We hear versions of this every day. 

 ”I want my flower girl dress to match my brides maids.”

There are many reasons or versions of “want it to match”.  Let’s discuss it.

To get a true understanding of the concept of matching garments - which means matching fabrics - we have to discuss fabric itself. 

All garments are made out of fabric, of course.  Every manufacturer purchases their fabric from different places at different times.  That’s assumed too, right?

Every time fabric is woven and dyed, it comes out a different hue.  Even if it is milled and dyed by the same company - slight variations that can range from the dye itself to the temperature and humidity of the day - will affect the shade or hue the fabric comes out.

This means that the same fabric from the same company will look different with each “dye lot”.  What do you care about dye lot?  Quite a bit, really.

To get all brides maids’ dresses to match, they have to be ordered specifically from the same dye lot.  This means that to get the flower girl dresses to match, they have to be ordered from the same manufacturer - at the same time - and from the same dye lot.

Expecting one company to match the dye lot of another is, well, rather precarious.  And remember - even fabric samples from this dye lot will be different from the next dye lot. 

In short, getting dresses to match at different times from different companies really isn’t the best or most reasonable expection.  Are there alternatives?  Abosolutely!  We’ll be covering those in the days to come.

In the mean time, be sure to check out our free Wedding Tips - this is covered there extensively along with a lot more about colors and including children in weddings.