My middle D is getting married in May. I am officiating (I am ordained clergy). For most weddings I wear a dark grey suit (not in a tradition that wears robes) but for this wedding I’m the MOB too. For her sister’s wedding I found a nice neutral suit that went with the style of the wedding, but it was a very informal wedding I’m having more trouble this time. The colors are watermelon and eucalyptus and the bridesmaids are wearing a cream floral dress in those tones. Neither their dresses nor the bride’s have lace or much embellishment. I’m not svelte (size 16) but tall. I had a vision of a soft dress with a jacket in a eucalyptus shade but that doesn’t seem to be in fashion right now and everything that is dressy seems to have lace or sequins.The guys are wearing grey.
When I officiate civil weddings, I ask the couple if they want me to wear the black choir gown aka judge’s robe I purchased or a nice dress. Many times they request I wear a dress. I’ve never been MOB.
I’d wear something you love. I’ve seen some officiants wear a nice decorative sash instead of it with a robe, something like this:
Some of the suggestions in the MOG thread would be nice to consider.
Honestly, I often shop Macy’s and Marshall’s, since there are branches near my home and returns are easy.
What colors do you favor which are becoming on you? I might start from there. Also, what length do you prefer? Style(s)? I personally love wrap and sheath dresses and they look good on me. I’m better with vivid colors than pastels.
What does your D want? My D just got married in December, my H (her dad) is clergy and officiated. He spent some time finding a tie that keyed into the color scheme just to find out an hour before the ceremony that she didn’t want him color coordinated with the men.
I actually am leaning toward changing at this point. I want to have a “fancy” dress and I’m just not sure about officiating in one. Not sure why though. Just wondering if you’d think it weird if the officiant wore sequins!
I would think a “fancy” dress for an officiant who is also MOB would be delightful. It would not occur to me that the officiant should be wearing something severe or staid.
My D doesn’t have strong feeling except for not wanting me to clash. To stay in the color family basically. I look fine in pastels tones but I’m becoming more and more certain that trying to get something that matches the colors in the bridesmaids floral will not work. I really like the idea of having a jacket that can come off for the reception. I’ll keep hunting for those.
I think as long as you’re not directly clashing, many things would work fine. A long or short jacket the comes off in the reception is excellent as well.
a shawl that’s pinned with a brooch maybe so that it won’t move around and distract you might be nice. If you could find a jacket that goes over a dress, that would be nice. Or change if you can’t find something that works for both parts of the event. And by that I mean, something that works for YOU. I think it would be fine to wear a dressy dress to officiate since you are the MOB, but it that doesn’t feel good to you, wear a suit and then change to a dress.
I like the idea of a dress that has a jacket that comes off for the reception or the idea of a shawl.
What I think is trickier is finding a dress in watermelon or eucalyptus! I just found a dress in your size (no jacket, but a shawl would work) that looks like a watermelon color, though ironically the color is labelled “cantaloupe!”
I like every suggestion here. I think you could wear anything you wish. The sash is a nice nod. You could find a lighter shade of watermelon, something the right pink?
Oh that’s pretty. I’m wondering about pink/blush sort of color. I’ve given up on actually finding watermelon or eucalyptus! I think there was a time when a silvery-green-grey was around but not so much right now.
