Too early. Iām going to Chicago in November and will shop one day. If I donāt find anything Iāll start ordering online. Iād rather buy a dress than have it made. But she can do quite a bit as far as alterations go.
Thatās great that you have a local seamstress you know and trust. Good luck!
If you have a big budget @conmama
As for bling try on a few beaded and see how you feel about the weight. For my last MOB I loved a MacDougall beaded gown but in the end I decided it was just very heavy.
Many dresses by this brand have ruching in strategic areas to mask the imperfections. Not very bling-y though.
Thatās nice but seems very expensive and dramatic for a MOG dress. If most are wealthy and will be wearing very glamorous gowns, whole other story. @conmama knows best on the crowd and venue for her particular wedding. As long as youāre not potentially upstaging the bride, bridesmaids, or MOB, the MOG can and should wear what they are most comfortable in and fits their style. What is MOB wearing?
And take what I say with a grain of salt, because I am not really all that into fashion (although I do enjoy looking at nice clothes) and am frugal!
Way out of my league price-wise, but it is a gorgeous dress that doesnāt scream āhere is my price tagā! 
If one really wants to go to extremes with bling, Jenny Packham has a few options. 
I agree it doesnāt scream that itās super expensive. Doesnāt look that different from lots of much less expensive dresses. The major slit is what I thought looked a little dramatic and that is probably the way the model was posing.
@conmama i think itās exciting to shop for a fun once in a lifetime dress! I remember how fun it was to pick out a dress for my sonās wedding. It was a Saturday evening and was reasonably formal. The bride wore a ball gown.
Has the bride picked out her dress yet? My daughter is getting married June 2024 and as far as I know she hasnāt picked out anything. She recently had surgery and canāt lift her arms over her head so dress shopping will have to wait for a few weeks.
Daughter did go shopping before her surgery but didnāt make any final decision.
I havenāt even thought about my dress. The destination wedding will be casual. And warm. I plan on wearing the dress Iām wearing to my nieces wedding for the civil first ceremony in April. Daughter needs a dress for that ceremony also. Sheās looking 
She has picked her dress out and itās absolutely fabulous, a ballgown. Gorgeous in the front, sides, and oh that cathedral train and veil that is even longer. I canāt wait to see her in it and all my friends to see her. It didnāt take her long at all, just a few stores. I think your daughter will be fine and hope she heals quickly!
I 100% agree with not upstaging the bride! And, I think that one should not - hmm - āinterfereā?? with the bridesmaids. By that I mean not be in too similar of a color or style of dress to what the bridesmaids are wearing.
However, I donāt understand why the MOG has to demure to the MOB in terms of what she is wearing. I guess historically when the brideās parents were paying for the entire wedding it was more understandable that the MOG shouldnāt, āupstageā the MOB. Maybe it makes me bristle since I am a boy mom, but to me the moms should be considered, āequal.ā And, maybe you mean the MOG shouldnāt be coming in all blinged up if that is above the general feel of the wedding. I agree with that, too.
Upstaging goes well beyond what someone is wearing. Some people prefer more glam than others. That can mean makeup, hairstyles, accessories, etc. Idk. As I said, Iām a boy mom. I worry that if I am ever told to wear beige and keep my mouth shut (and I know @sevmom you didnāt say that AT ALL), I might be kinda passive aggressive and buy the most in-your-face beige dress I could find.
Totally agree! We are contributing quite a bit, half of what the brideās family is. That is to pay for honeymoon, rehearsal and to offset any wedding expenses. We gave a lump sum and they can divide it up anyway they want. Why should I have to come in 2nd for a dress? Butā¦I will to some degree just not to cause upset. I wonāt do the same style or color. But Iām a more blingy person as you could tell. Iāll tone it down as not to even appear to try to update anyone, but Iāll stay true to who I am.
I am a boy mom too. About the MOB , I just meant it might be nice to have an idea of what the other mom is wearing so there is no major difference in formality. Which is okay, but many brides type publications suggest itās not a bad idea for the moms to have an idea of what the other will be wearing.
When my son got married last year, I was very nervous initially about what to wear. The brideās stepmom( who was in the MOB role) is a surgeon and used to dressing for galas, fancy events, etc. I am decidedly not! I was relieved when I found out she did not want to wear a gown and was wearing a shorter pink dress, which was just above the knee. I wore light blue just below the knee. Her dress and shoes were āblingierā
than what I wore but we looked fine together in the formal pictures.And got along very well.
Iāve talked about it before.
When my son was getting married the MOB was undecided what to wear. And was trying to lose a little weight. Which is certainly fine. I asked, my dil said to look for a dress.
Her mom picked out a dress in a color that imo didnāt coordinate with the bridesmaids dresses. She wore a red dress, the bridesmaids were in purple. The flowers were purple and orange. (That color combo sounds odd but it was stunning) The MOB bought her dress at JC Penney a month before the wedding.
Nothing against Penneyās but I didnāt look for a dress there.
My dress which I put a lot of effort into finding was blue with bling. I loved it and I was very happy and felt very attractive in. Like I said above, the bride was in a ball gown, so bling was appropriate. I showed my dress to the bride and she was happy with it.
For my daughterās upcoming wedding, what the MOG wears is not even on my radar. What she wears reflects her and not me. In a lot of ways.
When DS got married step-mom of bride (a procrastinator) deferred to me. I chose plum, then SMOB chose navy. We both wore gowns.
When DD1 got married it was only moms in attendance at City Hall. I was deciding between turquoise and purple short dresses. MOG had red and green short options. Ended up with purple and green.
Last child, DD2, is recently engaged. Not sure what type of event they will plan. FSIL doesnāt speak to his mom, overseas dad is very ill so he and stepmom might not even attend, so Iāll likely not need to coordinate.
For MOB/MOG dresses I asked the bride if she had a color I preferred to wear or that she preferred me to avoid. In my older sonās wedding the bridesmaids wore navy and the bride said I could wear anything but navy. I tried the dress on and sent pictures to the bride to make sure it was ok. And I also reached out to the MOBs in my sonās weddings and both said to feel free to buy a dress first.
I love Chiara Boni but couldnāt bring myself to pay that much 
Pssstā¦. Iāve bought a couple of their NWT dresses on RealReal with a very hefty discount!
I agree that MOB/G dresses should not upstage or scream, āLook at me!ā The moms arenāt the focus of the event.
One funny (to me) thing that happened at our sonās wedding was when the bride changed into an elegant knee-length white dress after dinner for dancing and the rest of the evening festivities. DHās sister was mortified when the bride appeared in the new attire as she was wearing the same dress in pale pink! She was quite upset and refused to leave her table; it ruined the rest of the evening for her. I donāt know why she felt that way as the bride thought it was funny and tried to get a picture. Didnāt happen.
@conmama I got my MOB dress from this brand:
Mother of the Bride + Groom ā Xscape Evenings
It was actually the second gown I purchased from Xscape Evenings. They have a lot of choices and many that hide the areas I wanted to downplay (arms, stomach).
I ended up keeping the first dress that I ordered as D1 loved it and the MOG is wearing a silver color gown that D1 says will look good with mine. Bridesmaids are wearing sage green.
This is the dress I chose:
XSCAPE Womenās Floral Soutache Sequin Puff-Sleeve Lace Gown - Macyās (macys.com)