Matching Outfits for Bridesmaids: How to Match Without Looking Like a Uniform

When the bride's sisters, cousins and closest friends walk in together, matching outfits make them look like one group in every photograph. The trick is to match on one or two things, not everything, so that each person still looks like herself.

Six things a group can match on

1. Colour

The simplest tie. Everyone in one colour, or in shades of it, from blush to rose. Colour is what the camera reads first, so this alone makes a group look planned.

2. Fabric

Everyone in net, or everyone in silk or organza. Fabric decides how the outfits catch the light, so even different colours look related.

3. Embroidery style

The same kind of work on every outfit: gota, sequins, mirror or thread. A shared motif along the hem ties different silhouettes together.

4. The dupatta

Different lehengas, the same dupatta. It's one of the easiest ways to match, and the dupatta is what shows most in group photographs.

5. The border

A matching border on the hem or the dupatta edge. Subtle up close, very clear from a distance.

6. The silhouette

Everyone in a lehenga, or everyone in a sharara, in different colours. This is the "same style, different colours" look.

Matching outfits for the bride and bridesmaids

Some brides like to be part of the matching: a palette that includes her outfit, or a border on the bridesmaids' dupattas that echoes her own. Keep the bride's outfit clearly the heaviest and richest in the group, and pick bridesmaid colours that sit beside it rather than compete. See colours that sit beside a red bride.

Where matching goes wrong

• One cut for everyone. A style that suits one person rarely suits five. Let the silhouette vary.

• Standard sizes. Matching outfits that fit differently look less matched, not more. Made to measure fixes this.

• Ordering at different times. Dye lots and fabric stock change. Order as one group.

How we make matching outfits

Start a bridesmaid and family order, choose how the outfits should go together, and add each person's name and WhatsApp number. We send each of them her own link for measurements and follow up with anyone who hasn't finished. There's no minimum group size, and you can choose one payment or let each person pay for her own, in full in advance. Start about four weeks before the first function. Read the full steps in custom bridesmaid dresses.