17 Mismatched Bridesmaid Color Palette Combos & How to Pull them Off

When it comes to bridesmaid dresses, there's a reason why bridesmaids have historically dreaded the bride's dress choice. It's extremely hard to find ONE dress that all your bridesmaids will love/will flatter their body type. That's why I'm so glad the trend has shifted and the days of requiring bridesmaids to wear the exact same dress is long gone.

I specifically love the Mix & Match/Mismatched dress trend, which allows bridesmaids to have different colors, but still coordinated dresses. It not only showcases each girl's unique style and personality but it can also be a budget-friendly option for all involved. Of course, one or two of your bridesmaids may still not prefer the color/color palette you choose, but at least they are able to have a few options to choose from.

Who Wears What?

As for coordinating which bridesmaids will wear which color, you have a few options of execution:

1) You can either decide this based on the order you want your bridesmaids to stand next to you and then assign them each the color you want them to wear based on your lineup. Or,

2) You can let the girls choose (starting with your maid of honor) and then line people up based on the color they pick -- this is what I did, and it's a great strategy because then the girls don't worry about feeling like they're lined up in the exact order of their friendship importance. Also, since you know your bridesmaids best, you know which ones are pickier than others. So you could just go down the list of who you think would care most, and let them pick first. Or,

3) You could take a poll and let everyone indicate their first and second preferences. See how many overlaps you have, and then decide which girl(s) you may have to choose for.

Key Ingredient to Pull off Mismatched Bridesmaids Dresses

Keep in mind, if you're going down the mix & match route, you need to make sure there is an element that actually matches. It needs to tie everything together making it look purposely coordinated. This can either be done by having the same fabric, style, or neckline for everyone OR having at least two girls in the same color but with different styles.

I will use my wedding as the first example, seen above & below. I actually had 4 different colors of bridesmaid dresses. My maid of honor was the only one who didn't have someone else in a matching color (I wanted her to stand out), and the other girls each had one other girl with the same color on but with different style dresses and all with similar fabric.