Accessory And Dress Tips For A Mother Of The Bride

wedding-ringsAs a mother of the bride, you have the job of looking as fabulous as possible without outshining the bride. While you might find it easy to choose to wear a pencil dress or skirt and professional shirt combination, it can be a little harder to pick out accessories. Do you go for something subtle and leave all of the attention to the bride, or do you go for something a little more fabulous and show everyone just where the bride got her fashionable taste from?

While there is plenty of decisions whichever avenue you choose, most of them depend on your outfit and your personality.

The Dress
Whether you choose to wear a dress or a skirt is up to you, but the main rule is that it should not be white. Pencil skirts and dresses are very much in fashion and have been for some time. This is because they are modest, mature and yet still offer a feminine look and the ability to show off your curves. Pencils are form-fitting and sexy but demure in their own way, so they are perfect for a mother of the bride. If you aren’t comfortable in a pencil skirt, try a retro style with a flared skirt instead. Great ideas include choosing a dress that matches the theme of the wedding and going for modesty. If you pick a drab dress, you can always improve its look with a couple of unique accessories.

Choosing the Shoes
As a rule, your shoes should always match your dress and should usually be lower than those of the bride. You should also consider practicality in case of an outdoor wedding. If you want to ensure that you look less glamorous than the bride, consider going for a pair of strappy wedges in either black or the same color as your dress. The wedge gives you a more glamorous look while appearing modest and toned down enough to give the bride her day.

Hats, Veils and Fascinators
As the mother of the bride, you can choose to wear hats, veils and fascinators to match your dress. If you’ve gone with a specific brand of clothing, you can choose yours hats and veils from there. A couple of rules in this case include that you should again never choose white and you must ensure that the veil doesn’t cover your whole face. Other than that, you can choose something subtle or glamorous depending on your own personal taste. For example, you could choose to match the hat to all or part of the dress and match it to a jacket or even to your shoes.

Jackets and Cardigans
The last thing to choose from is whether you want a jacket or a cardigan. Usually it is a good idea to choose one or the other, although neither is absolutely necessary if the weather is warm. In either case, the material should either match with or contrast with your dress for a chic or fashionable look. If you choose to contrast with the dress, try matching accessories such as hat and shoes with your cardigan or jacket instead of with the dress.

There are plenty of things to think about when choosing your mother of the bride dress and accessories, but for the most part you should consider what the bride wants. Checking the theme and style of the wedding, the colours used in the wedding, what the bridesmaids are wearing and most importantly, what the bride is wearing, can be a lifesaver when picking out your outfit.

Gem Wilson is a writer who understands that a mother of the bride should not overshadow her daughters dress. She therefore suggests looking at Condici mother of the bride dresses to find something which is flattering and stylish whilst also being modest and somewhat understated.

Image Credit: SandHills Wedding Expo

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