After Kim Kardashian sent her bridesmaids down the aisle in spectacular Vera Wang-fashion, we’ve decided to turn our attention to bridesmaids dresses. How do you a find a look that’s current, won’t upstage your own dress and above all, that all of your bridesmaids will be excited to wear? It’s no easy task! Shopping for yourself is one thing, but shopping for your friends is a whole other ball game. So we’ve gathered together advice from some top wedding planners and stylists to bring you a guide to getting it right for your big day. If you’re looking for inspiration for bridesmaids dresses, try the new occasionwear collection at Coast for some on-trend ideas.

• Let your own dress be your guide

As the bride to be your dress will always take centre stage at the wedding celebrations, so it’s important to choose your own dress first. Once the wedding gown has been chosen, you’ll be able to use this as a reference point to look for bridesmaid’s dresses that compliment your own gown’s style, colour and fabric too. You want dresses that take elements from your own gown but aren’t too similar.

• Styles that suit

If you want your bridesmaids to wear matching dresses, look for styles that flatter all body shapes. While you might fall in love with a particular style, always bear in mind your bridesmaids’ body types. Talk to them and discuss their likes and dislikes. As a general rule of thumb, empire waistlines and the classic A-line cut look good on all shapes and sizes.

• Mix and match

Traditionally weddings featured a row of bridesmaids in identical dresses, but not so the modern wedding. Today you’re free to mix it up a little and be a lot more flexible. Choosing a variety of dresses for your bridesmaids not only helps to find styles that suit all of your friends’ body shapes, but helps them to express their own personal style too. To tie it all together and mark your bridesmaids out as special attendees on your big day, choose a single colour or fabric for the dresses and allow your bridesmaids to choose their own styles.

• Colour choices

Choosing a colour that suits all of your bridesmaids’ skin tones can be tricky. Pales and pastels work wonders on some, but make others look a little washed out. As a general rule, darker shades tend to suit more skin tones across the spectrum. So look out for fabrics in deep berry reds and burgundy, bottle greens and deep royal blues.

• Modern means wearable

Why buy your bridesmaids dresses that they can only wear once, only to hang in their closets for all eternity? Choosing modern dress styles rather than going down the traditional route of fancy frills and bows has several benefits. It means that your wedding will have a more modern aesthetic all round, and your bridesmaids will have beautiful gowns that they can wear again and again by teaming them with different separates and shoes in the future.