This is so different from when I first started designing and making outfits for Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom over 20 years ago.

Then the request was almost always for a matching dress and jacket or dress and coat.

The dress would usually double up for the evening dancing so it needed to have a party element to the design but the jacket or coat would create a demure look for the marriage ceremony.

Colour palettes were often pastel for Spring/Summer and this hasn’t changed very much with duck egg blue ever popular with my clients. This is because it suits so many skin tones.

And with soft ivory for brides and rose pink for bridesmaids still very much on trend another reason is that duck egg blue complements these colours and looks great in photos.

The biggest change I have seen is to patterned fabric for Mother of the Bride and Mother of the Groom dresses – and a real shift in willingness to try something different.

Most Mother of the Bride or Mother of the Groom still choose to wear some form of headgear and most popular is the Hatinator.

This will be on a band, bigger than a fascinator but smaller than a hat, which works better for a one-venue wedding especially if it is an indoor event.

The corsage is now often worn on the wrist because a lot of dress fabrics can’t take the weight of a corsage – it also looks very pretty.

I found two differently textured silk cloqué fabrics – this is a cloth with a raised or puckered texture. I cut this in angled panels and alternated each cloth to add interest to her white dress and to make sure it didn’t look like a wedding dress.

The sleeves were silk organza because it was a May wedding and Lea wanted to be comfortable in case it was a hot day. I made her a matching turban and clutch bag. And I also beaded her shoes to complete her look.