2011 Bridesmaid Dress Trends

While the main focus on any bride's wedding planning tends to be her own search for her "perfect dress," the hunt for the ideal bridesmaids dresses is generally another well-thought through part of the planning. There are two ways that the decision for the bridesmaid dresses is usually made; either the bride picks the dresses, or she leaves the decision up to her bridesmaids to figure out for themselves. Whether the bride is choosing the dresses or the bridesmaids are choosing them themselves, here is an overview of some of the popular bridesmaid dress fashion trends for the spring of 2011.

1. Pleated fronts: Whether thick paneled pleats, or more intricate looking pleats, a textured front is in style this spring. Both the more swiveled and overlaid pleats are on the market , as well as the straight, parallel pleats, such as is on the front of this classy Dessydesign.

2. Hues of blue: Classy and simple and "perfectly practical to wear again," navy blue bridesmaid dress designs lit up the runway for bridal party fashion for the spring of 2011. While most fashion designers understand that their gowns will often be available for purchase in a variety of colors in order to best accommodate a bride's desired wedding color scheme, fashion designers' decision to showcase so many of their designs in the navy blue shade for this spring will certainly set a standard for many weddings. The Monique Lhuillier bridesmaid dress collection for spring 2011 is the perfect example of a designer showcasing the navy blue color scheme.

3. A little bit of sash: The spring 2011 Alfred Sung bridesmaid dress collection fully incorporates this theme into many different designs, such as this simple but elegant number. The sash adds a touch of vibrancy to an otherwise simple dress design without causing the dress to look too tacky to be worn to other occasions besides the wedding party.

4. Non-matching dresses: Since many brides are quite aware of the differences in body shapes and style preferences of their bridesmaids, it is becoming more and more popular to choose bridesmaid dresses of different styles to best accommodate for this. Generally all of the gowns are made from the same color of material, but all of the dresses are of different styles. One easy option for this is the convertible/twistable dresses, which offer the flexibility of a variety of dress styles all within the exact same dress; each convertible dress is designed in such a way as to allow the fabric to be wrapped in different ways to create different dress styles.