Let’s face facts. Your beautiful bridesmaids are probably not going to all be the same size, the same colouring or have the same fashion sense- in fact *shock horror* they may just hate the idea of the perfect strapless lemon yellow gown your picked out for them.

So the idea of letting your gorgeous ladies pick their own gowns, or wear a style of gown that suits their body and their style doesn’t sound so horrible when you think of how comfortable they’ll be!

I’ve starred this entry by Rock ‘N Roll Bride for a while because I loved the wedding so much. The bride had each bridesmaid choose a gown in green. I love the look! (Photos by Josh McCullock See all of them here)

Then That Bride got all her ladies to pick (or make) their own stylish black gown (photos by Kelli Nicole)

Brooklyn Bride posted Julie and Matt’s wedding here (Photos by Jennifer Causey)

Kathryn of Snippet and Ink posted the wedding of Lisa and Nick (photos by Lisa Lefkowitz)

Then of course, Carrie’s bridesmaids in Sex & The City: The Movie

If you’re still a little uneasy about the wide variety of gowns available and having them work well together, give some basic criteria or guidelines to help the girls pick their gowns.

• Give each girl a colour swatch  to pick a dress in the colour palette you’re using. Or give some guidance with colours “Light greens” “Anything with blue and brown” or “Just make it black!”
• Buy a bolt of the fabric you love and give each bridesmaid fabric to make a dress in their own style. Or choose a brand which uses the same fabric across different dresses.
• Give some guidance on fabric choices- a backyard outdoor wedding might be more suited to frocks in cottons and pretty embroidered fabrics whereas an evening wedding would suit taffeta and silk.
• Shoes- do you want the girls to wear the same colour? Let them know!
• Length- is this important to you? Should all gowns be knee length?

Mismatching can look as haphazard or as pulled together as you like. You can easily pull the group together by giving each bridesmaid the same accessory- the bouquet, a hair flower, a coloured sash- and have them style it their way.

Here’s a bridal party look I styled - focusing on a wide range of styles and prices for a wedding using coral.

Nicola FInetti Dress from Frockaholics, Blue Juice dress from Frock You, BCBG Dress from Royal Tag, GF Ferre Dress from Frockaholics

While dressing the bridesmaids the same can look fantastic- it doesn’t always work. So have some fun with it!

Destination weddings are so much fun - you get to marry the person of your dreams in a location that is suitably amazing. Everyone is delightfully blissed out at the celebration in a far away place and drinking beautiful cocktails while overlooking the crashing waves…

The lovely team at Wedding Paper Divas has joined Polka Dot Bride today for a fabulous giveaway.

Wedding Paper Divas, who everyone knows and loves for their beautiful bright designs have the perfect designs for any destination wedding.

For a wedding here- Peppers Magnetic Island Resort off the Queensland coast…

The Wedding Paper Divas Sand Dollar Invitation would work perfectly. It brings to mind the warm sand beneath your feet, tables full of white linen and scattered with seashells and of course champagne.

For a wedding at a winery in Western Australia at Sandalford Wines in Margaret River..

I think the Wedding Paper Divas Nature In Napa Wedding Invitation would be a lovely fit to capture the feeling of a luxurious celebration drinking red wine and dancing amongst the vineyards.

Wedding Paper Divas is offering a $100 US gift certificate to a lucky Polka Dot Bride reader

• Visit Wedding Paper Divas “Signature Collection”
• Sign up or login to your account (It’s free!) and save the design that best represents your dream destination wedding
• Comment on Polka Dot Bride with the invitation your chose and tell me about your dream destination wedding! Include the location and about your ceremony! Get creative!

Competition closes December 14th Australian EST 5pm and is open worldwide. Make sure to use the same email address when commenting as you did when registering for an account on Wedding Paper Divas so we can verify your entry!

Does this not look like a beautiful painting? It’s shot by Cliff Mautner and is from the wedding of Maria and Frank (see more here)

Photo by Cliff Mautner

Tired of simple wedding videos? Make a production out of it like Brian and Eileen did!

Brian & Eileen’s Wedding Music Video. from LOCKDOWN projects on Vimeo.

Editor of Australian bridal magazine Real Weddings, Kirsten Mackelden is doing a series on 9am with David & Kim on the tips and tricks of weddings

Bride Guide: The Rings

Bride Guide: The Dress

Kirsten has two more episodes to go in the series, so I will update this post with links soon!

Speaking of Real Weddings, this gorgeous Australian magazine just took out magazine of the year for the second year in the row at the Bell Publishing Awards!