mother of the bride

As you know, in a few weeks’ time, we have the wedding of my daughter. This is very exciting, but has had some unexpected moments. My role is fairly minimal, as my daughter and her fiancé are fully grown-up and independent, and have therefore planned everything themselves. This seems to be fairly common now, as a quick online search for ‘Mother of the Bride’ (MoB) shows most articles are aimed at the bride, warning her not to allow her mother to deter her from the things she wants at her wedding, to give her mother a task or two so she feels involved, and to check that the MoB’s outfit is not white and does not match the bridesmaids!

I am hoping I have supported rather than interfered (let’s not ask my daughter—just in case!) The main task I have been given is to make cupcakes for the blessing, which I am really enjoying. If I have time, I will share the recipe with you in a blog (it’s an excellent recipe, and they freeze really well, which takes away all the pressure).

The time aspect has been challenging, as I am also writing my dissertation and altering the bridesmaid dresses, and all this would have been fun IF Husband (who we love) had not decided that now would be an excellent time to have the whole of the inside of the house decorated. I have everything in the wrong rooms, and am constantly wiping paint dust off every surface, and I am thoroughly grumpy about the whole thing. But we will survive, and the house will look smart when people come after the blessing.

As you will know from other blogs, clothes are not my thing, so the outfit has been a challenge for me. When my sister was here, we bought hats, which was fun. I do already have a very nice hat, but when I wore it for my nephew’s wedding recently, it kept falling down—either it has got bigger or my head has shrunk (is that even possible?) I now have a new one, which matches my coat—one of those ‘fascinator-not-a-real-hat’ things with feathers. I expect I shall sit on it or it will slip off, but I shall do my best. I feel a hat defines the mother of the bride, so it matters. According to the internet, the MoB is the ‘lead hat lady’ and everyone else is supposed to remove their hat when I do (and not before). I doubt if anyone else will know that little gem of etiquette, but just in case, I shall try to wear mine for as long as possible, otherwise someone might feel obligated to remove their own creation before they’ve had their money’s-worth.

Definitely too big — I would bump into things!

I ordered one outfit online, which looked very pale when it arrived and we worried it might look white in the photos (see comment above) so that was rejected. I now have an outfit that I am very pleased with, and it has long sleeves because November can be cold (and no one my age is in love with how their upper arms look—except maybe Madonna). It’s also tight, so I bought a looser dress when my sister was here, in case I am too fat on the day. (I never know what my stomach will do!) However, when I tried it on this week, it is massive, so I think I must have eaten more scones than I realised when my sister stayed here. As there will be dancing afterwards, it will be comfortable for that, and I have a pretty cardigan (to hide fat upper arms) though I am not entirely sure whether cardigans are suitable attire for a wedding, so I won’t ask in advance.

I will let you know more details as the plans unfold—and of course I shall show you photos afterwards. I hope you have something exciting to look forward to too. Thanks for reading, Take care.
Love, Anne x