Does a flower girl buy her own dress

[pammypooh]

My sil asked my 2 dd to be flower girls and kindly told me to buy whatever I wanted for them to wear. I hit ebay and found beautiful new flower girl dresses at a fraction of cost they would have been in a retail store. Highly recommend ebay if possible. Just measure dd and check measurements on dress listed, not all sizes measure same. Good luck!

Pam

 

[Danauk]

I guess things must be different here in England! I paid for my bridesmaids dresses (I designed my wedding dress and my braidsmaids dresses and had them made by a friend who was a dress maker). We also paid for the best mans suit hire, groomsmans suiy hire etc.
When I was matron of honour for my friend a few years ago she paid for my dress too. I guess where I am from if you invite someone to take part in your special day you should pay for it.

 

[swea_pea1]

I chose my niece as my flowergirl and by the time I got married, she was going professional She had been in 4 weddings before mine so I just told my DB and SIL to pick the one they liked best and have her wear it. She looked lovely, and since the other weddings were either for friends or on SIL's side of the family, nobody had seen it before. I would have never, ever asked for her to wear one of those expensive dresses from the bridal stores. I agree that you should talk to the bride about her flexibility and see if you can get something similar on ebay or at a department store.

 

[jel0511]

Yes, you are expected to pay for the dress. I hope you don't end up in a situation like I was in. DSil wanted DD to be in the wedding, which was going to be an ALL OUT affair (I know they spent over $50k for the wedding). We ended up having to buy a $250 flower girl dress for DD, after "compromising" down from one that was over $400!!! YIKES!! Now, it's not like I don't have the money, but to spend that much money on a dress DD would only be able to wear once was NUTS! My dress for that wedding was over $300, and DH was in the wedding also, so this wedding with all gifts, shower, etc costs us a fortune, well over $2k after all was said in done. Now, here's the kicker. A little one year after they were married, they separated!!!!

 

[CEDmom]

I most weddings each participant is expected to pay for their own attire. When DH and I got married my niece was my flower girl. I gave my SIL the colors we were using and just asked her to pick out a nice dress that would complement them. It saved me having to pick one out and I knew my SIL had nice taste. My niece looked wonderful and was happy since she had helped pick it out. I have no idea how much it cost or where my SIL got it. Honestly, I've seen really pretty dresses for little girls at Target so it's a crime to spend a fortune on something she'll probably wear once.

 

[clh2]

Originally posted by tkyes
The stores have their Easter dresses out right now and so many of them look like flower girl dresses.

Our flower girls dress was only $17 and it was adorable.

On my way to a dept. restroom, I passed the perfect dress for my two flower girls. I think at that point, with a current sale, the dress were about $25 each, and were perfect. Not as good of a deal as the $17, keeping in mind that we are celebrating our 14th anniv. tomorrow. The parents bought the shoes, I got the dresses. My husband and I paid for all the dresses of the bridesmaids too. Most of them had husbands who where standing up for us, and we figured that way each couple only had to pay for dress alterations, a pr of black patent leather pumps (each picked their own) and the tux for the guy. Some of the people who stood up for us could easily afford the attire, for others it would have been a stretch. 3 of the 4 couples standing up for us were just buying their first houses, and we just didn't want money to become an issue.

 

[Alex]

DD has been a flower girl a couple of times. I never worried about the cost of the dress considering we had to get plane tickets to go to the weddings!

 

[KristiKelly]

Yes, you do. DD is in a wedding in June, luckily I found someone with the EXACT $140 dress in a size 4 willing to sell for $30. Yippee!!! I still have to get shoes, hair and rent DS a tux & shoes, though.

If she wants them to wear white ballet slippers, you can get those @ payless for $11-12.

 

[Nutsy]

Originally posted by Danauk
I guess things must be different here in England! I paid for my bridesmaids dresses (I designed my wedding dress and my braidsmaids dresses and had them made by a friend who was a dress maker). We also paid for the best mans suit hire, groomsmans suiy hire etc.
When I was matron of honour for my friend a few years ago she paid for my dress too. I guess where I am from if you invite someone to take part in your special day you should pay for it.

Same here. When we were married I had a close family friends DD 3 for my flowergirl. However, neither my bridesmaids, flowergirl or myself wore something from a bridal store. I had all our dresses made & I paid for the material & dressmakers & DH paid for the hire of the mens suits.

I guess it really does depend on where you come from.

Also, with my flowergirl she wore cream shoes, as she wasn't in white like most flowergirls, she wore a Miniature Bridesmaids dress & was ever so proud to do so. Plus my bridesmaids were able to have their dresses altered after the wedding for no cost.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

I paid for both of DD's flower girl dresses (lucky girl )

For my brother's wedding, I paid for the dress, about $110, and he and his fiance were kind enough to pay for the alterations - another $80, I think.

Which reminds me, I keep debating on listing the white one on ebay. I hesitate because I don't know how DD would feel about it and with the alterations, esp. to the spaghetti straps, I don't know how worthwhile it would be.

 

[beachbunny]

Wow! That's big news to me. Maybe things are different here on the left coast? When I got married, I purchased all the dresses and rented all the tuxes. Also, I've been in several weddings and have never purchased a dress. I think I'd feel bad asking someone to purchase a dress they won't use again - and ladies, we all know how frequently we use those those flower girl/bridesmaids dresses again.

My sister's getting married soon and no-one in the bridal party is being asked to shell out a dime. All of us - including the flower girl - just had to send our measurements to the dressmaker. She's even purchased our accessories - cute jade necklaces and earrings.

 

[AirForceRocks]

I've been in half a dozen weddings, and in all but one, I purchased my own dress, shoes, accessories, etc. The one that I didn't pay for was made by the bride's mother. She also made my wedding dress and bridesmaid's dresses as a wedding gift, so my attendants only had to buy their shoes.

But it's always been a given to me that I would buy my own dress if I'm asked to be in a wedding.

 

[iNTeNSeBLue98]

From the knot

Wedding party members pay their own way when it comes to clothing -- the women buy their dresses and the men rent their formalwear. Everyone should be made aware of this financial responsibility when they first accept the invitation to be in your wedding. It's fine for the bride and groom to offer to pay for dresses and tuxes, but it's certainly not mandatory and most couples can't really afford to do so. What you can do is avoid going overboard and choosing a $400 bridesmaid dress. Ask about and keep your friends' budgets in mind when deciding what they'll wear.

and from wednet

The general rule with attendant-wear is that attendants pay for their own garments, including shoes but not including flowers. When you have child attendants, their outfits are paid for by their parents.

There is nothing wrong with the bride and groom deciding to pick up the bill for their attendants' clothing. It's a very generous gesture! But it's not required by any rule of etiquette.

The result of the "attendants buy their own attire" rule is that, if a couple and their child are all in your wedding (for instance, maid of honor, groomsman, and flower girl), they may face rather steep expenses for the honor of attending you. There are several ways that a considerate bride and groom can make the financial burden less heavy without sacrificing an elegant wedding.

Hope this helps

 

[Mimi Q]

My older DD has been a flower girl 4 times. We had to purchase her dress for each wedding- plus pay for the shoes and have her hair done. I think we paid about $100 each time for the actual dress.

 

[robinb]

Thank goodness I'm too old to be in anyone's wedding!

The last wedding I was in was my own and I allowed everyone to wear whatever they wanted to. Even my bridesmaid (my sister)! We didn't have a bunch of bridesmaids and groomsmen, just my sister, my BIL and a couple of friends who were ushers and one wore red . In addition, my mother, my grandfather, my MIL and FIL held the huppa. We had a great wedding!