Mother of the bride or groom outfits when you’re not into “traditional” MOB style

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Going shopping for your wedding dress or groom’s outfit has to be one of the cornerstones in your planning process for the wedding.

So much hangs on getting “the one” and feeling like the best version of yourself as you say “I do”.

But spare a thought for your mum. You’re not the only one who’s going to have all eyes on you during the wedding.

In fact, her choice of outfit has traditionally been such a big deal there are even wedding rules designed around it – no hats off till the mother of the bride removes hers if you please!

Luckily there are entire boutiques up and down the country dedicated to helping MOBs and MOGs (That’s mother of the bride/groom for the uninitiated) find the perfect outfit with all the silk, taffeta and lace you could wish for.

But what if a so-called “traditional” mother of the bride outfit just isn’t your mum’s vibe?

“Many mums just don’t think they feel like themselves in the ‘standard’ mother of the bride outfits around,” explains Mette of Freja Designer Dressmaking.

“And there are many outfits and they are beautiful and suit a lot of women. But there are also women with a much more personal style which don’t feel they would be comfortable in that.

“Perhaps they have specific requirements for what they are doing on the day. We recently had a mother of the groom who was going to drive the bride and groom around on a country estate in a Land Rover.

“It would have just looked ridiculous if she was in the fitted sequin glitzy standard mother of the bride outfit for this occasion. So we made her something really beautiful to fit her personality and the setting.”

And while some mums were always going to forge their own path and wear something totally personal Mette says the pandemic has also had an impact.

“I think overall covid has had a lot of people rethinking tradition and weddings,” she says.

“Many have had to organise the wedding all over several times and many mums have got stuck with several outfits. Like a blush chiffon dress for when the wedding was planned for June, then dark coloured velvet for when the date moved to December.

“I think a few of them just thought ‘enough is enough, I am going to wear something that represents me and what I stand for and that I can wear again and feel comfortable in and feel like me.’”

Bring me sunshine

One such mum was Hazel Stevenson who turned to Mette when her son Dean married his fiancée Ruth at Aikwood Tower.

Hazel hates shopping at the best of times but trekked round the shops of Edinburgh looking for her MOG outfit, including the places she wouldn’t normally go.

“I always had in my head a trouser suit but could find nothing suitable,” she says.

“I had to try on MOG outfits because there simply was nothing else and I hated how I looked in everything. I also wanted something I would wear again.

“I’m not a ‘dressy’ person.”

Hazel turned to google looking for shops and kept coming back to a yellow trouser suit but because of her shape, she says, online shopping doesn’t really work.

Then someone at work suggested she have something made and she turned to Mette.

“I was very nervous but both Mette and my sister Lorraine gave me the confidence to go for such a bold colour and I loved it,” she explains.

“I always wanted a flower made from my son’s tartan and even that was no bother. It finished the outfit.”

Under Mette’s professional eye the suit Hazel had in her mind underwent a transformation as that shape and design wouldn’t have suited her body shape.

“Mette was amazing,” she smiles. “It never felt any trouble and I felt like a celebrity. It was such a special experience.”

When it came to her son’s wedding Hazel admits to still feeling a tad nervous wearing such a bold colour but her suit was a crowd-pleaser.

“I had so many people comment on it that my confidence grew,” she says. We reckon she looked gorgeous!

The process

If you do go down the bespoke route like Hazel you’ll get the celebrity treatment, starting with phone calls or emails where Mette asks questions about the day including the time of year, colour of the bridesmaids, and whether the wedding will all be in one place.

Then in the first meeting the mum is guided through different fabrics, cuts and embellishments and they decide on a couple of options before measurements are taken.

Mette then writes a proper proposal with t&cs and after checking stock and colours the order is confirmed.

Then a template of the outfit is made before the final design.

“We can usually do it in six weeks, but the diary is really busy already for next year, so it would be great to not leave it late,” she advises.

Whatever the weather

Another advantage of having a alternative bespoke MOB or MOG outfit made is it can be tailored to the exact conditions of the wedding.

Freja Designer Dressmaking creates outfits for a lot of mums who are traveling overseas for the wedding and need to take hotter climates into account.

“We love making beautiful much lighter and cooler outfits to suit such settings,” explains Mette.

On the other hand if mums have to walk from a church to the next venue she loves to design a dress with a lovely coat or jacket and matching gloves to create a full outfit for every aspect of the day.

“We have also done a few jumpsuits and trouser suits and just slightly different outfits to the usual mother of the bride outfit,” she adds.

“Generally, I think the key is, when she gets something made by us, it’s what she wants not having to choose from what is available in a random mother of the bride shop that day.”

6 more gorgeous MOB outfits for “non-MOBs”

Here’s just some of our favourites:

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