Ten Things You Must Know About Long Bridesmaid Dresses
Bridesmaid dresses play a big part in the overall look of your wedding ceremony and in setting the tone for your wedding, perhaps even more so than the bride’s dress; and the length of the dress probably is the most important factor in this regard. This post plus two prior blog posts, Bridesmaid Dresses – Eight Awesome Options and 10 Mistakes to Avoid When Choosing Short Bridesmaid Dresses, will give you lots of ideas to help make the very important decision of what to choose for your bridesmaid dresses.
Take a look at the photos below and imagine short dresses in place of the long ones. I think in most cases you’ll find that they just aren’t interchangeable for creating these looks.
I have identified 10 things that long dresses do really well.
Long Bridesmaid Dresses:
. . . can be elegant
. . . are perfect for winter
. . . create a cohesive look
. . . can be flowy and romantic
. . . can eliminate a shoe choice
. . . highlight vibrant colors
. . . highlight ombré colors
. . . are perfect for sit-down portraits
. . . can be sophisticated
. . . are perfect for the beach
If you want to create a look of elegance as your bridesmaids walk down the aisle, you probably should choose long dresses over short ones. Long bridesmaid dresses can create elegance without even trying! This is especially important with a semi-formal, formal or black-tie wedding.
If your wedding is going to be in an area of the country where the winters are icy cold, then you can’t go wrong with long dresses. Long dresses just seem to “fit” the season.
Since the bride will most likely be wearing a long dress, a cohesive look can be created when the bridesmaids also wear long dresses. Both the bride’s and bridesmaids’ dresses are long and strapless in the photo below and this helps create a consistent look, which can create an especially lovely vision for the walk down the aisle and in photos.
It takes a long dress made of soft, silky fabric to create the luscious look shown below. I really love this photo … the wind is gently creating movement in the dresses and the overall look is flowy and romantic.
Long dresses offer at least two advantages when it comes to shoes. First, if your bridesmaids vary a lot in height, some can wear higher heels than others to create a similar height among all the bridesmaids. With long dresses, this won’t be noticeable or affect the overall look, as it would with short dresses. Second, since their shoes likely won’t be visible most of the time, there can be a lot more flexibility in the exact style shoes they wear. The style can vary a bit and it won’t matter.
Long dresses can create a lot of intensity in your wedding color, especially with a vibrant color. With a short dress, the color just won’t have the impact that a long dress can create.
An ombré palette is created with dresses of varying intensity of the same basic color. Obviously the more fabric, the more impact the colors will have.
A formal sit-down portrait with you and your bridesmaids may be something that you have always wanted to include in your wedding photos. If so, you will have more options with long dresses. A photo like the one below is frame-worthy!
There is a certain sophistication that can only be achieved with long bridesmaid dresses, as shown in the photo below.
Soft, flowy bridesmaids dresses can add a lot to the overall look of a beach wedding. With long dresses you won’t have to worry about the wind lifting the skirts up too far! And long dresses are perfectly suited for flats, barefoot sandals or no shoes at all!
See our Pinterest board for275+ carefully selected photos of bridesmaids to help you with ideas and inspiration.
Comments (0)
Great!! You have described very well about long bridesmaid dresses. All the 10 facts are really interesting and useful.
Brilliant advice.
Thank you. I am having a hard time deciding which length dress os right for my bridesmaids. They chose short which was fine bc the wedding was going to be outside, but now that it’s going to be in the church we may have to change to long. Honestly in my opinion, the long looks better. What do you suggest?
Hi Regina, Is the wedding in the evening? If it is after 6:00, the long dresses would probably be best but honestly, you also are OK with short if they have a formal vibe to them. As the bride, it really is up to you what they wear, rather than the bridesmaids themselves. They will be part of your photos and the entire vision of how your wedding looks as they go down the aisle, etc. So you should choose what you envision for your special day! I hope this helps!
Best wishes!
Sher
Great article! I need help envisioning my bridal party. It’s a sunset beach wedding. We’re going w/ long dresses but letting everyone choose their own style on top. I have 2 MOH and 2 bridesmaid. Not sure how this will look in pictures?
Hi Jackie, What you describe sounds just fine. I assume the dresses are basically the same color and style. It sounds like it will be similar to this look … 4 bridesmaids … only that the dresses may differ slightly on the top. The picture is from the blog post and you have most likely seen but it, but it seems like it reflects a look similar to yours.
https://exclusivelywed.files.wordpress.com/2014/05/long_bridesmaid_dresses_create_cohesive_look.jpg
If you have any other questions, just let me know!
Best wishes!
Sher
That beautiful light blue color is gorgeous. Perfect for an elegant beach wedding. I love it.