Oh Mother!

As moms, we spend most of our time guiding tiny humans into functioning adults that the rest of society doesn't want to exile or leave in a swamp. And now the child that you have so tenderly raised is getting married! How did the years pass so quickly? And after 20 something years of being the one giving advice, who is going to help you with your dress for the wedding?! We are! We've got tips and tricks to make this as painless as possible!




First of all-DON'T WAIT!
We know that your first instinct is to wait. Moms always put themselves last, preferring to help tackle other problems (and plenty of those pop up in a wedding). But this is one time that you can (and should) get your own situation sorted early. Mother-of-the-Wedding dresses, when special ordered, can take almost as long as the rest of the party to arrive.

A lot of moms have an idea in their head of what they want, but actually finding it proves harder than they first thought. So start early. Even if you are planning on losing weight. We will tell you the same thing we tell the brides, "buy for the body you have, not the body you think you will have." You can always take a dress in. It is so much harder to let a dress out if you don't lose the weight.




Second- try not to be so hard on yourself. Your body isn't the same as it use to be, but it is still wonderful! That belly you hate, carried the child about to walk down the aisle. Those arms that make you self conscious, rocked your kids when they were fussy and held them when someone broke their heart. 

Now, because it is easier said than done to love the body you are in, we have a few ideas to help you out. Please ignore that the designers tend to use models that aren't old enough to have a child getting married. Maybe someday they will use "real" moms. But today is not that day.

If you are trying to disquise your stomach area, one thing that will be your friend is pleats/rouching. By including an intentional detail over the problem area, it camouflages up any rolls or budges. Lace also helps soften the look of the ol' belly.

 


Other ways you can hide the muffin top are a peplum...




Cascading ruffles.....




Or asymmetrical details.




You'll notice that often, more than one of these "tricks" are used at the same time. 

Another area we hear moms complain about often is their hips and booty. The easiest way to make this area more flattering, is to get a dress that is cinched at the waist and drapes over the butt. By cinching in the waist, you are drawing the eye to the smallest part of your body and the rest of the fabric just flows down gracefully.




Occasionally we hear moms complain about their chest or neck. A V-neck will actually lengthen the appearence of your neck, making you appear taller and leaner. But not everyone likes to show off cleavage. So one way to open up your chest and neck, while also giving you some coverage is with an illusion neckline.




Lastly, if we have learned nothing else since working at Celebrations, it is that more women than we ever thought possible are self-conscious about their arms. No judgement. We all have our things we hate about our bodies. So the easiest way to make yourself more comfortable with your arms, is sleeves. A full coverage sleeve is great for winter, while an illusion sleeve may be best for summer.



Maybe, you just want a bit of coverage. No need for full sleeves when you are just trying to conceal a small portion of your arms. Then an off-the-shoulder strap or drapped sleeve will work perfectly!




Perhaps, you find fitted sleeves too confining for all the sweet dancing that is about to go down. Then we recommend a flowy sleeve.



Or maybe you just like something a bit different. Here we have some asymmetrical arm coverage.




And we can't forget that a jacket is sometimes the best choice. This offers a removable option if you find sleeves too constricting or warm.




We know that shopping for a dress for your kiddo's wedding is a daunting task, seemingly designed to make you see the worst parts of your bodies. But, we hope you hear us when we say, that you are beautiful! And you got this!




For more tips on shopping for a mothers dress, The Knot has you covered.