Is this a new concern all of a sudden? I have noticed the question of who is responsible for the cost of the bridesmaids’ dresses arising lately. Wasn’t it always understood that when a bridesmaid accepts the invitation to participate in the bridal party she assumes the responsibility of paying for the dress? Not only the dress, but she should be pitching in toward the shower and bachelorette party too, right? That’s how we always did it.
I believe this is becoming a concern to today’s brides because they are now becoming accustomed to paying for more of the wedding as a whole than in past decades. In the past, the bride’s family was expected to pay for most of the wedding, and the groom’s family would pay for the rehearsal dinner and possibly chip in with the reception in order to expand the guest list. Today, the average age of a bride is around thirty whereas in the past, a first-time bride was in her early to mid- twenties. So today, a bride and her husband-to-be are often a little more financially independent in general, which often provides them the opportunity or at least the expectation to pay for more of the wedding themselves.
But, Ladies, I doubt most of you have so much money that you can’t even find enough to spend it on. The average cost of a wedding (without the added expense of six bridesmaids dresses) is already more than $30K. Even if you do your wedding with Music in Motion’s Pop-Up Party Package, you are still looking at $10K.
Let your girls buy their own dresses. Really, don’t feel obligated to purchase them yourself. It’s an honor to be a bridesmaid. Instead, if you are afraid you may discourage one or more of your friends from joining the clan due to the price of the dress, let them choose their own dresses and you pick the color. This way, they can work with their own budgets. If you have a bridal party who are mostly struggling to get by, choose black. Everyone either already owns or can borrow a black formal dress, and black can usually fit into anyone’s wedding color scheme.
The bigger moral of this story: don’t add to the drama of your special day by worrying about accommodating everyone involved. Would they all do the same for you?