Colour Pairings 101: Styling Bridesmaid Dresses

As there are conventions for bridal dresses and styling, there is accepted wisdom around bridesmaid attire and accessories.

Among these traditions is choosing the same dress style and colour – usually pastel - for all your bridesmaids, regardless of their size, shape, and personality.

However, in recent years, a welcome bridesmaid styling evolution has begun, with a new set of rules, including:

Less uniformity: Provided you choose shades within a colour theme, why not select different colours and styles, including mixing maxis with minis and matching prints or textures? You can also consider mixing and matching beautiful separates.

These days, bridesmaids can also wear white; just ensure you differentiate between the bridesmaids and bride.

More flamboyance: While necklines and hemlines should ideally stay modest, why not be adventurous and introduce some shine, sparkle or lace?

Increased glitter, embellishment, and shimmer can only add excitement and interest to your photo album. Keep cuts simple and within your colour pallet.

More collaboration: Your favourite girls have different bodies, preferences, and needs. So, involve them in the bridesmaid outfit decisions for a favourable yet no less lovely outcome.

To keep that golden thread of coherence, ensure one or more elements tie together. For example, keep makeup and hair styling the same.

In addition, if you're mixing and matching styles and fabrics, consider colour uniformity, or maintain the style if you're mixing colours and patterns.

Choosing styles, colours, and fabrics can be easy with online bridal shops such as Model Chic.

Styling Your Bridesmaids With Model Chic

Browse our over 140 options, including numerous chic, exciting or ethereal styles in maxi or midi and various colours, from whispery pastels to regal jewel shades and decisive bolds. Choose from delectable chiffons, satins, laces, tulles, velvets, sequins and beads.

We recommend deciding on your colour pallet and related hues and patterns first, as this is integral to your overall theme. Then select your style and complete each look and stunning overall impression with shoes, hairstyles, makeup and jewellery.

Choose Your Tints and Tones

Over 20 colours are available, ranging from luminous blushes and champagnes, glamorous burgundies, emeralds and navies, statement reds, teals, and yellows, to shades of pink, plum, coral, sage, blue, and grey.

Our collection also includes less conventional white, black, rust, khaki, and metallics, petite options for girls and teens, and plus sizes for the more voluptuous. We also stock lovely and flattering maternity cuts for bridesmaids shortly expecting a blessing of their own.

Examples of colour choices include subtle nuances of purple – delicately cascading from lilac to violet, the faintest pink blush to a deeper rose, striking blacks and whites, or a rainbow of cheerful colours to match your brightly beautiful bouquet of gerberas.

Notably, remember to consider your bridal gown's style and colour when selecting shades for your bridesmaids.

For example, what colour bridesmaid dresses go with a champagne wedding dress? Our answer would be to choose shades of blue, pastels – pinks, even eucalyptus, blush tones, such as light thistle, or earth tones, including copper and sand.

Once you've chosen your colours, explore our styles for a special outfit for each of your treasured ladies.

Styling Your Bridesmaid Outfits

As any attentive bride knows, styling your look for the big day is as important as your dress style and colour choice.

Hair, makeup, and jewellery will depend on your dress style, wedding theme, location, and time of day. Equally important are shoe style, heel height, and colour choice to ensure outfits look and feel good and allow your girls to walk down the aisle in elegance and comfort.

Here are some tips to consider when deciding on the colour of your bridesmaid footwear:

What colour shoes to wear with a blush bridesmaid dress: Blush and champagne, even more so than white, can be considered neutrals.

As such, for a traditional look, pair these gentle, barely-there shades with neutral shoe colours such as flesh, the palest of pinks or a very delicate gold, silver or champagne.

What colour shoes to wear with a lilac bridesmaid dress: Although pastel, lilac is definitely a colour. So, while a lilac shoe may seem the logical choice, matching dress and footwear closely risks pairing two slightly different shades or looking unfashionably matchy-matchy.

Instead, again choose a neutral – a nude, cream, pale gold or silver, or even a white, to complement the lightest of lilacs. Avoid anything coloured or darker unless the theme is fun and eclectic.

What colour shoes to wear with a red bridesmaid dress: Brighter-coloured outfits offer a wider choice of shoe colour, where reds can be paired with matching reds or blacks – matt, satin or dazzling diamanté, depending on style and theme.

However, even with bolder colour themes, modern bridesmaids often stick with nudes, silvers, or golds to avoid drawing attention to feet, especially in shorter styles, where these also help "lengthen" the lower leg.

What colour shoes to wear with a silver bridesmaid dress: Silver, gold or other metallic dress options can successfully be partnered with matching colour shoes, especially for maxi styles, but ensure that everyone sticks to a similar convention.

Alternatively, nudes and blacks are eminently acceptable. However, avoid white or creams with metallics, as these could detract from the outfit's impact.

Matt or metallic silver shoes are also a chic option for mono-colour white, black, emerald or pastel dress shades or outfits of any colour with sequins or beads.

In addition, the beauty of choosing shoes in blacks, whites, neutrals, and even metallics is how easily they can be worn again after the occasion.

With limited space to share all our colour styling ideas, why not get in touch with us to discuss your outfits further? We would love to hear from you.

Browse Model Chic's extensive range of bridesmaid dresses today to place your order, or reach out to us for more information.