Weddingbee

One thing that was definitely on the to-do list while in New Orleans was finding my mother a dress for the wedding. Finding a dress for Mama ST was imperative because

1. She hasn’t seen my dress or knows what colors we are using
2. I didn’t want her looking too matronly, since she’s younger and has fun with clothes
3. But I didn’t want her having so much fun it would look like a hot mess!

I love my mom, but let’s just say her clothing style is very hit-or-miss. As we don’t live anywhere near each other, it was either do it now or do it never. If Mama ST knew how to turn on a computer, I would’ve loved to just send her some photos of ideas and have her pick her own dress that she liked. That not being possible (she refuses to learn, I tell ya!), it was a whirlwind afternoon of dress shopping with Mama ST.

Since we had only one afternoon to make a decision, we stuck to department stores and boutiques rather than NOLA bridal boutiques- plus, she doesn’t live in New Orleans so coming back for fittings and stuff would be a hassle. An off-the-rack dress was the best solution for us, for both convenience and budgetary reasons.

Here were some of the contenders from Dillard’s:

A two-piece champagne dress that was too ruffly up top to work; a top that actually photographed well but was much too big on her; a long dress that made us both realize cocktail length was best; a chic little black and white cocktail dress that I loved, but that Mama ST wasn’t feeling.

Mama ST had already found her dress at this point (the first one she tried on!), but we hit up White House Black Market anyway just to comparison shop. After all, they are the go-to folks for black-and-white dresses, the exact colors we wanted for Mama St’s dress!

This is the only dress she let me take a picture of her in:

Adorable, but a little less sophisticated than what we wanted.

I wanted to keep going, but as Mama ST was convinced her dress was the one she saw at Dillard’s, we trekked back to that end of the mall and purchased it. It’s a cocktail length Adrianna Papell dress that is quite slimming; has an interesting cut but is not too trendy; and has a little more modesty coverage that is appropriate for Mama ST.

Here it is on the model (in a different color, natch):

And here it is on Mama ST:

Dillard’s had a large collection of Adrianna Papell dresses in a rainbow of colors- I actually think some of these would be cute as bridesmaids dresses. And their cost is pretty reasonable, too. And if Mama ST finds something she likes better, she can always return it to a Dillard’s in her hometown with little worries. I feel pretty good about the whole thing, even though I know she would be beautiful no matter what she wore!

What do you think of Mama St’s choice? Are any of your mothers going the cocktail dress route?

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