Figuring out dress shopping can be challenging… no matter if you’re the bride, mother of the bride, mother of the groom, or a grandmother! Hopefully, today’s blog post can help you feel a little bit better about it before you start shopping.
By the way… we have an exclusive Mother’s Trunk Show coming up! You can find out all of the info about that at the end of this post.
TIPS FOR MOTHER’S DRESS SHOPPING
Here are all of our tips to make mother’s dress shopping as seamless as possible for your wedding!
Coordinate colors
In today’s modern world, there aren’t really any set rules on what colors the mothers should or shouldn’t wear. Although, most brides don’t want their mom to wear any version of white! It’s really completely up to you.
We do suggest having them complement the bridal party colors. You probably won’t want them to match the bridal party, but you don’t want them to clash either.
Some popular color options for mother’s dresses are gold, blush, navy, and gray!
Start early
Start shopping for the mother’s dresses as early as possible. Don’t forget that you need to leave some time for alterations! We suggest beginning the process about six to eight months before the wedding day. This will give you time to already have the wedding dress, as well as the bridal party dresses. This will make it super easy to coordinate everyone’s dresses!
Have the mother of bride and mother and groom coordinate
Speaking of coordinating…
Like we said before, in today’s modern world, there aren’t any set rules for what the mother of the bride vs mother of the groom wears. It is all personal preference!
Traditionally, the mother of the bride would shop for her dress first. This would then dictate what the mother of the groom would wear. But nowadays, this doesn’t have to be the case!
If possible, have both mothers talk to each other before shopping. They could even go shopping together! Typically, the mothers won’t match each other, but it’s a good idea to have them complement each other.
For example, say your bridesmaids are wearing blush. One mother could wear gray while the other wears navy! All of these colors complement each other beautifully.
Coordinate logistics
A huge component to mother’s dress shopping is figuring out the logistics of the wedding before shopping. You’ll want to consider the venue, the season of the wedding, and more.
Why do you want to do this? Well, for example, you probably don’t want your mother wearing an ornate, fancy gown to your rustic barn wedding. Although, she totally could if that’s what both of you want! The point is, you will want to have all of the logistics of the wedding figured out before shopping to ensure that the dress fits the vibe of the wedding.
Be flexible
This tip is for both the brides and the mothers.
Are you the mother? Do your best to be willing to try on what your daughter asks you to, even if you think that you won’t like it. Your daughter (or soon to be daughter-in-law, or granddaughter) likely has a very specific vision for her wedding and we are sure that you want her to be happy. It will be helpful if you’re willing to support her every step of the way! However, this doesn’t mean that you should be uncomfortable with what you’re wearing. It’s okay to tell her if you are uncomfortable with wearing something!
On the flip side, brides… do your best to be understanding if there is something that mom is uncomfortable wearing. If she doesn’t feel comfortable wearing a form-fitting gown or a strapless gown, try to be understanding and flexible!
Talk to her!
This is probably our most important tip in this entire post. Talk to each other. Brides should talk to the moms about what you’re envisioning, and moms should talk to the brides if they are truly uncomfortable wearing something.
Some things that you’ll want to discuss with each other are the formality of the wedding, a color palette (if there is one that you’re looking for), and an overall style that you both are envisioning.
Pictures are better than words, so show her some inspo that you have saved!
Feeling ready to start shopping for your mother’s dresses? We are having an exclusive Mother’s Trunk Show here at our Hagerstown shop from April 21-26, 2021. Click here to book your appointment or give us a call at (301) 665-1070! Book An Appointment