What to Wear?

As a Guest or Even as Mother of the Groom!

The bride has an outfit, the bridesmaids are all coordinated. Even the groomsmen have a cravat and suit, but as a wedding guest, how do you know what to wear? Even the mother-of-the-groom can get stuck at times.

The Mother-of-the-Groom

It is traditional that the mother-of-the-bride should buy her outfit first to set the tone of the outfits, however that is somewhat old fashioned and doesn’t make sense for this day and age. It’s best to just be flexible and open minded.

The mother of a British groom will often wear a similar style of outfit to the mother of a British bride.

When choosing an outfit, it is best to find something that is fitted and suits you.

A lot of mothers of the bride wear fitted outfits that hug and flatter the figure. Typical, popular designers for mothers-of-the-bride/groom are Linea-Raffaelli, Ian Stuart, Essense and Eddy-K.

If formal outfits aren’t really your style, it is important to match the style of the occasion. If you’re attending an informal wedding then you will be able to dress down.

However, if you’re attending a formal wedding, like mine, you will be expected to dress up somewhat. If you shop around, you’ll be able to find an outfit that suits your style.

Colours

The main rule is don’t wear white! (Or red if your bride is Indian, Pakistani, Chinese, Malaysian, Pilipino, Vietnamese, Japanese or Thai.) You don’t want to over shadow the bride on her special day so avoid bridal colours. Black isn’t the best colour to wear to a wedding, but if you look good in it, then go with it!

Some mothers like to wear outfits that match the wedding colours and that’s perfectly acceptable. However, if you don’t want to co-ordinate with the wedding, that’s absolutely fine too!

Skirt or Trousers?

If you’re an motb or motg who doesn’t like her legs, never fear! Trousers are completely acceptable at a British wedding, as long as you don’t wear jeans!

A trouser suit, nice, smart trousers or a one piece suit are typical for mothers-of-the bride/groom with a nice pair of dressy shoes.

Formal wear doesn’t have to be a dress if dresses aren’t your style. My mother isn’t keen on her legs but she’s wearing a dress with tights (or hose, as our North American cousin’s would say) to hide the bits she doesn’t like!

But What Does a Wedding Guest Wear?

Well… anything! Your typical, formal wedding guest could wear anything!

These are outfits I’ve worn to weddings I’ve been to recently. In recent times, due to my chubbiness, I’ve tended to avoid satin dresses and gone for floaty dresses. (I have lightened my hair over the years.)

You can’t wear jeans.

Jeans might be acceptable at a very informal wedding however at a formal wedding (like mine) jeans are a big no no! But why miss this opportunity to dress up? It’s so rare that we get to to dress up these days.

For more ideas on dressing for a wedding, check out this Debenhams link for some fabulous ideas!

This is an example of different guest outfits you could consider. I’ve included Kate Middleton (now Kate Winsor) in these pictures because she is wearing a hat.

Hats are utterly optional for all wedding guests but it is worth remembering that hats are usually worn by older ladies or younger ladies attending an upper class wedding.

There is always the fascinator?

There are an infinite different styles of fascinator. (Yes, that is Princess Kate wearing one!) There’s a company near me, JK Millenary, who make bespoke fascinators and Alice bands so the designs have infinite possibilities!

For tips on wedding outfits for guests, I suggest NOT looking at Wills and Kate’s wedding. The guests for their wedding wore awful fascinators!

Flower Girls

She’s cute, she’s adorable but what does the bride want her to wear?

Flower girls are a gorgeous touch to any wedding. Too young to be bridesmaids, flower girls look cute and add lovely touches to weddings, but what do they wear?

Young bridesmaids or flower girls usually wear white dresses with a hint of the wedding colours as in this first and third pictures, or dresses like the middle picture. If it’s a chilly time of year, flower girls can wear a wool, white cardigan.

Although, anything that looks cute is usually acceptable.

Hope this helps!