Who should pay for the bridesmaid's dress?

I think that it depends. If the bride requires the bridesmaids to wear a certain kind of dress that would have to be custom made, then the bride is the one who should pay. Else if it's okay to go in any dress your friend should pay for it or she could wear a dress she already has. Same goes for shoes, as for the hair and makeup maybe your friend should pay for them.

You got me. I've never even been a bridesmaid, much less a bride! I think she needs to tell her friend that she can't afford to be in the wedding party because she can't afford all the expected (and unexpected) expencises. She can be as nice as possible about it, but she shouldn't have to run up a huge debt for someone ELSES wedding!

Traditionally, the bridesmaids pay for their own dress, etc. If it is a hardship for her, she should let her friend know as soon as possible. If the bride really wants here there, and can afford to, maybe she will offer to help your friend with the expense.

I'm not really sure my mother helped me get the material for a wedding dress for mine. My grandmother made mine. She has been a sewer for years. She use to work in a sewing factory for ages and she also use to redo clothes for people and she was great at it.

I think it was my gran who paid for mine when my auntie got married. It's customary for the father of the bride to pay for the wedding itself, but not sure if that stretches to bridesmaid dresses etc. I think it's perobably up to your friend to pay for it, but if the bride has chosen a realy expensive bridesmaid dress that she insists she wear and pays for, then i think that's a bit too much to ask!

That happen to me too, whenever there's a wedding in my relatives and friends they always invite me to be a bridesmaid or one of the sponsors, all of them was paid by the couple it only once that i paid for my gown but not the make ups and other, I am the one who paid for the gown and buy my own shoes to wear on that wedding, its the wedding of one of my mothers cousin. At first of course I was shock learning that I am the one to pay my gown and shoes, coz as in my past experiences I dont spent any single amount of money and beside they are the one who need my service and I dont volunteer to them, but of course I have nothing to do than to pay my own dress. Maybe other couples do that in order for them to dont spend too much money in their wedding and maybe one of the reason also is maybe the couples dont have enough money so they assigned their sponsors to spent their own money for the clothes they are going to wear. At least we helped them.