[honeychile]

We tried almost all of the above, and I've also heard of other ideas! We did formals (any color), all black (anything), all black (dresses), and white dresses.

One VERY rich chapter has each sister decide what type of dress she wants, and the correponding pattern. She then buys the amount of materal (made exclusively for the chapter!) at a somewhat discounted price, and either uses one of several designated seamstresses, or finds one of her own. Frankly, I think this is MUCH too fussy, but I've seen the photos from this chapter's Pref and all I have to say is Oh.my.gosh!!!!!!

Another chapter orders 4-5 styles of dresses in black, styles and color lots that coordinate nicely, yet flatter each sister. I like this idea a LOT better, as there are enough styles to flatter but few enough to let the PNMs realize that they are coordinated.