angieh1964

try ur local consingment shops even if you have to drive a bit it is really worth it sometimes my friend found a cream and beaded suit for her wedding just what we wanted for 50 bucks brand new still had the tags on it from catherines it was perfect for her wedding the good thing about consingment shops is you can take it back and resell it after try clothes mentor or platos closet not sure if they are in michigan but we have them in ohio and pa i have found alot of nice quality stuff and they give cash on the spot we the buy good luck

texas granny

I found my dress J C. Pennys It was the right color and style i wanted and I have worn it since. It was also on sale. Less then 50.00 You have to remember you don't want any color that will be to close to the Brides dress color. Your pictures will not look right.

raptureready

Can't upstage the MotB so find out what color she's wearing and pick a complimentary color. Also, if she's wearing long so should you or at least tea length. Check at your local thrift shops, and your bridal shops. Ask for "one of a kinds" "discontinued" on sale items. Also check consignment shops, ebay, or do a browser search for Discount Mother of the Bride dresses. Even though you're the mothe of the groom you might be surprized what you'd find.

raptureready

The only rules are:
1. Don't upstage Mother of the Bride
2. Don't clash with motb or the wedding

Up North

You mean the rule is really not show up, shut up, and wear beige? LOL

texas granny

I was doing some Pre Pictures for the wedding and the MOB worn to light a color and she blended into her daughter dress. So I told her she really needed to get a differnt color so she did. Her daughter's favorite color is green my son's is blue so it all worked out.

julie

When my oldest son was married, I had a good paying job. I didn't get to dress up alot, so I spent a more than I normally do, $250. The dress was teal, knee length. the bride's mother wore a dark red, which nobody bothered to tell me the shade. The father of the bride joked that we were dressed for the holidays. I loved the dress, but wouldn't have picked that color if I'd known. For my second son's wedding, I ordered a pale blue dress from the Penneys catalog for less than $100. I got more compliments for that dress than the other one. Now my youngest son is being married this fall. The MOB is wearing a black, floor length dress with a short sparkly jacket. I am wearing a black, knee length dress, with a short sparkly jacket. We all went shopping together for the Mom dresses and agreed we made good choices. This last dress was on clearance for $50. Woo hoo!! Good luck and remember, you don't have to spend a ton of money to look good. The main thing is, be comfortable!

Ditter43

When my youngest daughter got married, I made all the bridesmaids dresses and made myself a suit in the same color of red. Since I knew these dresses wouldn't be worn again, I made them out of a polyester lining fabric. They looked so nice and I didn't have a fortune invested in them. I made my suit in a better fabric since I knew I would wear it again.

Barbm

After 5 weddings and countless wasted hours of dress shopping- here's what I learned:

1) skip the formal- lace and sequins hurt the tender skin under your arms as you are dancing. (DD's victorian theme in aubergine)
2) no off the shoulder, if you're not used to used to it, you feel like you're losing your straps (same dress- everyone tried to pull it up on my shoulders)
3) there is no need to buy 3 dresses- just be happy 100% the first time. (my son's in June- 3rd time's a charm!)

If you wear a 14 I have several dresses to choose from.

My favorite one I just wore to my sons in June. Deep teal, flowy and yet a touch of satin for shimmer. Wore silver shoes I have for the 3rd time and splurged on a purse for $9.99, my dress was $9.00 on clearance and marked down since it had a mark on it I dabbed out with water. It came from Ross.

I've gone the $350+ to this $9.00 one. I also liked my $28.00 from ds' last year- wish I could have worn that one again- so soft and flowy to my ankles- deep grey color with a few sequins on the empire waist.

DebraK

mad skillz there, Ditter ;-)