No wedding party is complete without the ultimate bridal squad. These are individuals the bride has chosen as her support system, and the ones who have the honor of standing by her side on the big day. What's more, bridesmaids also have the privilege of posing for various photos throughout the night, so what they wear to a wedding is of the utmost importance.
Fortunately, when it comes to wedding day fashion, Brides has a library of the most beautiful and diverse bridal party looks that can serve as inspiration for future brides-to-be. (Eliminating the stress that goes into selecting wedding party outfits.) And as we reflect back on our collection of real weddings, we put together a list of the best bridal party attire for everyone to see. From colorful mismatched dresses to gorgeous golden ensembles, keep scrolling ahead to view the most amazing bridesmaid looks of 2022.
Bold Goddesses
Khiari McAlpin asked her bridesmaids to embrace their personal style by wearing an assortment of olive green, gold-like ensembles for her luxe black-tie wedding. “It was imperative that we had beautiful bridesmaids’ dresses because they truly set the tone for the bridal party,” Khiari told Brides. “Phylicia Ellis created eight different looks in an olive green color that allowed each lady to have a look that reflected her style.”
Bronze Beauties
For Jasmine's classic New Jersey celebration, her bridesmaids donned bronze-hued, satin mermaid gowns that effortlessly fit their individual silhouettes. When asked about the Jessica Angel floor-length designs, she noted, “I wanted them to match the neutrals in the florals."
Pretty in Pink
We love how Stephanie Tresil embraced a variety of pink hues for her fashion-forward Amalfi Coast wedding. “Every bridesmaid wore a different style of tulle dress in different shades of pink," Stephanie explained. "My maid of honor—my sister—wore a Marchesa Notte floral pink dress. I mostly wanted them to feel comfortable in their dresses, but still have a romantic look.”
Uniquely Perfect
Catie Li didn't have a traditional wedding party and instead opted for a "bridal squad," which consisted of a group of her closest friends and a maid of honor. To celebrate this non-traditional approach, she asked everyone to choose their own dresses for the big day. "I let the girls pick their own dresses as I wanted them to feel beautiful! Since this was a black tie event, I felt their dresses fit that detail," shared Catie.
Leafy Motifs
Alexa Romero leaned into her lush wedding vibes by asking her bridal party to wear a variety of rich olive green gowns for her Seattle celebration. “It was really important to me that my bridesmaids felt comfortable and themselves in their outfits,” Alexa explained. “I love, love the way it all turned around. It looked cohesive, but everyone also looked so good on their own.”
Pastel Moments
Using the summer season as inspiration, Marielle Scott opted for her wedding party to wear a mixture of pastel shades on the big day. "We decided to go with colors that evoked happiness and summer," explained Marielle. "The pinks and gold brought a sense of play that is really important to Ryan and I. We both love the summer and being outside, so bringing that into the vision was very important to us."
Floral Party
Florals are a great way to invoke individuality into your wedding party's attire, and we love how Sam Hirschmann incorporated floral-filled ensembles into her Italian multi-day celebration. “Bridesmaids wore floral dresses with a color scheme of blue, green, and a dash of blush, while my bridesman wore a baby blue suit,” Sam shared.
Black-Tie Guayabera
When Catrina Cosculluela decided to host a wedding that honored her Cuban heritage, she made the decision to also infuse her culture into her bridal party's attire. “We wanted to tie in our Cuban heritage and decided we wanted our guests to wear a traditional Cuban formal Guayabera," including her bridesmaids, who adhered to the black-tie Guayabera dress code.
Golden Simplicity
For Lauren Dillard's elegant Brooklyn wedding, she chose beautiful golden gowns for her bridesmaids to wear on the big day. “Following the ‘simply elegant’ theme, the bridesmaids were in gold dresses with matching shoes, and the groomsmen wore black suits with white shirts," she told Brides.
Secret Garden
As you've probably already noticed, florals were a huge trend in 2022, and we love how Gina Matar allowed her bridal party to personally lean into this style. “I was inspired by florals, but ultimately let the girls choose what they wanted and encouraged them to find something that excited them,” Gina shared. “One of the best friends even designed and made her own dress.”
Classic Black Dresses
Hailey Stone went the classic route and had her bridesmaids wear formal black gowns that perfectly matched their individual aesthetics. “I wanted my bridesmaids to feel confident and sexy, while also being appropriate for a church wedding,” Hailey shared. “One of my favorite designers, Solace London, made all the bridesmaid dresses and the girls got to choose their favorite dress that suited their own personal style.”
Metallic Rainbow
Though many brides favor mismatched dresses for their bridesmaids, Kendra Ellis's version takes the top spot for most fashion-forward. “I didn’t want to have a traditional bridal party where all of my friends wore the exact same dress,” Kendra shared. “They are all so unique, so I asked them to wear any dress that made them feel confident in the gold or copper color family. They looked like a metallic rainbow!”
Bursts of Personality
Michelle Kahl gave her friends the freedom to choose their own ensembles for the big day, which resulted in a burst of color and personality. "My ‘friends of honor’ also picked their favorite color from the palette and a dress style of their choice,” Michelle shared with Brides. “I wanted everyone to feel comfortable and wear something they loved, but still feel like we styled the group above just wearing anything. I sent lots of ideas and inspiration, but ultimately everyone picked a dress they just loved.”
Upscale Glamour
Taylor Miggins turned up the glamour for her modern, luxe, and sultry-themed wedding, which is translated by the gorgeous black Bella Bridesmaids gowns each member of the bridal party wore. “The dress had one strap which really fit everyone beautifully,” the bride shared. “They paired the dress with a classic black strappy heel and thin, medium-sized hoops.”
Rustic Glam
For Jordana Schrager's rustic-glam Nashville wedding, she simply instructed her bridesmaids to lean into their preferences and choose a dress that fit the theme. “I didn’t give my bridesmaids any specific directions or requirements, as I wanted everyone to add their own unique style and personality into the mix,” Jordana explained. “Everyone looked amazing, and the colors matched the wedding décor perfectly.”
Fashionably Cohesive
Opting for just her mom and sister to be by her side, Paola Ruiz Adame's micro-bridal party was a true fashion-forward vision. The duo wore luxe, jewel-tone gowns that complemented each other, which made for a cohesive look without matching design aesthetics.
Sunset Shades
For Sabrina Rudolph's nightclub-inspired wedding, her bridesmaids stunned in pink-hued gowns that complemented her hot pink color scheme. Allowing each person to select their own look (from a pink or sunset color palette), Rudolph was thrilled with the end result, sharing, “it came out so beautifully and everyone was so happy since they chose their own dresses.”
Eclectic Florals
Everything about Leora Soleymani's wedding was absolutely breathtaking, including the pastel-hued floral gowns her bridesmaids wore. “It was important to me that my bridesmaids felt beautiful too, and I wanted something more eclectic than the traditional one color,” Leora said. “[We] went with a very mixed-and-matched floral print look. It was not an easy task because florals can go in so many directions, but my gals did a great job of coordinating a really nice palette. It was exactly what I had envisioned.”
Simple Silks
The looks that Panama Marquand's bridal party wore are true examples of modern bridesmaid attire done right. For her Santa Barbara wedding, she only instructed her friends to find silk dresses and let them handle the rest from there. “I had a rough vision for simple silk dresses that were the colors of the sunset. I didn’t want matchy; I just wanted them to feel like the sexy women they are," she told Brides.
Eclectic Yet Collective
Agee Taylor requested that her best friends wear shades of yellow, orange, and pink, in various textures, fabrics, styles, and patterns, for her colorful mountain celebration. “Creating the aesthetic of my bridesmaids’ looks was actually one of my favorite parts of the planning process,” Agee shared. “I knew I wanted them to be in dresses that were true to their personal styles to create an eclectic-yet-collective feel.”
Streamlined Simplicity
Sticking to her wedding day color scheme, Kristin Sills channeled modern-day simplicity, while adhering to traditional aesthetics. For her European-inspired Dallas wedding, her bridesmaids wore the same satin champagne ensembles from Fame and Partners, which looked utterly beautiful and wonderfully cohesive.
Perfectly Vibrant
Georgia took a unique approach, asking her bridesmaids to sport two different looks on the big day: one for the ceremony and one for the reception. However, it was their bold yellow midi dresses that caught our attention when looking back at her wedding. The midi ensembles are chic, sweet, and undeniably special.
Hollywood Glam
Actress and singer Naturi Naughton threw the most epic celebration for her 2022 Atlanta wedding, fully embracing the world of bridal fashion with her multiple outfit changes. She also didn't hold back when it came to her bridesmaids, dressing them in rose gold ensembles in a variety of necklines and cuts. "I wanted to give my girls [a chance] to choose a dress that would flatter their body more and not just put everybody in the same thing," Naturi shared.
Desert Whites
For her modern Joshua Tree wedding, Sage decided to ask her bridesmaids to sport a color many guests avoid wearing: white. Her reasoning? Since her wedding gown was a blush hue, she didn't see an issue with her bridal party embracing this shade. “We wanted the wedding to be black tie, so I was looking for a silky dress that was floor length but also not boring,” she shared. “I really wanted my girls to look amazing. I wanted them to feel sexy and beautiful.”
Rich Neutrals
Lauren Kita is another bride who leaned into the mismatch trend, leading her gals to wear a variety of satin dresses in gold, moss green, and champagne hues. “I liked having the mixed colors add dimension while still matching the neutral color scheme,” Lauren shared.