As a mother of the bride your daughter’s wedding day is one we are sure, you cannot wait for. With all the preparation for the day itself, what with managing caterers, florists, booking venues, and managing both your and her long cultivated wedding daydreams. Being a mother of the bride can often be rather hard work.
With all that work before you have even started to focus on yourself. Not only do you have to think about your daughter, what she wants and needs to make her special day perfect, but you will then also need to think of your role in all of this, the all-important mother of the bride.
As the second most important woman on this special day, of course, you want to make sure that you are looking and feeling your best.
We know very well that finding your perfect mother of the bride outfit is often, in itself, a rather timeconsuming process. With so much to think about, from the dress code to finding a style of dress that flatters you, to questions of what shoes or hats to wear.
Many mother’s of the bride often take longer than their daughter to find what they will be wearing for this oh so special day.
But, what many mothers of the bride don’t realise is that when you have finally found your dress, your jacket, shoes and hat there are still quite a few things you need to be deciding to create your perfect mother of the bride outfit.
In our articles about makeup, hairstyles and accessories, we have covered some of these topics, but today our focus is mother of the bride jewellery.
Although jewellery might seem rather insignificant when it comes to the overall look of your outfit as a whole, it is actually much more important than you might first think.
Your choice of jewellery really can change your outfit rather drastically, imagine your daughter has decided upon a beach wedding, the ceremony is kept small only close friends and family members.
To suit this atmosphere you have found yourself a beautiful maxi dress in a billowy linen fabric, in a beautiful emerald green colour that wonderfully compliments the colour of the bridesmaid's dresses. You have paired this perfect dress with a classic beach wave hairstyle and some elegant and rather dainty sandals.
This look is perfect for your daughter’s relaxed beach wedding until you decide to add some jewellery. You’ve added some large gold hoop earrings, a sequin encrusted chocker, multi-coloured bangles and three large rings to each hand.
It isn’t hard to imagine why these jewellery choices might have happened, you love these pieces and think that your daughter’s wedding is such a special opportunity you might as well take the excuse to wear them.
But, this example makes it easier to understand how jewellery can really make a difference, what was the perfect mother of the bride outfit for the setting, one that is both elegant and ethereal is transformed by the chosen jewellery to look rather disconnected and out of place.
It is for this reason that we have found you all of the best advice on how to pick your perfect mother of the bride jewellery, to help you find your perfect earrings, necklace, rings or bracelets. As well as letting you know what it is best to avoid. To help you make sure that your jewellery choices help to elevate your outfit rather than distract from it.
Don’t over accessorize
The first thing that we think that you should bear in mind when thinking about the mother of the bride jewellery is the statement ‘don’t over-accessorize’. As the fashion expert Julie Sabatino, founder of The Stylish Bride suggests ‘keep it classic and simple, and don’t overdo it with statement pieces as a general rule.’
Although as Elizabeth Mitchell and Blair Donovan from Brides.com say ‘the exception to that would be if the mother of the bride is wearing a very simple frock, then a fabulous statement necklace would elevate her look.’
As you can imagine the above dress would be an absolutely beautiful occasion outfit when paired with a great statement necklace. But the key to wearing statement jewellery is to tone it down in the other areas. Your outfit should have some statement area, and, if that is going to be jewellery, then the other pieces you are wearing should be on the minimal side.
Your daughter’s wedding is a very special occasion and of course, you want to reflect this in your outfit choice, but remember that it is your daughters time to shine, and you shouldn’t have your bold jewellery taking too much of the spotlight from her.
Mitchell and Donovan offer some more great advice on this topic: ‘overall, the mother of the bride’s accessories should be significant enough to signal that she’s the host, yet not draw too much attention to themselves.’
As the etiquette expert and author of ‘ Modern Etiquette for a Better Life’ adds ‘it’s all about finding the right balance. For appropriate jewellery for the mother of the bride, Gottsman advises going for a nice pair of simple studs, a small ring on each hand, and a bracelet. Then, look at yourself and decide if you need to take one piece off… if you wonder if it’s too much, it probably is.’
The perfect mother of the bride necklace
The necklace is the perfect opportunity for you to wear a statement piece of jewellery if you wish to do so. As we described earlier, wearing such an item works only on a mother of the bride who has kept the rest of her outfit and accessories simple.
If you aren’t after a statement look but would still like to wear something around your neck then go for sometime classic, like a drop stone necklace, a simple silver chain, or some perils.
Finding a set of matching necklace and earrings can also be a wonderful option, helping your jewellery pieces work well together.
Don’t wear anything too loud
The advice that most mothers of the bride wouldn’t necessarily think of is to not wear any jewellery that is too noisy or uncomfortable. But, just because it wouldn’t be the first thing you think of when considering mother of the bride jewellery, this doesn’t mean that you won’t be very thankful you thought of it!
Diane Gottsman describes the reasons for this ‘you don’t want anything too loud or over the top, like fluorescent colours. Don't wear any jewellery that’s noisy or dangling or distracting”.
Marshall and Donovan offer you some great jewellery pieces that fulfil this category ‘simple bracelets that won’t clink together are ideal, and, remove any watches with alarms or alerts that could potentially go off during the wedding.’
So when we say, don’t wear anything too loud, we are meaning loud in both senses of the word. Firstly, this isn’t the best time to bring out your bold multi-coloured shiny pieces of jewellery. But also, it is good to think about the sound that your jewellery makes while wearing it. It isn’t uncommon, especially for bracelets, to make a noise as you wear them, and we are sure that you won’t want this sound to draw attention to you as you are reaching for a tissue during the ceremony.
How to choose your rings
When deciding what to wear on your hands that will work best with your mother of the bride outfit the advice we will give you is to keep it rather simple, don’t go too bold. If you usually wear your wedding and engagement rings, of course, wear these on this special day.
If you have your heart set on a beautiful ring that is a little too glamorous to wear on everyday then you are welcome to wear it for your daughter’s wedding, but we recommend you think of which hand you will wear it on first.
This is because, as Gottsman advises ‘keep any ring on your right hand on the modest side, since you’ll be shaking hands with friends and family. “A big ring will hurt your hand, and it will be a disconnect to the person you’re shaking hands with.”
We think that this advice is another very useful one, as it isn’t something that most mothers of the bride consider when choosing their jewellery. As you really are playing hostess for the wedding day we imagine that you won’t want, after a few firm handshakes to be dealing with pain from your ring finger. And we are sure that your friends and relatives won’t want to detect a slight wince when you shake their hands either!
Better to be safe than sorry in this respect and leave the rings that won’t stand up to numerous handshakes to a day when this won’t be such a requirement.
Use the Dress Code as a Guide
As we described earlier, one of the hardest things when choosing a mother of the bride outfit is making sure that it works perfectly with the venue and dress code. The last thing you want, after working to find a dress and shoes that you believe are the perfect complement to your daughter’s wedding theme, is to offset this choice by wearing the wrong style of accessories.
As Sabatino describes: ‘is it a more casual outdoor wedding or a fancy black-tie affair? The formality of the event will definitely help dictate your accessories... Your jewellery should be tasteful and in line with the dress code.’
We are aware that the variety of dress codes on offer today are many, from a classic black tie to formal, semi-formal, casual and so on. It can be hard for some to fully understand what is intended by a specific dress code, this is why we have created this article to help you understand.
As the mother of the bride, you are a very important member of this wedding day, and of course, you want to look completely appropriate for the day itself. That is why it is always a good idea to keep the venue and dress code in mind when choosing your outfit and jewellery.
The bold gemstones that would look so perfect in the light of an evening black tie wedding would suffer in the setting of a casual day time affair. To keep yourself and your chosen accessories look as good as possible we really recommend you think of the setting before setting your heart on specific pieces.
Finding your perfect mother of the bride earrings
With so many different options of earring styles on the market today, finding your perfect mother of the bride choice can sometimes be a little difficult. The trick we think when looking for your earrings is to keep it classic.
Since this particular piece of jewellery can really draw attention away from your face, becoming the focal point, it is important that you choose something that isn’t too harsh or distracting, leave the hoops or bold coloured dangly earrings for another day.
A gemstone stud is a wonderful simple yet elegant choice for those wanting a little glamour. Or if you are after a slightly larger option a cascade earring can be a great choice. Both are very classic styles that are still very much in vogue today.
Another thing we think it is important for you to bear in mind when picking your earring choice is how heavy they are.
No matter how beautiful a pair of earrings look in the shop if their weight means that they uncomfortably pull at your ears all evening chances are you won’t end up wearing them for very long, so probably better to save yourself the pennies and go for something a little lighter.
The last consideration for mother of the bride earring choices is to think of how large the earrings are. If perhaps, you have chosen to have your hair in an updo so think a large pair of dangling earrings would work well, it is time to remember your role as hostess.
You will be welcoming many friends and family members and we are sure that you won’t want to have to detangle your earring from a guests hair each time you kiss someone hello.
Broaches for a mother of the bride in 2019
We think that wearing a broach can be a great way to add an accessory to an outfit, that is a little more original in 2019. As Sangeeta Laudus writes ‘brooches have made a come-back in recent years, especially with Michelle Obama’s penchant for unique pieces and the resurgence of all things vintage.’
Keeping in mind the other jewellery you are wearing, as too not have too much on, adding a broach to fasten a shawl or add a little something to a jacket can often be a great touch.
What about hair accessories?
If you are a mother of the bride who doesn’t wear jewellery then there are other ways of adding that little something to your outfit.
If don’t like the feel of the cold metal against your skin, you never ended up getting your ears pierced, or it simply isn’t your thing, you shouldn’t feel like you have to go and spend lots of money buying jewellery for your daughter’s wedding.
One way of adding a little something to your outfit that isn’t always thought of when considering accessories is to add something to your hair.
Adding a clip can be great for an evening wedding, having the advantage of elevating your hairstyle and keeping hair off your face, a clip really helps to create a glamorous and original look.
If your daughter is getting married in the daytime, with a less formal dress code, another way of accessorising in the hair is by adding some flowers to it.
Online stores such as Hobby Craft offer a great selection of fake flowers intended to be worn in the hair, which you can ask your hairstylist to install the morning of the wedding. It can be a great touch to choose a flower that your daughter has in her bouquet.
If you are doing your own hair on the morning of the wedding, you can easily just side a flower behind your ear for a similar effect.
If you want to find out more about the best mother of the bride updos or mother of the bride down hairstyles just click on the links.
