 Hey everyone, I'm Bianca Renee, and you're watching Bianca Renee Today, and today we're going to talk all about Bridesmaids Dresses and Bridesmaids Dress Shopping. Now you're probably thinking, I'm shopping with my best friends, what's there to talk about? It's going to be so much fun. Not so much. If you don't do it right, it could get ugly. Now if you are a bride-to-be, a bridesmaids, or you're hoping to be a bride or a bridesmaids in one of these days, this video is for you. So I'm going to break it down to the five most important things you need to keep in mind when bridesmaids dress shopping. Number one, when is a good time to start bridesmaids dress shopping? Now this all depends on how long your engagement is. Usually a normal engagement is about a year or so. So if you want to do the halfway point, it's usually good to start about six months before your wedding. If you don't have six months, then obviously you're going to have to break it down and just do it as soon as you pretty much get engaged. And when it comes to shopping, there's two types of brides. There's a bride that says, hey, I like this dress. This is what you're going to wear. Shopping completed. Or there's a bride that says, hey, let's all go together and choose these dresses and find something that we like. So if you are the bride that just wants to pick it out because you know all your girls are super picky and they will never agree, then good for you. You know your brides and your shopping is really easy because it's just whatever you want. But if you want to make your bridesmaids a little bit more happy and feel a little bit more involved in this process, then you're going to have to schedule time where everybody or most of them can go. It's also very popular to go dress shopping on the weekends because that's usually when people don't have work. But that means every other bride and their bridesmaids also don't have work. So if it is possible to go dress shopping on a weekday, it will be a lot better. Number two, who gets to choose the bridesmaids dress? Now remember, it is the bride's day. It's her wedding. So you'll get to wear your favorite color when it's your time to get married. But ultimately the bride does have the final say. Now she could be that bride that says, here's your dress, put it on. Or she could be the bride that says, I like the color blue, pick a blue dress. And if you want to give them a freedom of the style and you want to say, hey, you can have a long dress, you can wear a short dress as long as it's blue. But then you have five bridesmaids and four of the girls pick the long dress and only one girl pick the short dress. Now she's going to look weird. So you're going to have to coordinate that unless she's like the maid of honor. But if she's not, everyone's going to think she is. Number three, what type of dress do you really want and works best for your wedding? Now this means you have to think about the fabric, the season, the weather, and the body types of your girls. So if you are having a beach wedding, you probably don't want your girls in long, tight velvet gowns because you're on the sand and it's going to be hot if it's in the daytime. Now if you're having a winter wedding outside, you probably don't want your girls in short little summer dresses. And it's best for the bride to figure this out before you go shopping. Now you also want to be very conscious about all the different body types of your bridesmaids. If you have a bridesmaid that's an A cup, it's going to look different on your bride that has double Ds. So when you do try these on, make sure it looks flattering for everyone so they can feel comfortable when they walk down the aisle. Number four, what do you bring when you're going dress shopping? It's very important for your girls to wear a strapless bra so they can try on all different shapes and sizes of straps of the dress. And if they also plan on wearing spanks during the wedding, tell them to wear their spanks to the dressing room. You also might want to bring a pair of heels so you can see how the dress looks in your heels and then what you can keep in mind, alterations. While you're there, it's also important for your bridesmaids to be comfortable. If they looks really good but they can't breathe, you don't want them like this that you're wedding the whole time. So make sure they stand up, they can raise their arms, they can sit, they can dance. You know, I always think it's important to do a twerk test. For my wedding in particular, I knew they were going to do a whole choreograph dance. So there's one dress that we like, it was very form fitting, very tight, and then very long like trumpet shape at the bottom. I knew that it looked pretty but dancing-wise, they were going to be very limited and there wasn't any robot in my dance. And once all the girls have dresses on, make sure you take pictures, especially if you're going to different places, take a picture of them in the dress and maybe like the storefront so you know where that dress is and you can compare all your favorite dresses side by side before you make a decision. All right, so now we found the dress, we love the color, we like the style, we could twerk in it. But number five is the budget. Now when you are bridesmaids, there is a cost that comes along with the title. So I would start saving as soon as you agree to be a bridesmaid. Keep in mind, your girls, if they all are Beverly Hills housewives, then fine, get whatever dress you want. But if you know you need to be a little more budget conscious, it is nice to keep in mind that they might not have a lot to spend. Now on average, a bridesmaid's dress usually is around $200 plus alterations. If you know that is not in the budget of your girls, then shop around. So I was looking to spend like $100 or less. If you do have a lot of bridesmaids, make sure you throw in the fact that you are buying eight dresses right now. And see if you can kind of work out a bulk price. Doesn't hurt to ask. Now with my bridesmaids, we spent all this time shopping, only for me to find my favorite dress on Etsy. Etsy is a website that has everything like handmade, everything creative. Everything you probably pinned on Pinterest, probably came from Etsy. But besides wedding things, I didn't even know I could buy my bridesmaids dress on there. And I found the dress that I love for only $50. These dresses were the convertible type dresses. So it was like 100 ways dress. You could do one shoulder. You could do a halter. You could do strapless. One thing that's very important when choosing a dress is the type of undergarments you're going to wear. A bra will make or break your dress no matter how pretty it looks. Turns out the bra was the hardest thing for me and my bridesmaids because it was this very thin material and they were all backless. So backless looks great in photos, looks great on Pinterest. But then you're thinking, wait, if she turns around, are her nips out? You never know. I knew my girls are going to be dancing. So I didn't need them to be flopping around. So we had to find a way to get the support and the coverage without having a back. Now let me just tell you about those little stick on bras, the little like silicone ones. I tried them and they do not work in the summertime. You stick them on and it gets a little hot and they slide right off and then you got a pair of boobs on the floor and it's going to be very embarrassing. So unless you have that and something super tight to keep them on, it will be okay. But if it's there and something loose, they will slide off. If it's in the winter or you're inside, it could work, but just be cautious. Those are my top five things I think you need to keep in mind when you're a bridesmaid's dress shopping, whether you are a bride or a bridesmaid. But overall, it is so important to remember that this is supposed to be a fun time. You're shopping with your best friends. That's why you picked them to be your bridesmaids. So make it a fun occasion. Try not to complain about everything. If you really hate something about a dress, tell the bride before you go shopping. If you're like, hey, I got double D's, I refused to wear a strapless bra, then let her know to kind of look for something with straps. Or if you're like, I'm allergic to the color orange, I refuse, then tell the bride that, but if it's her wedding color too bad, you're gonna have to do it. Suck it up. I have so many other wedding topics to cover from my wedding dress shopping to centerpieces, to decor, to budget, to inviting people you don't really like. It's gonna be a lot. So if you're enjoying these wedding videos, there's plenty more where that came from. I post new videos every Sunday. So hit that little subscribe button and give this video a thumbs up, and I'll see you guys next week. Thanks for watching Bianca Renee today.