There are friends and loved ones you especially want to share the joy of being a bride and the tasks that go with the wedding preparations. While it is easy to identify these special ladies in your life, you as the bride should have a clear understanding of what a “yes” to being one of your bridesmaids entails. Asking someone to be your bridesmaid is easy, them saying yes to you would mean having a big responsibility along with various expenses.
You would have gotten their “Yes” to be part of your bride tribe. These special ladies have agreed to the monetary cost of being your bridesmaid. However, there are also costs worth counting that does not involve money. Make sure you get to communicate them as well. Are they prepared for the mental expenses of being a bridesmaid? Wedding preparations take a lot of planning and will take much of their time. Are they emotionally invested to help you achieve your envisioned wedding? Would they be ready to lessen the stress level and make things as easy as possible for you as the bride? Great if they have counted the cost for the above and said yes to them all. Don’t forget to reward them with your bridesmaid gifts and show how much you appreciate all their efforts and support.
According to a study, the cost of being a bridesmaid may vary depending on where the wedding will take place. The West and Southwest are the most expensive place to be a bridesmaid with an average expense of $1360 per wedding. The Midwest, however, is the least expensive region to be a bridesmaid where bridesmaids get to spend an average of $1100. It can even go as high as $1800. And you wonder how in the world can it be that expensive? There are actually a lot of factors to be considered. Let’s take a quick look at each one. Breaking down the cost of being one can help your bridesmaid to have a clearer idea and make things less stressful for her. Here’s a breakdown of the costs involved in saying “yes” to being a bridesmaid:
1. The Dress
On average, a bridesmaid would spend roughly $208 for her dress. Add in the alteration cost of about $70 and you have more or less $278 allotted for the bridesmaid dress. Considering you’ll only be wearing a dress that perfectly fits you once, that amount is quite a lot. As the bride, help your bridesmaid not to feel overwhelmed with the cost of the dress by allowing her to choose her own dress and just provide the specific color scheme. By doing this, you are giving them the liberty to choose the style of the dress that they would want to wear again on other occasions. Your bridesmaids will be delighted to do the mix and match trend and also decrease the dress’ cost-per-wear.
2. Shoes and Accessories
The shoes and accessories of your bridesmaid would cost over $120. Studies show that 80% of bridesmaids would buy a new pair of shoes that will go well with their dress. 60% would buy additional accessories like hair accessories, jewelry and many more. To help your bridesmaid on these expenses, you can actually purchase the shoes and accessories for them and package them as your bridesmaid gift. You can even give her flat shoes she can wear when it’s time to hit the dance floor during your reception. This way, you and your bridesmaids would be looking great on your photos with matching shoes or jewelry on your wedding day. There are lots of bridesmaid gift sets you can choose from that pair mirror and shawl, or a necklace with a silky robe and many more.
3. Hair and Makeup
Should you choose to have it done professionally, you should be ready to pay for the hair and makeup of your bridesmaids. However, there’s no need to back them up on this particular expense if you wouldn’t require them to have their hair and makeup be professionally done. In this case, most bridesmaids still choose to have their hair and makeup be done by a professional and spend an average of $132. The advantage of spending for their hair and makeup is that they get to choose the hairstyle and type of makeup they want. Or they can even opt to do their own hair and makeup. 50% of bridesmaids choose to have their hair professionally done while 37% choose to have their makeup done by a professional.
4. Travel and Accommodation
If it’s not a destination wedding, bridesmaids get to spend a little lower than expected as the venue may just be right at the city where they live, within driving distance or may just require a train ride. Destination weddings, on the other hand, would require longer flights, overnight accommodations and additional expenses that go with having to be at the wedding destination earlier or having to extend for a couple of days. Your bridesmaid would spend an average of $115 to and from your wedding. She will be shelling out an additional $205 for the accommodations too. You and your husband-to-be may provide help by negotiating a group rate with your chosen airline and book hotel room blocks in order to bring down the rate.
5. Pre-Wedding Parties
Planning, hosting and attending responsibilities cover for all the pre-wedding parties. Beginning with the engagement party, bridal shower and sometimes bridal showers right to the bachelorette party and sometimes, even more, your bridesmaids are responsible for them all. She gets to spend more than $800 on hosting responsibilities, gifts, travel and many more. Most of the time it is the bachelorette’s party that cost them the most. The reason being it is commonly held far from the place where the bride lives. Bridesmaids get to spend around $400 for travel alone for the destination bachelorette party. After all, this the girl’s weekend so most bridesmaids are simply willing to pay the price.
6. Gifts
As mentioned above, there are pre-wedding parties that bridesmaids are expected to plan, host and attend. Along with hose parties are gifts to be given to the couple too. A wedding shower gift, a bachelorette party gift, and the wedding gift are all part of the expense under this category. Bridesmaids are expected to give gifts on every pre-wedding occasion. They get to spend $125 for the wedding gift alone. However, this can be lowered when bridesmaids choose to chip in and purchase as a group.
However, should your lady friend or relative say no, thank them as well for being honest enough to decline? Whatever reason they may have for saying no, they sure have counted the cost of being a bridesmaid and honestly admitted they cannot pay the price for being one. It does not mean she wouldn’t want to take any role in your wedding, she sure would love to help but certainly not in a bridesmaid capacity. That’s what true friendship is all about - being honest to each other. Be ready though to give her a less costly role in your wedding. She surely would appreciate that.
