If your son’s getting married you must be feeling really excited about the big event! But have you decided what you’ll be wearing yet? There tend to be lots of traditions around suitable outfits and colours for the mother of the groom, so if you’re a bit stuck on what colours to pick for your outfit, here are some tips to make things a little easier.

Is wearing white or black OK?
You really should avoid white when looking at mother of the groom dresses. Creams, whites and ivories should be reserved for the bride and, however relaxed she may be about what you wear, trying to outdo the bride is never going to be a good look! There are so many different and beautiful colours out there for you to wear, there’s no excuse for not leaving white well alone.

Wearing black, on the other hand, is a little less clear cut. It’s traditionally seen to be a colour of mourning, so doesn’t always go down well as a colour choice at a wedding. These days though, black is becoming a fairly popular choice as an accent colour at weddings so, if this will be the case at your son’s big day or if it’ll be a formal evening do, you’re probably going to be fine wearing black. It’s a classy and elegant shade to wear, but if you’re at all unsure about whether it’ll be appropriate on the day, check on the thoughts of the happy couple beforehand.

Will you need to match the mother of the bride?
Traditionally, the bride’s mother would choose her outfit first and the mother of the groom would take her cue from that, picking something complementary in colour and style.

While these traditions aren’t stuck to so rigidly these days and you won’t necessarily be expected to pick up a colour swatch to match your outfit perfectly, there is sound thinking behind this tradition. A lot of thought will have been given to the colour scheme and style of the wedding – outfits will have been chosen accordingly, whether they’ve gone for designer suits or bargain flower girl dresses. It makes sense for the rest of the wedding party to choose outfits in complementary colours to create a visually cohesive wedding. If it’s an outdoors summer wedding with a light, sage green colour scheme, you’re going to stand out by a mile and probably feel a little uncomfortable if you turn up in a formal, bright cherry red gown.

So remember that, even for a relatively informal wedding where you aren’t expected to be bound by tradition, it makes sense to pick a generally complementary colour for your mother of the groom outfit. It doesn’t need to be a dull or boring shade, do pick a colour that you feel fabulous in, just avoid white and don’t try to outshine the bride!