose what looks best with their skin tones and hair colors. (To keep your girls happy, we recommend choosing a flattering silhouette that works well with many body types, such as an a-line bridesmaid dress from Avery Austin.) This method works best if you limit the bridal party to two colors and maybe allow up to two or three shades within those colors, at most. This will help keep your bridesmaid dress colors coordinated and complementary. Exceptions to this rule (because of course there are always exceptions!) include the use of prints or creating a rainbow effect. You could choose a print and have some bridesmaids wear it while others wear solid colors from the print. If you have each bridesmaid wear one color from the rainbow, imagine how fun the photo opportunities will be later (and what a vibrant color arrangement to work with for your venue)!
- Bridesmaid Dresses in Different Styles, Different Colors: This is by far the most challenging mismatched bridesmaid dress effect to pull off because without enough similarities to pull together a cohesive look, your bridal party will be an uncoordinated, jarring vision to behold. That said, the best way to pull off this method is to make sure your colors, while different, still work together beautifully. Here are a few ways to go about mixing bridesmaid dress colors in a way that keeps the look cohesive across different gown styles:
- Ombre Hues: Have you ever seen an ombre dress? Usually there’s a dark color that slowly transitions to a lighter version of itself or to another complementary color. This range creates a beautiful color gradient, so just imagine creating this stunning visual effect across your bridesmaids. You could choose one color and have your bridesmaids each pick a light or dark hue within it, or you could choose two complementary colors and have your bridesmaids choose gowns in the hues that show a transition between those two colors (from pink to blue, for example, some of your girls might end up in colors that are very close to fuchsia or violet to stand for the middle transition of those hues). Be sure to get plenty of color swatches and line them up carefully together so you can get a feel for the effect in person and see if it creates the ombre look you desire.
- Seasonal Palettes: The four seasons offer ample inspiration for rich hues that blend together harmoniously. From earthy browns and greens of autumn to the soft pastels of spring, each season’s colors offer a range of hues to consider. Simply select two to four colors within your chosen season and allow your bridesmaids to pick their favorites from those options.
- Two Complementary Colors: Remember learning about the color wheel growing up? The knowledge of those primary, secondary, and tertiary colors and how they all work together can really come in handy when it comes to choosing your wedding colors. While you might not remember all the details, the basic idea behind complementary colors is that they create a vivid visual contrast when put together, kind of an “opposites attract” vibe. They are colors that are across from each other on the color wheel. If you’re looking at a classic color wheel right now and thinking there’s no way you’re doing bright purple and yellow, please know that there are many versions of the color wheel that are more suited to wedding hues than the classic primary and secondary colors. Even just softening up the hues you’re looking at to create a pastel lilac and pale yellow feels bridal in a way you might not have considered before. So, explore the possibilities of the color wheel and find just the right shades of complementary colors for you, then choose two for your bridesmaids.
Matching, mixing, mismatching…No matter which direction you choose for your bridal party, the tips above will ensure that your ladies look lovely on your wedding day! Ready to get started on curating the perfect bridal party look? Find the right style for each of your girls with Avery Austin’s bridesmaid dresses. Want a little help coordinating colors and styles? Don’t hesitate to reach out to one of our bridal specialists! They can help you arrange for fabric swatches or build Try at Home boxes for a laidback salon experience with the girls right in your home.