Older Bridesmaid/Matron of Honour...

rebeccamat

Since I don't really have any female friends of my own age, I actually ended up offering the post of Matron of Honour to my ex's mother.  She is in her fifties and, although she doesn't look old for her age (more like late thirties), I can't really picture her in any of the bridesmaid's dresses I've seen as all the models are (naturally) young, and most bridesmaids in other peoples' wedding pictures (magazines/online) are also usually younger. 

We are not going to a specialist store, we're planning to use party/bridal departments in normal clothes stores.  I'd like to avoid a skirt & suit if possible - she'll look more like the mother of the bride!  She has already said she's not comfortable wearing purple - we have accepted that the dress will probably have to be black with purple accents (our colours are various shades of purple), which will then match the ushers and best man, who are wearing black morning suits and ivory waistcoats with purple pocket squares and cravats.

Did anyone have older bridesmaids/matrons of honour that they could share photos of, or have any suggestions on where to look for pictures? 

calindi

While that seems kind of odd to me that your ex's Mom will be your MOH, I assume this is okay with your FI?  If so, then it's your call.  For what it's worth, you can have a male MOH or you can have no one at all.  You just would need a witness to sign the marriage license, and that could be anybody over a certain age.

Perhaps she should check out MOB dresses?  You could have her pick a black dress and give her a gorgeous purple pashmina to wear on her shoulders.

milesbella

I'm having 5 bridesmaids, 3 of them are over age 40.  We're doing the department store dresses as well, as there is no way I will get all five to agree on a dress (the other two are in their 20's).

Like calindi said, if you can find a black dress and then maybe do a bolero or scarf or some accent piece in the purple, that would look great.  You shouldn't have any trouble finding a black dress that would work.

Good luck!

HiddenPaw

I'm 24, and having a bridesmaid who is in her 40s (as well as one in her 30s, two in their 20s, and a male bridal attendant).  My older bridesmaid is a dear friend and mentor from my church.  I just told all of my bridesmaids (except the guy, who is wearing a tux) to just pick knee-length black dresses of their choosing, subject to my approval.  It's been a great success, and those who want to cover up or be more modest can do so.  So, with my varied bridal party, it's been wonderful.

Maybe you could go to a place like David's Bridal and get dresses all in the same color but with different styles.  Or, you could get all black dresses with the same purple accent, like sashes or pashminas, or even shoes.

rebeccamat

To Calindi:  Yes, he is fine with it.  We're very close to their family as they are the only people we really know in our town (I moved here to live with her son) other than the people in the church choir we sing at.  Her husband helps us with DIY or lends us tools for DIY projects, we help at her playschool's nativity each year, we walk their dog and they feed our cat when we're away, we exchange Christmas, birthday and Easter presents and the year after I broke up with her son and before I got together with my fiancé, I spent Christmas with them as I am not in touch with any of my family or anyone else that I could have spent it with.  Given that I have already asked her (and she's accepted), I am not going to ditch her for a male one - especially as I don't really have any male friends either. As for the marriage license witnesses, we aren't having the Matron of Honour and Best Man do that anyway. 

To Hiddenpaw: I'm only having the one, so matching isn't a problem, and we're already planning on going to high street stores.  It's more that I'd like to see *pictures* of older bridesmaids so I can start to picture it in my head - my mind is just drawing a mental blank at the moment.