Bridesmaid dresses. Colours, style, cut, print, fabric, length - it always takes way longer than you think and by the end, the majority of brides end up picking a single colour dress in the same style. If you're set on something different, picking print dresses is a great way to make your bridesmaids really lovely for your wedding and can be easy if you start planning it from the beginning. Possibly this could start by -

1. Picking the general colour you want - pink, blue, yellow, green, white, navy, lilac, purple, red etc etc
2. Considering your bridesmaids' body shapes (usually easier to ask them) - keep a list of the cuts they prefer
3. Using the information from step 1 and 2 to start filtering your searches on online stores to work out what your options are but keeping an open mind. Just because you picked a colour in step 1 doesn't mean you have to stick with it if you see something else you love! It's also fantastic if you can get all of your bms to a store to try on everything to see what suits, but with girls often living away, travelling or with packed schedules, this isn't always possible. 

There are a number of stores which sell beautiful dresses specifically catered for bridesmaids. Some of my favourites are BHLDN, JCrew, Bridesmaids Only, Maids to Measure (a custom dress shop), Jenny Yoo and Nordstrom. 

There are other stores which sell gorgeous dresses which aren't necessarily tagged "bridesmaid". It is usually easier to find printed dresses in fashion stores (as I find that the bridesmaid stores naturally err towards stocking single colour dresses as they are the most popular). For these, I suggest Shopbop, Madewell, Revolve, Topshop, Asos (although the dresses can be a bit short), Net-a-Porter, Matches and Lover.

I've put together a few inspiration suggestions if you're looking to style your bridesmaids without depending on bridesmaid focused dresses (I'll put together a post on the dresses I love from my favourite bridesmaid dress stores soon too). 

A bright pink print dress is absolutely gorgeous for spring weddings (although bright colours are always lovely regardless of the season). The white pumps and pearl cuff keep the outfit ladylike and elegant and the light pink lipgloss will just add a lovely pink glimmer to the mouths of all of your bridesmaids. For strong colour dresses with a print, it is always helpful to keep the accessories more simple to avoid overwhelming the overall look.

Brunettes often look gorgeous in yellow so if you have brunette bms, that's an added bonus! :) Here, the yellow is offset by the navy and pearls which are a perfect complement. The lilac nails provide that extra tint of a widely flattering colour and the bouquet matches the lilac perfectly. The nude lipstick is also perfect with slightly more accentuated eyes for this look (as accenting the eyes helps to avoid the yellow print overwhelming your bridesmaids' faces). 

I hope you found this helpful! I've had a lot of girls mention to me lately that they want to look for dresses which are more fun than the typical bridesmaid dress and for this, gorgeous print dresses in bright colours are definitely an option. 

JYx