Help! Junior bridesmaids dresses

[TheGirlOnTheLanding]

My DDs (13 and 11) were asked by a family member to be bridesmaids, and are very excited. However, the timeline is short (wedding is March) and they have to match or at least tone in some way with the senior bridesmaid who is in a tea-length dark green dress. To complicate things further, we live nowhere near bride. All the 'proper' bridal shops near here seem to have minimum 14 week lead times and there's nothing green in Next, John Lewis, Debenhams or Boden (sales on too which doesn't help) and Monsoon and Jigsaw stop at age 12-13 which will be too small for eldest (an adult size 6 or age 13-14). The online shops in China have great selection and good pics but very poor reviews. Have I missed anywhere obvious? DH suggested buying cream dresses and getting green sashes but although I think that works for little flower girls I'm not sure if it would look odd on older girls. Any thoughts?

I like dh suggestion and will be much simpler than combing stores for green dresses. Very Kate Greenaway.

We purchased dresses from tkmaxx for bridesmaid duties 3 times!! Most of their shops have a wedding section!!

Whit with a sash can look well on older girls.

Never even thought of TK Maxx, @Tinselistacky, will take a look at our local branch. @LittleLights aren't the Amazon dresses all from China? I think I want to buy from the UK so I can return if unsuitable.

@ILoveDolly and @Mulberrysilk glad you both think sashes might work - I think it might tie the scheme together better than trying to match colours from a different shop anyway but teen DD just made a face when it was suggested!

Asos.

Off the rack in a bridal shop - go to several and see what's there. I bought my friends MOH dress that way, £99 down from £300.

Can you find out where the bridesmaid dress is from and see if they have a coordinating range?

Also why are you sorting this and not the bride& groom?

TK Maxx, Debenhams, Asos. Also if you are passing Bridal Shops some will have off the peg dresses on Sales Racks. I agree that a cream colour dress with a green ribbon might be easier.

I like DH's idea as you can ensure that the sashes are exactly the right colour whereas the dresses would only be an approximation. I'd get down to the sales and look for cream dresses reduced at Monsoon (adults) and Coast, also maybe in the department stores.

Where are you roughly in the uk?

DD was bridesmaid this last summer and the bride shopped for her at David’s Bridal in central bham, 2 min walk from the station. I was a bit boggled by the choice of colour and style if I’m honest and they def had every shade of green imaginable. Delivery wasn’t more than 3 months so if you got a wriggle on or called them to discuss it? As an example they do this in 5 different shades of green, or the same green in slightly different styles for each DD. I’d try calling you never know....?

I can't see any children's dresses on Asos or Coast (younger DD is 10 so we need one for her as well; ideally I want both DDs dresses to be the same).

@Alabasterangel6 I'm nowhere near Birmingham but that sounds ideal: I'll see if they have a website I can look at.

And I'll give the local bridal shop a ring and ask if they have any off the shelf dresses, thanks for the suggestion. I just assumed with the 14 week lead time that was out of the question.

@MrsNacho, we are sorting it as the bride is 100s of miles away so can't just pop to the shops with the girls (chief bridesmaid is a few hundred miles away from the bride in a different direction so it's a logistical nightmare, frankly!)

That is very kind of you to sort it for them. They can't complain of it's not quite right.

A lot of the dresses in wedding dress shops are polyester and made in china . They just marks them up .. a lot !!

Could you find out from the Bride what the make/style/colour of the main bridesmaid's dress is and then contact the supplier and see if they can provide a colour swatch?

I had 2 adult bridesmaids and 1 junior and their dresses were 3 different, but coordinating, colours - all from the same supplier/designer. When we were choosing the colours we were able to order a bit of fabric in each colour so we could see them in real life and not just on a computer screen and see how they worked together. The fabric pieces they sent were large enough to be made into wraps for the bridesmaids to wear on the day. We then ordered additional fabric in the colour selected for the junior bridesmaid and had a dress made at a local dressmakers - she looked at the adult style and made it child-friendly (i.e. fitted differently across the chest etc)

If your DD doesn't want a sash then maybe a wrap or bolero style thing might work instead?

I made sash belts for my bridesmaids (age 11 and 10) in the same dark red colour as the adult bridesmaids dress. Very quick and easy and you could get as dressmaker to do them if you preferred. The dresses were John Lewis and had a sash style belt are day so the style adapted well. It was a while ago but something along these lines (except ago bit longer-ballet length I suppose)
m.johnlewis.com/john-lewis-girls'-charlotte-lace-bridesmaid-dress-ivory/p2481298

Do you want traditional bridesmaid style? Is this a similar colour green? It's from very.

This one also comes in smaller sizes and the second one although not a dark green may fit.

What about a local dressmaker?