When you say “I do,” you will want the people that care about you the most to be standing near you at the altar. If your bridesmaids are not all size sixes, be very conscious about what Bridesmaids dresses you choose. The comfort of your bridesmaids will have a direct correlation to how much fun they have at your wedding and how much fun you have with them! So don’t make your friends fit the dress, find dresses that fit each of your bridesmaids.

I think my favorite bridesmaids’ outfits have been weddings where the bridesmaids have not had the same dress on. They have worn dresses that were made with the same material and/or maybe the same color but the outfits were uniquely their own.

A friend of mine told her friends to wear what they felt the most beautiful in and those girls just shined! I coordinated another wedding where the bride asked her bridesmaids to wear ivory (she wore white). One bridesmaid wore an amazing pant suit, one wore a great strapless gown and another wore a similar gown but added this antique lace jacket over it that I wanted to steal! One bridesmaid was a size 0, one a size 8 and another a size 24. I loved watching the plus size bridesmaid because she looked fabulous and she knew it. She wore what she felt beautiful in and wasn’t asked to show her upper arms or fit her generous breasts in a strapless gown. And the size 0 who had zero cleavage, didn’t have to wear a dress that required a padded bra to look good in it.

Here are a few other hints:

Find a material that you love and have the dresses made to fit each bridesmaid well.

Talk to a Bridal Salon Consultant about the sizes of your friends and get their suggestions about which designers cater to your bridesmaids’ sizes and shapes. Before you take your bridesmaids out shopping, go by yourself and have a personal consultation at a Bridal Salon so you gather information and begin developing your own ideas on what you want to present to your bridesmaids as options.

Search the Internet – need I say more? Do keyword searches like plus size bridesmaid dresses, petite bridesmaids, maternity bridesmaid dresses, etc.

You might want to take your plus size friends out alone for their first shopping spree and measurement taking. I worked in a bridal salon for a while and I saw how uncomfortable it was for some girls to be measured in front of the other girls – be conscious of your friends’ modesty issues.

You can usually buy extra material from most bridesmaids’ dress designers and then can hire a seamstress to make a jacket or a wrap. I personally don’t like the wrap thing because it’s pretty impossible to keep them on all night but a Bolero jacket can be a great complement to many styles. You might want to consider a jacket or a shrug for everyone to use during the ceremony and then at the reception, those that like to show off their triceps can simply take off the jacket and others can keep it on – their choice for their comfort.

Whatever you choose, remember that being surrounded by those you love is more important than any bridesmaid’s dress you’ve seen in a magazine. So choose loveable Bridesmaids and outfits to fit each one of them beautifully.