Does the shade of the bridesmaid dresses have to match the other decor?

I would not over-react to this, for 2 reasons. One, I think it's very possible the swatch may look a little darker than the dress will. You can also talk to the florist about having reflective satin, like gold, in the bouquet that will help. The other reason is I know someone who actually planned her purple and gold wedding to incorporate a dark shade and a light shade. You just need that as an accent if there's not another color.

The only thing you need to be a little careful of is getting the exact "tint" of your dark purple, and then try lightening it to see what the shades look like. I've used .ppt for this type of thing several times. I just customize until I get the exact dark purple and stick it in a box as fill. Then I make another box and just lighten that color - don't add red or blue. Get a couple shades to work with your basic tint and I think it will be really pretty. In fact, you'd still want touches of the dark shade just to pop - centerpieces, etc. It sounds like it could be really pretty.

Quit sweating the small stuff. Your guests will simply notice purple. I can guarantee you with 100 percent certainty that not one of your guests will notice that the hue of the cake ribbon is not the exact same shade as your bridesmaids' dresses...especially when your bridesmaids are way over here while your cake is way over there.

Obviously you don't want to have 50 different shades of purple all within close proximity of each other, but no one is going to say "gee, this would have been a perfect wedding except that the bridesmaids dresses didn't match the seat cushion that I cannot even see because it is under my a$$."

Take a step back and re-read this question:

"Will it look OK if the bridesmaids' dresses aren't the exact same shade of purple as the ribbons on the cake?"

Doesn't this sound utterly ridiculous? Would YOU care about this nonsense if you went to someone else's wedding? Would you even notice if the bridesmaids' dresses weren't perfectly identical to the seat cushions or the cake ribbons?

Why would you stress over this? Why would you even CONSIDER changing the bridesmaids' dresses or the little details, especially considering that nobody on earth would ever even notice this?

Take a breath and relax. It's FINE if everything isn't perfectly matched. It's not SUPPOSED to be perfectly matched. It's just a PARTY!

Unless you wedding is outside, you need to see what the color looks like in the reception hall.

and no, not everything needs to match exactly. a shade or two or three lighter on the ribbon or napkins is not going to matter. It is not like your bm are going to holding their dresses up to them

tablecloths, seat cushions, ribbons are not going to come in the exact colors that bridesmaid dresses are made out of.

You state two colors, dark purple or in the eggplant family. Normally I am not a fan of sashes, but I would have sashes made tied with a candy box bow in the back (unless it just messes up the style of the dress completely)---test first, hold a light lavender up to dress then a light to medium pink as to me the dark purple is in the lavender/bue family while eggplant tends to go towards fuschia/mauve/pink family. Next, you say not everything is going to be matchy matchy but that's a lots of purple/purple seat covers and tablecloths. Back to bm if say the lavender ribbon looks best, o.k. then have bm carry bouquets of light to medium lavender some pink, maybe add a couple of tiny purple iris with yellow throat and even a couple of yellow say daisies and in this day of round bouquets which I am sick of,---dare to be different---- they could have a more traditional, longer, sort of v shape bouquet with small ribbon streamers tied with lover's knots which is basically a knot. This type bouquet or ever the round having the lighter flowers that blend more with the sashes will take away from the darkness of the purple and will break up all of that purple. Also if pinky family looks better, alternate with lighter pink flowers, some lavender, an iris or two to bring out the purple, but basically light lavender and pink flowers mixed for both. Two more ideas, the bridesmaids could carry baskets in say a cream color with flowers in it and streamers and this would be a good way to break up the color. Also a very small floral wreath for their hair with streamers, intertwine the small lavender or pink ribbon and have small streamers//although I don't really like, prefer the lighter, but if you want a purple ribbon closer to their dress color you could have tiny purple ribbon streamers as they would not be right up against dress nor the bouquets--all of this is going to break up the dark purple and guests will also focus on flowers/baskets/sashes and think hopefully, Oh how pretty, what a combination.

Next, to throw in, I have planned/designed weddings before part time and to say nicely you are going to have one big sea of purple. I would suggest white or cream tablecloths witht the purple chair covers and purple napkins. Another idea would be to have gold tablecloths or gold table throws or table runners or you can use a gold napkin turned not square, but end to end, points going up and down and across table and sit arrangement/whatever centerpiece on this, perhaps some gold table spray/crystals//////see this site http://www.save-on-crafts.com./

This way you could add more purple to your centerpieces, be it flowers or candles, etc. Another thing is to change cake to gold//can still have a bit or purlple, it will again help break up purple, perhaps you could have a white or cream tablecloth and have made if you can't find a purple lace tablethrow, thus having the white/cream showing thru and then gold on the cake with perhaps a gold or a small bouquet of gold, lavender and purple flowers. Depending on the size of the cake, we take the lid from a can of hairspray, wash, insert a tight fitting piece of oasis, the floral foam that is wet that holds live flowers and make a small topper for the flower and flowers come over enough so that container is not seen, but do not touch cake. A few bits of glittery gold would be pretty and add some pzazzz to the cake, just a loop or three or ribbon or some tiny tops of ting. Go to the door of the reception venue and walk in like a guest would and try to picture it both ways. Groomsmen since purple will be hard to match could have a gold/not glittery/ vest or a striped tie with small gold/purple stripes and a purple/lavender bout. Groom in perhaps a matte white vest with white and a bit of purple bout. Just some thoughts to throw in for you. Good luck and best wishes,.

Even if the florist found an exact match, different textures are going to look different shades under any lighting situation.

You're stressing over stuff no one else will notice. Stop. Enjoy your wedding!

What your guests will remember is whether or not the bride & groom looked happy & relaxed , took the time to interact with their guests & if they had enough to eat / drink.

Everything else is secondary & really only matters to you.

Also it is not as though all these things are going to held up against the bridesmaids dresses.

My wedding colors were black, lavender and green. I did not worry one bit about being matchy-matchy with the shades of lavender or green.

I didn't hear/see one person at my wedding say "OMG, those shades of purple are a little different, LOOK!!"

Nobody will notice/care except you.