What is the average price to be a bridesmaid?
My friend is getting married in 2 years and I am starting a savings account for her wedding (plane ticket, bridesmaid dress, hair, etc) and I need to know about on average how much it is to be a bridesmaid. I’ve already figured in $800 for plane ticket, hotel and food but I completely forgot about dress, hair, makeup, shoes and jewelry! Any help is appreciated 🙂 Thank you!
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:12 am
ballpark…(numbers are round up for estimation)
800 plane ticket, hotel, food
200 dress
150 hair and makeup
100 shoes
100 jewelry
150 present
100 bachelorette party, stag fun
1600? Give or take…
March 23rd, 2011 at 11:48 am
I would say bridesmaids dresses usually run between 150-300 dollars. Shoes plan about 40-60 in case you need them dyed. Hair and make up $30-50 dollars and jewlery $30-50. Those are just rough estimates. If I were you, I would diffently check in with your bride to get a rough estimate cost. She may want to go more pricey! Have fun as a bridesmaid!
March 23rd, 2011 at 12:43 pm
I understand paying for your dress, shoes, make up and hair, but why are you paying to get to HER wedding?
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:31 pm
The answer is going to depend upon the bride and has she indicated if she would be paying for any of these things for you – like hair/makeup?
My bridesmaids chose dresses priced between $150 and $270, but that didn’t hit them because my fiance & I decided to pay for their attire since they would incur travel costs to come to our wedding. If their dresses need alterations, that expense will be theirs. I asked my girls to wear black shoes – ones they already owned were fine – but shoes are usually $30 – $50. I am not requiring that they get their hair or makeup done so at this point I figured we would all do our own but that would probably cost $50 to $75 or more if they wanted a fancy updo. My fiance & I are providing the jewelry for them, too, so they don’t have that $25 expense. So my bridesmaids only need to pay their travel expenses and if they opt to have a bridal shower or bachelorette party they might have some expense there.
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:47 pm
I’ve been one 12 times. The least I ever spent was about $500 total. ($150 dress, $50 shoes, $150 hotel, $50 alterations, $100 my portion of shower). The most I’ve ever had to spent was over $2,000. ($200 dress, $100 alterations, $100 shoes she made us get, $200 hair and makeup she made us get, $200 my portion of shower, $300 hotel and a ton of other misc things. Of course this doesn’t include shower and wedding gift which usually is another $100 to $300 dollars.
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:55 pm
I would say you are on the right track on saving money for such a special occasion. If you figure your plane ticket, hotel, and food expense is around $800, then factor in another $500 for dress, shoes, jewelry, and hair for that day. I am an extra planner, so I would save up $1500 total – really not bad, about $75/month you need to put away until then.
March 23rd, 2011 at 1:58 pm
Wow, that sounds expensive just for flights to begin with!
It really does depend…
Can you get early bird tickets and save on the airfares? My bridesmaid is getting a $500 flight for $189 because she shopped around. She is also staying with me so she doesn’t need a hotel.
Also is the bride paying for anything? Can you use things you already have? I’m paying for the dresses, jewellery, makeup and on the day transport for my girls. They are wearing their own shoes in the right colour and then just pay for any alterations and their hair.
So for my girls it shouldn’t cost them more than $150 for the ones in town. The OOTer $339.
You have two years, get the whole picture from the bride first before you decide how much to save.
March 23rd, 2011 at 2:01 pm
dress can cost anywhere up to $500+ if she has rich taste and no regard for your finances. hopefully it’s less than $200 and something you can wear again.
hair can cost up to $50 depending on the city she’s getting married in, and if you’re going to a salon or if the stylist will come to you
makeup can be done free at a dept store makeup counter 😉 or up to $60 if a salon does it
shoes probably about $50
the jewelry is given to you by the bride
don’t forget to save up for the shower and wedding gifts, AND the cost of hosting the shower and bachelorette with the other bridesmaids.