Mother Of The Bride Etiquette

Mother of the bride etiquette is a wonderful key for all well-meaning mothers. It is a guideline for you when you are helping your daughter plan the most important day of her life.

So what are the responsibilities of the mother of the bride? First, you need to be so excited and supportive of your daughter. She is taking a HUGE step in her life and she will need your guidance, ear and shoulder while she is pulling a wedding together.

This is a time for her to make her decisions with what she wants, not what you want. Sometimes it is difficult to stand back and let your children make choices, but that is what needs to happen here. Offering advice is one thing, taking over is another.

Once you let go, it is a fun time for you to be with her. It can be magical when she chooses her wedding dress, sees the perfect flower arrangement and finds the right venue. These will be moments that you treasure forever. 

There will be times when all engagement etiquette can go out the window. This is when the bride and groom have reached levels of stress that they never imagined they could find. Now it is your privilege to take your daughter for a drive, to the spa or out for ice cream. You get to be the calming force in the engagement.

Other than being a great support for your daughter, a calmer and an adviser, there are other mother of the bride etiquette items to follow. These will help move the planning and execution of the wedding along smoothly.

• Budget~ if you are helping fund the wedding, you will need to sit down with the bride and groom to determine the wedding budget. This needs to be done right away and throughout the engagement. 
• Mother of the Groom~ if she does not contact you, contact her. It is good to establish a good relationship with his mother. 
• Guest List~ compiling a guest list quickly is a good thing to do. There will be people that are important to you that you want to include that she may not know. Explain why you would like them there, but at the end of the day respect her decision to include or exclude them.
• Your Dress~ Once the bride has chosen her dress and colors, you will need to select your dress. Good mother of the bride etiquette will have you in a long, modest dress that fits in with the colors she has selected. Once you have chosen your dress, let the mother of the groom know so she can select hers.
• Accommodations~ It is your blessed job to help the bride's guests make travel and hotel arrangements for the wedding day. If you have a number of guests coming in from out of town, reserving a block of rooms at a nearby hotel will be the best bet.
• Ceremony Instructions~ Make sure that the wedding party has instructions for the ceremony. This will include the seating arrangements, the order of the receiving line and any other requests the bride has. Making sure the wedding party shows good wedding etiquette is very important.
• Enjoy~ Last but not least enjoy your day! She may be the princess for the day, but remember you are the queen. Take the time to cherish the occasion and the people who are sharing it with you.

Your daughter's wedding day is a wonderful time to celebrate. The preparations will be a time that you can draw closer to her more than ever before. Take the time to respect her and most importantly love her. In the end, you will have a friend for life.