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Show me your MOB outfits!

shiny

Veteran

Hi all - both my daughters recently got engaged. No dates formerly set just yet, but my oldest is looking at Spring/Summer 2022 and the youngest has her heart set on early November 2022. I figure it's not too early to begin thinking about my mother of the bride dresses for both occasions!

To that end, would you mind sharing with me what you wore for your own kids' weddings? I'm also interested in recommendations on where to shop--- I'll need a petite and I've been noticing those options are fast disappearing since the pandemic (Nordstrom, you are guilty here!).

I also have a niece getting married Memorial Day weekend next year. And a nephew that's not yet engaged but probably will also be added to the list. I'm less stressed out about finding an "auntie" dress for those-- I may even already have something in my closet that would work.

48 replies

Latest reply was from Kyle

bj1111

Veteran

so my mother dressed in a white long dress during my wedding!

i was just so exhausted by the event planning that i didn't even process it until someone mentioned it to me.

i did wear a tuxedo suit to walk my cousin down the aisle. that is as close as i'm getting to mob.

shiny

Veteran

Oh no! I promise I won't wear white! I'd like to stay away from black as well.

Youngest (November wedding) wants fall colors (oranges and yellows), which are my worst colors. But I think I could do red or burgundy.

Oldest (spring/summer) is eyeing a butterfly garden for her wedding venue. She loves all the colors of the rainbow, so I should think anything will go.

I should mention both intend on having outdoor ceremonies-- so probably will need long sleeves or a warm topper for the November wedding. Once they pick venues and dates, I'll have a bit more idea of formality, though youngest is set on an evening reception. Oldest has yet to decide---- she actually just wanted to elope already.....

Stagiaire Fash

Veteran

Congratulations!
For the November wedding, I think it’s hard to find red & burgundy that go with orange and yellow. Might be easier to do sage, maybe in a dense print. How are you with that kind of super-pale yellow they call wheat?

ETA This top looks like just the kind of pattern & colors I mean https://youlookfab.com/welookf.....ual-colors

Jonesy

Veteran

I have not been in a wedding as a parent yet, but I have to add my two cents because this is a fun topic :). Lots of upcoming excitement in the Shiny household, with two weddings! I love the idea of a deep red or burgundy for the November wedding--to my eye, those colors work beautifully for fall. It will be an easier task to find something for the spring/summer butterfly garden setting, I'm guessing

LOLing at BJ's story about her own wedding (and I love the tuxedo idea!). I am definitely not a traditionalist re. wedding stuff, but my MIL had a white lacey top and matching skirt custom made to wear to my wedding, which I found interesting and a harbinger of things to come (red alert: boundary issues :)!).

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Cardiff girl

Veteran

What is it with all these women wearing white to a wedding that isn’t their own?Are there not enough other colours to choose from,l don’t understand it!
sorry no help at all as my daughter is only a teenager but l envy you the chance to plan outfits for two weddings.How exciting.

JAileen

Veteran

My brother and I got married a few months apart. Our mother wore the same dress to both weddings. I’m not suggesting you should do that, but I certainly didn’t mind. It’s so hard to find a great dress.

Runcarla

Veteran

Jackie Kennedy at Caroline’s 1986 wedding has been my #MOgoals. No weddings on my agenda, but since it would be MOG in my case, I would not wear white or black (unless it was requested) and honour the bride’s colour scheme. Navy is a good choice - it always seems to photograph well and is handsome without being distracting. Wine, crimson, or dark red sounds good for the November date.

*Funny/not funny, my MIL wore a cream coloured dress with lace sleeves. I was a little surprised! However, she was a very good MIL!

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Janet

(website)

Veteran

No need to “match” the wedding colors, just don’t clash — that’s my philosophy. I think a burgundy would look nice with your one daughter’s fall color palette. My bridesmaids wore shades of blue ( ranging from periwinkle through turquoise), and my mom wore a pale peachy-gold colored suit. It looked wonderful.

I wore a simple sheath midi dress with a floral print on a black background for my stepson’s outdoor garden wedding. It was not terribly formal, and it was a dress I already owned.

My next family wedding was my niece’s wedding in London the following year. I ended up with this navy dress from WH/BM and have actually worn it a couple of times since then!

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MsMary

Veteran

YMMV, but I often like to wear a dressy skirt and top for fancy occasions. This is what I wore for my 60th birthday party a few years back and I can see myself wearing something similar if my son ever gets married.

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shiny

Veteran

MsMary there is no way you are 60! Wow! You look amazing.

Janet I'm in love with that navy dress!

FashIntern, yes I do have some yellow and also burnt orange in my wardrobe now-- difficult to avoid those colors as they've been so popular in recent years! I still don't feel like they are my best colors, but then again, it's my daughter's wedding so I'll wear whatever she wants.

Jonesy, that was what I had in mind when I thought of burgundy or red!

Complicating matters is that I'm sure I'll need to pick a color sooner rather than later as we also have a step-mom, MOG, and step-mom of the groom......... they'll all want to coordinate with whatever I choose. Also for this (the November wedding) DD wants to have her bridesmaids pick out whatever color fits the theme. And she has a lot of bridesmaids.

For the other daughter, it's not quite as complicated, as her fiance only has one set of parents. LOL

madeline

Veteran

Mother of the groom here in 2019.
I did try to be in the same color family
( no pun intended) as the MOB.
Mainly for the pictures. I picked the dress up at Nordstrom Rack and the topper at Nordstrom’s online. Good luck and have fun shopping!

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chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I'm sure my mom will ask what to wear, so I'm following this.
For my first wedding, she wore a pale pink skirt suit (* Very bad- would not recommend)

Style Fan

Veteran

My mother wore a paisley navy dress to my first wedding! My maid of honour and flower girl wore navy. Mr. SF #1 wore a navy suit with a paisley tie.
I wore this green dress to both of my stepsons' weddings. They were in the summer.

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cat2

Veteran

I would not wear red or burgundy. Red is on the wedding No list with white and black, and burgundy can veer too close to red and also offend. What about plum for Fall?

shiny

Veteran

Cat2, I've never heard red or burgundy are on the no list? Hmm. I was in a wedding years back and the bridesmaids all wore burgundy.

Madeline, that dress is gorgeous!! Nice find at the Rack!

StyleFran, you look beautiful in that shade of green.

Anonymous

One daughter married during lockdown on the town hall steps, no family allowed except on Zoom. It was very romantic, hopeful and poignant and did not require special attire.

The other had a traditional wedding for which I put some serious time in, thinking about exactly what I wanted my presence to be about. I had such a clear picture in my mind I felt like I recognized my dress the moment I saw it.

Linda

My daughter got married in 2012 in July. I ended up getting a dress from a venerable dress store in Maryland where I live. The dress was basically made for me, as I picked the color and had the style altered a bit. I couldn’t have been happier with the way it turned out! Photo is below. I had plenty of lead time so that was a good thing!

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shiny

Veteran

Phoebe I hear you on that, how your dress found you.

Linda, I love your dress!!!! Was this dress shop a bridal shop that sold MOB dresses too? I do wonder if I want to go that route. Seems it would allow more choice in color rather than sticking to off the rack. And yep I have plenty of lead time---- I don't want to be in a rush with this! Of course, a lot will depend on what my daughters choose to wear. Can't wait for the bridal gown shopping to commence. This will be so much fun!

Irina

Veteran

I wore a navy dress my son’s wedding in 2017. Bought it at Nordstrom and met a wonderful tailor who had a difficult task of altering the bodice, taking in sides and shortening the dress but it fit well once it was done. MOB was supposed to wear a navy dress, too but ended up getting a beautiful, beaded grey. We were free to choose any color we wanted.

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Linda

Thanks so much!! The dress was from a dress shop that had a floor for bridal wear. However, I actually bought the dress in the dress shop section, as opposed to the bridal section. I actually was going to buy a Tadashi Shoji dress at Nordstrom’s, and went to the store to basically convince myself to order the Shoji dress. However, the saleswomen in the shop had me try on about 3 styles and I just fell in love with this one! The fact that I could choose practically any color sold me on this dress!

slim cat

Veteran

So many beautiful dresses and pictures! I don't have any examples for you @shiny - but the knowledge of our Bloomingdales offerings - very slim this year ( same at Macy's and Nordstrom ) with petit dresses almost not existing.

My customers are offered in-store alterations and tailoring - shortening of the straps or the dress in general, removal of the beads, addition of the short sleeves or extra snaps, and so on. It costs extra but it works to the best results - great custom fit.
This past month ( or two ) was very busy with young women shopping for graduation dresses - it was sudden and very intense. Hopefully by July or August the formal dresses collections will be more present in every store and you'll find something great for your special events!

Jaime

(website)

Veteran

What a fun thread! Congratulations x 2, and I cannot imagine how exciting it is to have both your daughters getting married at once. My niece is getting married this summer, and I have yet to decide what to wear so I will be no help to you at all . Can't wait to see what you choose!

Bijou

Veteran

I am just loving this thread! What gorgeous and glamorous MOB's, MOG's and other celebrations we have on the forum. I bought this dress for my 25th wedding anniversary and would be happy to wear it to a wedding.

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shiny

Veteran

Irina and Bijou-- beautiful dresses!! I would love to wear navy, perhaps for DD's butterfly wedding (we're just going to call it that for now, LOL). Not sure it would work with the November theme?

Slim Cat-- phew, I hope so!! I don't mind altering for such a special occasion, but I do know it can cost $$$ and time to get it right. I remember in my 20s being in a wedding and the bridesmaid's gown (simple strappy bandeau style column maxi dress) was ordered to fit my chest. Then they had to hack off about 10 inches on the length, and take off another 10 inches on the sides because I have no hips...while shortening the straps as well. It just seemed like a lot of work and waste. But ultimately the dress fit and looked great.

Shevia-- Congrats to you too, auntie!If it wasn't for the pandemic, I'm sure we'd have had a wedding already, or one on the immediate radar this summer.

Echo

Veteran

Congratulations on your daughters' weddings! How incredibly exciting. While I have not yet been a MOB or MOG, I simply adore the examples shown by Linda, Irina and Bijou. Those seem like stylish and flattering, yet still appropriate dresses. I can only hope to be so stylish when my turn comes to be a parent of a child getting married!

As for color, white is out for obvious reasons, and traditionally, because because it is sometimes regarded as a color of mourning, black was sometimes seen as a sign of disapproval of the wedding, although that has very much changed now. Black is now a common color to wear for evening weddings. (Fire-engine) Red is generally avoided simply because it is such a look-at-me color; it is avoided for the same reason plunging necklines or extremely short hems are avoided. But less cardinal colors like burgundy or a more muted red are not at all inappropriate.

suzieq

This is what I wore to our daughter’s wedding, which was in July. She wanted the mothers to wear long dresses, as it was an evening wedding. My dress was on sale for only $50, & it was the color she requested, as her wedding colors were navy & rose gold. I wore pointed-toe slingback pumps that nearly killed my arthritic feet, but changed into comfortable shoes after the ceremony. My daughter bought me the necklace, & wanted me to wear it to the wedding, so my outfit pretty much had to work with it.

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Debbie

Veteran

I wore a cobalt dress that I found at Dillards and my daughters wedding dress was red. She got married at my house during the pandemic. They are having a huge anniversary party in October and I may wear the same dress.
Congratulations it is a fun time.

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Joy

Veteran

I looked for over a year for a MOG dress and ended up using my back up..a long gown found on deep discount in a department store ( Dillards) petite department. As the MOB and I had decided on tea length for a hot day August wedding in a church without air conditioning, I had it altered and had to find a wrap to cover bare arms in a church. I ended up with another back up, a hand dyed silk big scarf. Know that your dress will live on forever in wedding photos. It is a. very important decision.
I had read and considered good advice to NEVER mention the word “wedding” or $$$ will be added on. Especially for a venue. We found that to be true. Say it’s a special anniversary instead, if needed. You may still be asked what your budget is or will allow, so be prepared.. Find a dress and shoes that you can dance in. This is a top priority, especially if you dance on a table top out of joy ( and drinks) at seeing a daughter married. This is especially true of the last daughter. A good friend has 5 daughters.
She and her husband danced on the tables at the reception. Over the years her 5 daughters have provided many grandchildren and great grandchildren.

Sal

Veteran

No advice but only congratulations. What an exciting time!!

Being organised is a good idea given petite sizing and the ramifications for other family members. What a fun project.

I am not much into rules except what makes you and the bridal party happy. I have never heard that red is inappropriate (I think it is the wedding colour in some countries).

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