As the mother of the bride, it is important that you take steps to looks great on your daughter's big day. The chances are that you will appear in a lot of the photographs, and you may end up sitting at the top table with the rest of the wedding party. This means that you could end up sharing the spotlight, whether you want to or not. Searching for and finding the right "Mother of the bride" dresses is therefore very important.

Involve your daughter
Although your daughter will have a lot of other things to worry about for her wedding day in addition to mother of the bride dresses, she may like to be involved in helping you to choose your outfit, if the same way that you may be involved in helping to choose hers. She may have specific ideas about what is and what isn't appropriate for her big day. Although you may have your own ideas about what you would feel comfortable in, it is nice to ask your daughter for her thoughts.

Colour scheme
Find out the colour scheme for the wedding, and try to find something that will fit in with this scheme. Although mother of the bride dresses do not have to match the theme completely, knowing the theme in advance can help you to pick something that will not clash with the bridesmaids dresses.

Season
It is always important to consider the season and the likely weather that it will be on the wedding day. Although some "mother of the bride" dresses are appropriate all year round, others may be too heavy or too light for the time of year. For a summer wedding, you may also want to get a cover-up accessory, such as a lightweight shawl or scarf, so that you can avoid the hot sun during the day, and so that you can wrap yourself up a little if the weather starts to get colder again at night.

Material
Choose a material that you know that you will be comfortable in, and which allows for sitting and standing. Weddings can go on all day and late into the night, so you should avoid fabrics which might irritate you or encourage sweating. It may also be a good idea to choose a material which has a certain amount of "give", because you may end up over indulging if there is a lot of food and drink on offer during the day.

Browse 400+ mother of the bride dresses in different styles and colors at BlackFive.