While the bride is, without a doubt, the star of the show and the center of attention on her wedding day, there are also other women hovering by the edge of the limelight cast upon the bride. These women are none other than the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, and the bridesmaids.

At one point or another before and after the ceremony, the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom, and the bridesmaids will have considerable attention showered upon them whenever the focus is not placed upon the bride. Just as it is important for the bride to look her best, so do these other women who make up the female part of the bridal party.

Tradition and etiquette dictates that only the bride gets to wear white on the wedding day. In this case, what should the other women of the bridal party wear? Thankfully, etiquette has something to say about how the other women of the bridal party should be attired. Let us start with the mother of the bride.

The mother of the bride is perhaps the second most important woman in the bridal party, next to the bride herself. Her role in the event is significant because she gets to give away her little girl to the man she loves. How should she dress? She should, naturally, avoid wearing white, ivory, tan, ecru, or any other similar shade. While she should not exactly match the color worn by the bridesmaids, the color of the dress she picks should at least complement the color scheme chosen by the bridal couple. The dress she picks should be tasteful and elegant, and she should stay away from loud patterns.

{mosimage} Traditionally, the mother of the bride gets to buy her dress first and the mother of the groom has to ask her for cues so that they would not show up at the wedding wearing identical dresses. The mother of the groom should at least try to wear an outfit that coordinates with the mother of the bride; thus, if the mother of the bride is wearing a formal gown, the mother of the groom should do so as well. Just like the mother of the bride, the mother of the groom should also avoid wearing loud colors and colors that are close to white. The dress she should wear should also be complementary to the color scheme chosen by the bride and the groom.

To make things easier, the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom should both ask the help of the bride in picking out dresses to wear for the wedding. It is, after all, her wedding.

As for the bridesmaids, the bride is generally the one who picks out what the bridesmaids should wear. Luckily, the bridesmaids’ dresses now come in trendy styles that assure the bridesmaid that she can wear it again for another occasion. The bride should be extra careful in choosing the dresses that her bridesmaids will wear. As much as she would like her bridesmaids to wear identical gowns, sometimes, a gown that would suit one bridesmaid does not flatter the other. The best way to go about it is for the bride to round up her bridesmaids and go shopping for dresses together.