Hi, I am just after some advice; I am having my 2 older sisters as bridesmaids and want them to wear something flattering to their ages (30's) alot of the styles i've seen just aren't appealing to me. Both have children under the age of 5 so really want something they will be comfortable in. The other thing I am unsure of is whether to buy theirs before my own dress.... not knowing the style I will wear yet! Too many decisions :) although the rest of the planning has so far been easy! Please help ladies xx

i went to look at bridesmaid dresses first and then narrowed it down to a few. then i went upstairs to look at my dress and fell in love with my dress. when i came back the next week with bridesmaids i completely changed my mind on what bridesmaid dresses i wanted. in my experience you should order yours first just in case you change your mind like i did. My bridesmaids are 15 and 25 and i have gone for chiffon full length dresses with sweetheart neckline - i didnt want the old style traditional ball gown style and neither did my MOH. for the little ones (5 and 8) i have gone for a flower girl dress ivory with a purple chiffon top and a bow on.

my advice go in shop and try all the bridesmaid dresses on so you get an idea of what you like but dont order until you have chosen yours x

My bridemaids were all in their 30's ... I got chiffon dresses from LK Bennett on the high street that they all loved .. they were flattering and skimmed over any tums and bumps ... I would say to get your dress first xx

i got engaged on boxing day and had mine ordered by the 20th jan lol (but its the most important thing to me except marrying my man of course!!) mine only arrived last week and took 7 months to arrive so i would really get looking now. they say it takes 6-9 months for them to be delivered in and mine took 7. you really wont have time to change your mind if that helps lol! when you go dress shopping you might be like me and fall in love with first dress you try on - just make sure you try on at least 10 other dresses in lots of styles and if 'the one' is still 'the one' you wont change your mind honestly. just get lots of pictures so you can remind yourself what it looks like - i didnt cus of H2B looking on my phone and forgot what it looked like lol. i would go and have a look now - its one less thing to worry about and if you love it enough you wont change your mind xxx

yeah i got everything done in january - H2B is in the army and away a lot so it gives me something to do lol. i actually went to look at bridesmaid dresses and get ideas for colours for the wedding but i got persuaded to try on some wedding dresses - first one i tried on i fell in love with - completely different to what i thought i wanted.

try not to worry yourself too much but you have about a month i think to look around before you need to order one. as long as you order about 8-9 months before you should be ok.

we get married on 28th March next year - wish it would all hurry up now! xxx

BeckyU98, you are in the same boat as me!! H2B also in the army!! He proposed before his tour so i would have something else to focus on!! Thats what people say dont they that the ones you think you wont like tend to be the ones you love!! Glad you found yours so easily :)

Haha i best get a wriggle on then!! I think that will probably make it more real too!! Wow you really havent got that long to wait then!! Have you pretty much got everything sorted now? xx

MrsK2B thank you, thats what ive been thinking!! :) will defo take both your advice on board and get looking!! xx

Yeah there are tons of places lol!! My bridesmaids havent liked anything i've picked out on pictures for them and i've not liked anything theyve shown me :/ haha maybe having sisters wasnt the best option as least with friends who are bridesmaids they aim to please, sisters really are blunt!! :) i agree with you about being able to use any stle dresses now thats the good thing!!

Thank you, from all the comments i will definately be getting my dress first!! xx

How about maxi dresses?

Hi Amy,

I picked my dress before my BM dresses to avoid them looking similar i.e I am having a sweet heart neck so I have got the BM's to have a one strap with flowers on dress. Once my dress was ordered we immediately went shopping for them. We started in the bridal shops and got an idea of what style the girls liked / felt comfy in however their prices of £180 a dress where scandeless so we hit the high street and never came across anything which really stood out. So in the end I got them made in China using 1** Dress. The girls went online agreed on a few dresses they liked and then I had final pick. In the end their dresses cost me £50 for full length chiffon maxi dresses with like a one strap flwers kind of thing. I was so nervous ordering them but they arrived 2weeks later and they were amazing! fantastic quality, great colour and fitted the girls like a glove. Best thing I did! xx

sounds like your doing well with your planning! we arent having many army themed bits to our wedding but for our favours we are going to have charity donations to either help for heroes or for H2B regiment charity. i think we are going to get the little charity badges if we go for help for heroes and just print out a little card saying that a donation has been made in your favour. H2B is wearing his uniform for the church and a few photos then is going to get changed into same as Best Man and others suits later on in the day. we wanted to have a guard of honour but not really sure how to go about it yet as no-one has their own swords! apart from that we were thinking of having little collection boxes by the bar for either H4H or regiment charity so people can donate on the day too.

My OH is so laid back about it all too! he thinks that its fine to do it in January but we are getting married in march so im trying to get him to do it a little sooner! yes im very excited! appointment is all booked just waiting to try it on now! xx

its quite a nice idea isnt it - we were going to do sweets in a box but H2B's nan had some ideas and between us we have decided on that and she wants to pay for them and help me put them together. we are going to pin the little badge onto the card and put them inside a little pillow shaped favour box so if you already have your boxes feel free to use the idea too! if i can fit it in then im going to put a little chocolate heart in the box too hopefully.

ive read lots about guard of honour and it has me completely confused! i really want one but people have told me on here that you cant have one unless H2B is an officer! but my SIL's brother had one and hes not an officer so im very confused. i know they can either borrow the swords (but people dont often lend them out as they cost like £800 each and they buy them themselves and dont want them to be lost) but i have found a company that hires them out but no response from them when i email/call. also squaddies arent the most reliable of people so whether they travel the 3 hours and turn up on day for guard of honour is another thing!

also found out on sunday that they have changed the 1's or blues that H2B is wearing and they no longer have the nice gold chains on any more - hes a bit gutted its the nicest part of uniform lol

i know :D think i better get a move on with things - thought i was doing well but people on here with 2 years to go that some more things done and made than me! xxx

that sounds lovely. the badges are from H4H shop online £3 for the heart shaped badge for women and we are thinking of getting the poppy pins from B Legion website for the men (MIL says heart shaped badges are too girly apparently lol). the badges are a bit expensive but H2B's nan wants to buy them for us. i will make the little cards myself and then get the heart chocolates from the bay about £8 for 70 and pillow boxes are about £14. with a little ribbon and a label with our names and wedding date on and they should be done. ill try and get some pics taken when i do them next month and put them on here.

thats the only place i have found that hires them so far. will keep looking i suppose! H2B doesnt know whether they will all turn up so hes not sure whether we should do it but when you are in the archway our photographer says it makes a lovely confetti shot coming out of church.

he says that he wont go and speak to them about his 1s until after December but im quite keen for him to get them done a little sooner! they are about £120 for a week hire and he has to drive to chatham to pick them up i think but we will be on honeymoon so will probably cost more to hire them longer!

i will have waited for 15 months as we got engaged boxing day this year - H2B didnt want to wait that long but we had to cus of money! i hope the next 8 months hurry up - the longest ive spent with him was 3 weeks on summer leave cant wait to live together! xxx