Is this not special enough/expensive enough for my son's wedding?

[flowersandmusic]

My son is getting married next year. June wedding. Someone on her recommended this dress for someone else. I went ahead and ordered it - a size smaller as that was all that was available. It has some weight to it and I love it but is it a bit cheapskate for mother of the groom. The money is not www.debenhams.com/product/jolie-moi-angel-sleeve-tiered-hem-maxi-dress_p-3e6c2c44-815f-42c7-b1db-67eae670cce8?colour=Multi&size=10&gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22915808283&gbraid=0AAAAABevdS7lom0v68CypUOUtJ7wI713e&gclid=Cj0KCQjwio_RBhDMARIsAJPveNPX9QJHogyDX5JR4S_T4TALqJat6EcPACrQj2f_XntgPAeZTx04zrkaAnTFEALw_wcB

I agree The Princess of Wales is always spot on and so is Zara Philips these days but look at their budgets!! Sky high. Yes, they look perfect but it’s a lot of money to pull that off and most would struggle on less than £2000. There are brands like Beulah and Susannah that cater for this market and Emilia Wickstead et al but you need money! The op will look great if this dress is accessorised in a clsssy way.

I don’t really like it. It looks a bit cheap and nylon’y (I know that’s not a real word). As mother of the groom you need something more elegant.

The fact you can see the reverse of the pattern through the dipped hem would put me off it.

Why do people ask advice on here? Its a nice dress, you like it - please don't ask a bunch of randoms who are either rude or suggest a fascinator.

@PhaedraTwo Dipped hems always do that. I’m not a fan and I don’t like the overlocking either. Agreed it’s cheap looking in that way but not sure others will notice. If the women all wear similar, they won’t. If they are all in better made outfits they might notice. Overall the dress works but maybe a better quality would be better?

Yes, it always surprises me that MOB/G outfits don't seem to have moved on-brides, bridesmaids and women guests tend to look much different if you compare 21st century outfits to 20th century ones, yet mothers of the bride and grooms in 70s/80s/90s photos look quite similar to some recent ones I've seen. I hope that if my kids marry when they grow up, things have changed.
OP, I think it looks great, and there's no point spending money just for the sake of it-that doesn't mean you value your son's wedding any more than if the bride picked a £2000 dress she didn't really like, over a £500 one she adored (yes, some people feel they just have to pick a more expensive one).

I like it - but I hate the usual
mother of bride/groom fashions as they always look so unnatural

Each to their own but it would never occur to me to buy a designer handbag to smarten up a cheap dress. I'd put all the money on the dress.

Tbh, I've no interest in handbags beyond do they serve their purpose. It's going to spend most of the time on or even under a table.

I would say yes if you could dress it up with a beautiful fascinator, bag shoes etc.

Yes, it is a lovely dress and as others have said it is all about the accessories .
However, I would rather get a dressmaker to sew a dress for me

It is what is "you" that matters. I was in bits trying to find a MOB outfit, trying on all the typical stuff and just sooo uncomfortable (my job involves jeans and wellies). A wonderful sales assistant guided me to a linen trousers and long jacket outfit (with some bling gold embroidery) which was so comfortable and allowed me to enjoy the day by being able to be myself.

You will look great in this dress. It’s absolutely perfect. I wonder what hat you will wear though.

Who cares what you paid for it! If your happy, it makes you feel good that’s all that matters. Some of my favourite outfits have cost me pennies in sales or charity shops. My go to dress this year I paid £32 for, retail £90 I got in a seasonal sale with member discount. It’s now back up to full retail. No one needs to know what I paid.

Dying about the school run comment.

OP, all that is important is you like it! My mum wore something similar to my very small wedding with a new bag, heels a blow dry and professional make up. She looked wonderful because she felt confident and was beaming.

FWIW we spent shitloads on our wedding, and I still wore a dress from Amazon. My mum put loads of thought into what she wore and still looked like she'd been dragged through a charity shop backwards (this is very much her look 😍) and no one cared at all.

If anyone is classless enough to think less of a wedding just because the happy MOG'S lovely dress has overlocked seams 😱 that's on them not her.

The dress looks lovely. And if you like it, and are comfortable and confident in it, you will glow because you feel you look great! There is so much more to looking good than the clothes themselves, as I am sure you know.

For me it’s far too informal but everyone is different.
If it fits the vibe and you like it then it’s fine.

I really like it and I’m snobby about clothes! You’re tall and slim and this will look fab. It’s perfect for a casual UK wedding like the one you’ve described. It’s not an NYC upper east side wedding!

i can’t see the issue about the hem at all.

I have to say I don’t like it in the other colours but this is lovely. A hat would go well (not a fascinator).

I get married in 3 months, small casual wedding. My mum has a similar style dress and I think it works perfectly. As some have mentioned a hat or hair piece with add a touch of formality. Feeling good in something makes such a difference.

You love it. It is, therefore, perfect.

This really is that simple :-)

Don’t worry about cost, ask yourself the following…..

Do you love it ✅
Do you feel comfortable in ✅
Do you feel confident in it✅
Will it be easy to accessorise ✅
Does it make you look elegant ✅

is it too formal and structured that you look like a trussed up turkey ❌

Go for it girl, you will look and feel amazing 💃

The dress is lovely. I think the key is whether you’ll enjoy wearing it. Confidence is key (and great accessories).

It's lovely!! That's the important thing, plus you can wear it again, which nobody does for those awful matronly MOB outfits.

I could have written your exact post myself, in fact I wondered if I had when I saw the title!

My son is getting married next month & I didn't want a traditional MOB/MOG dress & wanted something on the lines of your dress, which suits the venue.

After trying on a LOT of dresses I settled on Hope & Ivy dress that I loved but I was worried that it wasn't expensive/ special enough.

2 days after I'd bought it, I discovered a family member had bought the exact same dress for the wedding...which had been my fear!

I ended up buying a Joseph Ribkoff dress, which is similar to the Hope & Ivy dress but £££s more, which I'm hoping will make it a little more exclusive.

So, just be aware that someone else MAY have the same dress if you buy High Street.

My daughter’s wedding last year was a very relaxed family gathering at a hotel, and she said absolutely no way to me wearing a hat/fascinator 😂. I bought a headband but I knew it wouldn’t be comfy for wearing all day so in the end I put my hair up with a jewelled comb in the colours of my dress.

Honestly, wear the dress you like (which is lovely btw). Your son’s wedding sounds exactly like my daughter’s, and I agonised over my choice of dress as it was £12 from SHEIN but I loved it so much and in spite of trying loads of different ones I just didn’t find anything I felt as good in. The groom’s mum wore a lovely floaty cotton dress from Roman sale that she paid about £30 for and she had the same doubts, but we both look lovely in the photos because we are comfortable in what we’re wearing, not trussed up in something that feels alien to us.