Countless tales have been told of unhappy bridesmaids who had to walk down the aisle in dresses they dislike or that were clearly unflattering. Some brides have hit on the clever idea of letting their bridesmaids choose their own dresses. It’s practical, too: Why not let each attendant pick out a dress she actually likes and can use again? It is perfectly proper for your bridesmaids to wear different dresses. There is absolutely nothing wrong with variations on a theme. Bridesmaids’ dresses may be identical in texture and style but not necessarily in color-or vice versa. The trend these days is away from costume-like sameness. It is, however, a good idea to give your attendants some general guidelines so that the wedding party doesn’t look clash visually. Have the attendants select dresses of similar lengths, styles, and colors, for example. You can have each bridesmaid wear a slightly different variation on one color-red, for example, with one attendant in rose, another in soft pink, and another in sunset red. One bride asked her attendants to pick floor-length dresses with short sleeves in various shades of purple. The result was a glorious blend of a lavender, violet, and magenta- a living, breathing wedding bouquet!