The Bridesmaid Dress - What You Must Know

by Mark Douglas August 01, 2018

It's time to plan the most important day of your life, your wedding day. For that, you need the support of friends and family. As the bride, your special day means having bridesmaids at your side.

Who is a bridesmaid?

Christan C. George Photography

Bridesmaids are members of the bride's party leading up to and at the wedding. The group usually consists of young, unmarried women, who attend the bride. The groups usually vary in size depending upon the ceremony or how large the bride's circle of family and friends extend. 

The special ladies selected to be your source of encouragement need special attire to distinguish them from the rest of the wedding guests. Enter the bridesmaid dress. 

What are bridesmaids dresses?

The Vineyard at Howe Farms

Bridesmaids dresses are color coordinated, sometimes look similar to the bride's gown, and are always about style and current trends. 

While there are references to bridesmaids in The Bible, when Jacob married his wives Leah and Rachel, and they arrived with maids in tow, the general consensus is that the tradition of bridesmaids originated in Ancient Rome. During that time, not only did bridesmaids serve numerous purposes for the bride, but a wedding would need ten witnesses to be considered legally binding. 

Morilee Bridesmaids Dress #146

Dresses, much like tradition, have evolved over time. Up through the late 1800s, bridesmaids were cloaked in identical materials but were far less glamorous than the bride. In fact, bridesmaid dresses had a stereotype surrounding them for being ugly. 

It's sort of an unwritten rule that no one is to upstage the bride, but it seems in recent days that the unflattering bridesmaid dress is a thing of the past. They're also much less uniform than they used to be as well. 

The modern bride has a modern bridal party, and the dresses play a key part. Some brides choose for their girls to wear the same color, but perhaps select a variety of styles. However, the most recent trend among wedding parties is to have bridesmaids dressed in a completely mismatched fashion.

Dress styles have come a long way and continue to change, but thankfully, the significance has not. Every bride still needs her best girls surrounding her on her big day. In doing so, they all need wonderful dresses for the occasion. The good news is that they can pull inspiration from both the past and present and have plenty of options available in order to sparkle when they take their place at the bride's side! 

Where can I get the best priced Bridesmaids Dresses?

With great praise Kaleigh bought her Morilee bridesmaids dresses (#146) right here at All Dressed Up. What are YOU waiting for? There's no appointment necessary for Bridesmaids Dresses so come on in. We have a beautiful selection of bridesmaids dresses is just what you're looking for. You can e-commerce shop right now from this very website, alldressedup.me;) And stop by our store today to meet Cheron, make a bridal appointment, and peruse our in-house selections.

Above I've added in a few Christan C. George photos from the fabulous wedding of Mr and Mrs Andrew and Kaleigh Branham's Wedding on October 14, 2017 at Howe Farms. Kaleigh sat down for an in-depth interview with me. I introduced this couple with a vid about their love, #14 Finding My Soulmate, and a corresponding ADU blog about relationship virtues (Nurturing Your Soulmate, Living and Loving Through Virtues). Then, in our last video episode, #15 My Wedding Day Pt 1, we talked about the actual day-of excitement, with a corresponding ADU blog about Wedding Dresses (Wedding Dresses, a Brief History Lesson). Don't miss those preceding vids! Today I finish up with an exciting discussion about their fabuous PROFESSIONAL vendors! Timpanis, Please! ;)

This week's corresponding Video Bonus just went LIVE!: #16 My Wedding Day, The Kaleigh & Andrew Story, Pt 2 | 'Puttin On The Ritz w/ DJ Mark!'  

Video Dialogue:

Mark: Alright, let's get into all your vendors. You hired All Dressed Up owner and Certified Wedding Planner, Cheron J. Douglas, my soulmate. Tell us about your experience with Cheron leading up to the day and on the day-of. Kaleigh: I actually met Cheron at a convention that they were having downtown. And she had her little booth setup and after talking to 50 billion people I really didn't want to talk to anybody else. But Andrew said let's just go see what she has to say. So I met her and came in to try a dress on. And from there a relationship sparked and I couldn't get enough of her. So, came back and she helped me pick out my dress and then my mom and I and now husband talked about how important it would be to have a coordinator. And we were like 'well Cheron did mention that and I think she would just be so perfect. She's helped us with so much so far.' So we finally came in, talked to her and she was more than happy to do it and from then on, I did book her about a year and a half in advance, so I had plenty of time to get to know Cheron. But every detail, she had thoroughly thought out. I went to her with everything. I would have a little panic attack. Call Cheron. It would get taken care of. Day-of she did exactly what she told me she would. She was professional, she got the job done, she made me feel so good about myself. And the night went so smooth. And she was absolutely wonderful. Mark: Okay, let's run through your vendors. Let's start with your photographer, Christan George. Kaleigh: She was absolutely amazing. She has an eye for detail. She did our engagement pictures and of course our Wedding Day pictures and I love every single one of them and she did an absolutely fantastic job. Mark: Awesome! Your venue, The Vineyard at Howe Farms. Kaleigh: Everything that I needed in a venue was there. The Howe's are wonderful people. They accommodated me so well. It's a beautiful beautiful space. And it was absolutely perfect. Mark: Alright! Your caterer, Double Portion. Kaleigh: Grandmaw's cookin. It was delicious and I wish I had some right now. Mark: Alright! And your DJ, DJ Keenan. Kaleigh: He brought the party. He was awesome. He was everything I needed him to be. He provided energy and just kept the night going. And I think he's great, he's awesome. Mark: They kinda make or break don't they? Kaleigh: They do and he definitely made my night it was great. Mark: Awesome! Your cake maker, The Yellow Cake Company. Kaleigh: She was fantastic. I actually only got like one bite of my cake and I wish I had more so. Oh my gosh, delicious delicious cake. It was so good. Mark: Did you save a piece of cake for the year anniversary? Kaleigh: I saved it and I wish I could eat it right now but October's coming up. Mark: And now your hair and makeup specialist, Shelby Weller of Blushed Salon. Kaleigh: She made me feel absolutely gorgeous. She took her time and detail was there. She fixed anything that we needed her to fix and I felt like a princess. And she did a fantastic job. Mark: And your florist, Mayflowers! Kaleigh: Christy and her team accented my outdoor space so well. The flowers were gorgeous and it really just helped gather all the colors that the bridal party was wearing and just really added a pop of color to everything. And they were fresh flowers and absolutely gorgeous. Mark: And your videographer, Axel Marshall. Kaleigh: I cannot say enough about Axel. He got to see / brought footage I did not see of my wedding and just gave me behind the scenes of what was going on that I didn't see and he was so great. He's just like a friend you never knew you needed. And he was fantastic. And just made everything go so smoothly and captured some really great moments. And he, he was wonderful, absolutely wonderful. Mark: Okay, overall Kaleigh, give us your feeback on exactly how your vendors said it would go down compared to how it actually went down. Kaleigh: All my vendors promised me professional and fantastic work and that's exactly what they gave me. Down to every little detail. They all did their job and worked so well together that it just made my night, my day, and of course, Andrew's day. And our wedding in general, absolutely fantastic. Mark: It sounds like the perfect wedding; one thing... Is there anything at all, anything, that you would do different? Kaleigh: Not to stress! I stressed out so much! Oh my goodness, seriously. And, yeah, everything took care of itself like I knew it would but, Don't Stress. Mark: Kaleigh, thank you for sharing My Wedding Day, The Kaleigh and Andrew Story! Kaleigh: ADU Ladies, we're interested in your Wedding Day story! Would you like to be featured in one of our blogs or episodes? Share your event directly from the website, alldressedup.me. It's easy to find in the footer section, and Mark will place a link to it in the corresponding blog. Keep up with All Dressed Up! It's easy to Subscribe, Like, Comment, and Share. And make sure you get those notifications! Mark: What She Said!

Don't miss this fantastic Puttin' On The Ritz series starting with #14 Finding My Soulmate, and then #15 My Wedding Day Pt 1.

Photography by Christan C. George Photography

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All Dressed Up is a family-owned Chattanooga, Tennessee business offering wedding and prom gowns, bridesmaids, mother and flower girl dresses and tuxedo rentals, to name a few. We have the lowest pricing (MSRP) and a wide selection of dresses for all personalities and styles.

Visit All Dressed Up today to set your VIP Bridal Appointment, your VIP In-Home Tuxedo Fitting, and shop for your favorite Bridal Gowns.

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Also in Cheron's Bridal Blog | Wedding Day