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Bridesmaid Lookbook

I tried to find matching dresses for my three friends, really I did. But the more I looked the more confused I was, and the less I felt qualified to decide for them. They are, as girls tend to be, quite different. In height, body type, and style. My maid of honor and I frequently shop together, and it’s a pretty solid rule that anything that works on her won’t on me, even if the size is right.

The more I thought about it, the more I liked the idea of them wearing mismatched dresses. If they weren’t going to wear the same dress anyway, they could choose their own! Which would be one less thing for me to worry about later.

Still, I’d like some things to be similar. Color, length, level of formality. Some of that is kind of hard to convey without pictures, so I made a Bridesmaid Lookbook.

flip books

Inside these packages are stacks. On top of the stack is a book – a flip book of dresses and shoes.

flip books

The first page is a short letter explaining what this is all about, followed by photos of the barn and ceremony space. All the pages following are split, with dresses on top and shoes on the bottom, accompanied by source information and price on the top right corner.

look book

I looked for ivory, gold and champagne cocktail dresses and gold or bronze shoes. You can flip the pages to make an outfit! Not that I think they’ll buy those exact dresses or shoes, but it’s fun!

look book

I used a 1/16″ holepunch and silver jump rings to bind the pages inside cardstock covers.

To make up for the hassle of finding their own outfits, the bottom of the stack is an emerald green pashmina from Nimli. Officially our color scheme is green, aqua and various metallics (pewter, gold, silver, bronze). So although I’m not decorating with bridesmaids, I suppose I am decorating the bridesmaids. They all seem happy about choosing their own dresses – I’m really excited to see what they wear!