These Dress Rental Companies Are A Bridesmaid’s Best Friend

Here's how to save your wedding party the hassle of buying a dress they'll never wear again.

We independently evaluate all recommended products and services. If you click on links we provide, we may receive compensation.

Disclaimer: Just so you know, if you order an item through one of our posts, we may get a small share of the sale.

We all know planning a wedding can stressful. As exciting as the occasion is, it definitely takes quite a bit of fine-tuning the details to create the party of your dreams. Choosing a wedding party is just one small piece in the grand design, but it’s inarguably crucial. After all, having your dearest guys and gals accompany you on such a special day can help create a beautifully memorable experience. What nobody wants is for the pressure of planning the perfect color palette and style for their bridesmaids’ dresses to be compounded by yet another exorbitant expense (for anyone involved). Worry no more; you can take a deep breath and check one major to-do off the list. Enter dress rental companies.

Why rent a bridesmaid dress?

While it may not be the first option that pops into your mind, it may be one of the best choices you make. Renting not only dramatically decreases the financial burden of paying for a slew of dresses that—more often than not—will only be worn once, but it also aligns impeccably with our 2018 goals of living more sustainably. Plus, what’s not to love about the convenience? The dress is mailed straight to your door, and you pop it into a UPS drop box when you’re ready to send it back. It eliminates the hassle of jumping from one store to another and at the same time opens up a world of sartorial possibilities you might not find at a local retailer. Check out the two best options below; we think you’ll quickly find yourself convinced.

Vow to be Chic

This company promises to save renters precious time, money, fitting issues, and sanity—things we all need more of. Vow to be Chic’s process begins with the bride (as it should). Brides can peruse thousands of designer dress rentals and consult a bridal stylist on style and color palette. After choosing the dresses you love, you can curate a “Bridal Suite,” which serves as an online closet of options for your ’maids. The site boasts countless breathtaking styles from well-known designers like Monique Lhuillier, Theia, and Nicole Miller. Even better? Many are sitting at prices under $100.


RELATED
These Dress Rental Companies Are A Bridesmaid’s Best Friend
As the bride, you electronically send invitations through the website to each of your bridesmaids, which shows them exactly which dress options you’ve selected for them. From there, they can select a dress, send in their measurements, and pay for the rental. You can track their orders and keep up with any dress-related communication through the site’s dashboard. Talk about easy. Your bridesmaids will receive their dress rental (and a free backup size) two weeks before the wedding. After the big day, they’ll simply mail the dress back to Vow to be Chic in the prepaid package. Did you notice that we didn’t say anything about cleaning? Yep, that’s also taken care of!

Rent the Runway

We’ve all heard of Rent the Runway, but most of us have used it when we’re attending a wedding as a guest, not as a member of the wedding party. Turns out they’ve got the latter covered too. With the new RTR Wedding Concierge comes a premier styling package for the gals in your wedding party. You’ll get a personalized style consult for each bridesmaid, an exclusive set of dress options, and a personal concierge to walk you through the entire process. With thousands of styles at nearly every price point, there’s a gorgeous option for every one of your bridesmaids. Free backup sizes, returns, and dry cleaning are on RTR. When the festivities are over, your bridesmaids will package their dresses with the prepaid shipping labels and thank you for being such a helpful bride.

Our Top Rental Picks

For a Minimalist Wedding

For lovers of the simple and sleek, head over to Vow to be Chic for Nouvelle Amsale’s dreamy Willa gown; the soft blue Cloud color is perfect for a sunny summer wedding. At Rent the Runway, we recommend the Sleek Navy Cut Out Gown by Elizabeth and James; the column style is perfect for a no-frills formal affair.

For White Tie Glam

Your bridesmaids can go fully white tie in the Forest Gown by Badgley Mischka. (If green’s not the color you’re going for, RTR has several glitzy Badgley Mischka gowns that will turn heads.) The Donna Morgan Tiffany dress available at Vow to be Chic kicks shiny up a notch with a beautiful embellished pattern made of beads and sequins.

For a Vintage Vibe

This Blush Christie Gown from Jay Godfrey at RTR takes us back to the 1970s in all the best ways. To go even more retro, the sweet halter-style Watters dress by Mulberry hits the ’50s mark—we love it in plum.

For a Casual Affair

Your guests won’t be able to look away from the eye-popping Tara dress from Karen Zambos; for a summer bride who loves color, it’s the obvious choice. Vow to be Chic has the Kiera from Jenny Yoo; with a variety of colors and ways to tie the dress, it’ll work for any bridesmaid. For a super casual vibe, we like it loosely draped over one shoulder.


RELATED
These Dress Rental Companies Are A Bridesmaid’s Best Friend

Lauren Bondi
Lauren is your average (not-so-average) multipotentialite with a drive for anything authentic. Her passion for elevating the lives of others has steered her toward serving up lessons on self-love and wholesome living. Mixing this fire with a desire to understand the science behind her passions, we have a woman who’s comfortable nerding out to explain why love is so crucial to our existence as human beings and why superfoods are truly pretty super. As she gears up to start pursuing her doctoral degree in clinical psychology, she—of course—is happily juggling a few more things. She’s one of our contributing writers whose free spirit calls her to some time spent blogging, personal training, nutrition counseling, and relentlessly light-working. Boxes? Those don’t exist with this one.