Bridal Fashion: Mother-of-the-Bride | By Erin McLean Events

We have loved sharing our Bridal Fashion Series with everyone. A highly requested part of the bridal fashion series was a mother-of-the-bride post. At a wedding there is a lot of emphasis on bridesmaids and flower girls and groomsmen, but with the mother-of-the-bride there is often uncertainty as to what to wear. We think that to find the perfect outfit for your daughter's wedding, you should consider the following:

- Is the event formal? Are the men wearing tuxes? Or, is it more laid back with button ups and ties? Thinking about this will help decide how formal your outfit should be.

- What season is it? If it is an outdoor wedding in the summer, you may not want to wear a floor-length dress. If it is winter, you may want a matching cover up for your outfit.

- Keep accessories in mind. Do you have a beautiful pearl necklace that you want to wear? Earrings? How about shoes? These are good things to keep in mind when looking for a dress. You want to make sure that the dress works with the items and accessories that you have already decided to wear.

- Do you prefer a dress, a skirt and shirt or a pantsuit? Once you decide what you prefer of these options, it will help you narrow down where you should shop.

- What are the wedding colors? It's not that you have to match, but if everyone is wearing black and the wedding colors are brown, you may not want to wear a yellow outfit.

- Comfort first! The day and night are long, you want to make sure that you wear something that is comfortable for sitting, standing and dancing. You don't want to spend the day pulling at your skirt or your dress.

We have added a variety of photos to this post to help you get ideas and inspiration for colors, necklines, embellishments, hem lengths and sleeve options in mother-of-the-bride outfits. Note what sort of things you really like and really dislike. This will make it easier when you shop if you say, "I dislike spaghetti straps and anything with color, and I prefer something below the knee." From there it is easy to deduce that you would prefer a long, black dress with sleeves

* All photos, and dresses available at Nordstrom

We hope that these photos helped give you an idea of what you like and don't like in an outfit. Remember, you will be photographed a lot, so you want something that you will feel good in so that you are comfortable and confident!

Don't forget to check back next week for our bridal fashion post featuring ideas for flower girls and ring bearers.

Make it pretty!