Getting married? Congratulations!

Are you getting married for the first time? Have you been down the aisle before? Or maybe you are renewing your vows with your longtime sweetheart? No matter what the context, you need a wedding dress that will make you shine on your special day.

Just because you are an older bride doesn’t mean you have to skimp on your wedding dress style. Many wedding dresses are designed with the older woman in mind without compromising on trends.

Sure, the body may change with age, but the spirits remain young, and you deserve to look stunning on your wedding day.

Let’s take a look at some simple tips and style advice to help you choose the perfect wedding dress.

White or Not?

You don’t have to shy away from wearing white just because you are an older bride or even if this isn’t your first wedding. White is the traditional color for wedding dresses, and if this is what you wish, go for it!

If you don’t want to wear white, you can also take a look at shades like ivory, blush, grey, or even gold. Truthfully, you can choose a wedding dress in any color that suits your style, personality, and complexion.

Be Yourself

The sky’s the limit when it comes to your wedding dress style. Don’t let anyone tell you that you can’t wear a certain style because you are an older bride.

At this point in your life, you have pretty much determined your fashion sense and you know what suits your frame. You want something that will showcase your confidence and elegance.

Tip: Empire waists and soft lines typically flatter an older woman’s body as opposed to ball gowns and princess dresses.

What Length to Choose

Wedding dresses come in an assortment of lengths: from mini to floor-length. If your legs are one of your best features, why not think about a cocktail or tea-length dress? Choose the length that you are most comfortable in.

Tip: Mid-calf A-line dresses are a classic and look great if you are shorter and carry a few extra pounds. Also, you can show off those great shoes if you wear a shorter wedding dress.

What About Sleeves?

You don’t have to cover your arms – unless you want to. Don’t let anyone convince you to hide your arms simply because you are a bride over 50.

But if you do want to cover up your arms, you have plenty of options. Look for wedding dresses with sleeves, a matching cover-up, or even a formal jacket.

Tip: ¾-length sleeves are quite stylish and can flatter your hands and wrists.

Necklines that Flatter

Chances are you won’t want a plunging and extra revealing neckline for your wedding. But then again, if you are proud and confident showing cleavage, go for it.

Tip: Look for bateau and scoop neck necklines that are typically very flattering and chic. Halter tops and lace necklines are also great options for brides over 50.

Think Vintage

Vintage-inspired wedding dresses are a great option for older brides. Timeless elegant and sophisticated styles from the 20s and 30s can complement your beauty and grace on your wedding day.

Tip: Many vintage wedding dresses are designed with lace and delicate beading which can soften the look and provide a romantic feeling.

11 Wedding Dress Styles for Older Brides

There’s a lot of ways you can shop for your wedding dress. From your local bridal shop to designer online options. Online shopping has come a long way and now offers you more possibilities than ever before.

Here’s a list of some of my favorite wedding dresses for mature brides.

Vintage Romance at BHLDN

When shopping for wedding dresses you can visit Anthropologie’s bridal division BHLDN stores or easily shop your dress online and have it delivered. They offer a variety of designer and signature dresses in an array of styles.

I particularly like this romantic vintage wedding dress with scalloped sheer sleeves and fine beading.

Photo: BHLDN Bonheur Dress

Stylish Design at MATCHESFASHION

Photo: ALEXANDER MCQUEEN Lace-trimmed leaf-crepe gown

This Alexander McQueen wedding dress caught my eye because of its simple and stylish design features. The accented shoulders can add some definition to your shape and the crepe and lace mixed fabrics provide a flowy and easy fit. There are many other great options at MATCHES FASHION.

Perfect Plus-Size Short Lace Dress at David’s Bridal

Photo: Plus Size Wedding Belle Short Dress

This ivory, knee-length lace dress from David’s Bridal is a perfect wedding dress style to compliment your fabulous figure. Empire waisted dresses are simply the most flattering on any body type.

Elegant Hi/Low Wedding Dress from Tadashi Shoji Bridal

Get the best of both worlds with this beautiful, lace, off-the-shoulder gown that is short in the front and long in the back.

Photo: Mimi Gown

Tadashi Shoji Bridal has an assortment of exquisite wedding dresses that you can purchase in one of their retail stores or order online.

Modern Silhouette at BHLDN

Photo: Jenny by Jenny Yoo Shipley Gown

This is another great modern look that I love and that suits the older bride very well. This chic halter top dress from BHLDN is perfect for the stylish and modern woman on her wedding day.

Sophisticated Gown by Justin Alexander

Photo: Organza Draped Illusion V-Neck Ball Gown

I am in love with this dress by Justin Alexander! This elegant wedding gown is perfect if you want the volume of a ball gown while keeping your look sophisticated and contemporary.

Off-the-Shoulder Stylish Dress by AMSALE

Photo: Shiri Gown

There is both simplicity and elegance in this off-the-shoulder, crepe, fit-to-flare wedding dress by AMSALE. It’s sure to flatter your figure.

Tulle Beauty by Tadashi Shoji

Photo: Ripley Sleeveless Full-Skirt Gown

Tadashi Shoji effortlessly combines lace and tulle in this chic dress to provide an elegant look that can cater to many different body types.

Tailored Jumpsuit by Donna Karen

Photo: Belted Suit Style Jumpsuit

Jumpsuits are very trendy for modern brides and can be a great alternative if you don’t wish to wear a dress. This perfectly tailored jumpsuit offered by Donna Karen is classy and will assure a flawless fit with its adjustable belt.

3-Piece Pantsuit by David’s Bridal

Photo: Embroidered Plus Size Three-Piece Pantsuit

For an untraditional look go for this simple yet eloquent 3-piece pantsuit in sandstone offered by David’s Bridal. It will take you from afternoon to evening effortlessly on your special day.

Gold Floral Elegance at Pronovias

Photo: ATOL STYLE 05

Luxurious combo of floral embroidered placements on the bodice and a pleated skirt make this dress offered at Pronovias the perfect option for the discerning mature bride.

Go Ahead, Say I Do

Choosing your perfect wedding dress can be challenging when you’re getting married later in life. Let’s face it, most photos promote young women in their 20s and it can sometimes be difficult to relate.

Simply follow your heart, and don’t let anyone tell you that you have to limit yourself because of your age. Choose a dress that you are comfortable in and that makes you feel beautiful and confident.

Which style of wedding dress do you like best? Tell us about your upcoming nuptials and what your wedding dress will look like.

I admit it – I’m hooked. Not generally
a greedy person, when I’m faced with bushes of free berries, I go nuts.
Ballistic. I can’t stop myself. Not only that, but I can’t pass the berry
display in the grocery store without nabbing at least a few packages. I love
berries!

In my effort to rationalize these
behaviors, I’ve taken a careful look at the health benefits of berries. They’re
among the healthiest foods on the planet. Who knew?

Berries Are Stars at Neutralizing Free Radicals in Your Body

Free radicals are those pesky
incomplete oxygen molecules that try to replace their missing electron with one
from another body cell.

Anthocyanin, the antioxidant in
berries, has
been shown to check this free radical activity, hence reducing the risk of cancer,
heart disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease.

As we get older, we need more
antioxidants to combat these free radicals, and blueberries are number one at
doing just that. A half cup of blueberries provides the same antioxidant power
as five servings of other fruits and vegetables such as carrots, peas, apples,
squash, and broccoli.

Recent research has shown that blueberries are particularly successful in lowering blood pressure and improving vascular health because of their antioxidants.

Better yet, the antioxidant strength
of berries increases over time, so berries you pop in the freezer can be more
beneficial than the ones you pop into your mouth as you pick.

Berries Are Low in Calories

I was astonished when I learned that a
full cup of strawberries is only 49 calories. And they’re so good! A
medium apple has 95 calories yet offers half the health benefit of berries.
Here are the calorie counts for a cup of my other favorite berries:

• blackberries: 62 cal
• blueberries: 84 cal
• strawberries: 49 cal
• raspberries: 64 cal
• cranberries: 50 cal

Berries Are High in Fiber

In case you’re not aware, we need
fiber to keep our systems moving, and as we age that becomes more and more of a
challenge.

Foods high in fiber also take longer
to work their way through our systems, which leads to reduced hunger and
increased feeling of fullness. So, not only are berries low in calories, but
they might even help us lose weight. Amazing!

Berries May Keep Us Young

A Department of Agriculture Study on Aging at Tufts University had a large group of healthy, older adults consume at least a cup of freeze-dried berries daily, while a control group was given a placebo.

Results showed that eating berries on
a regular basis improves key factors of age-related decline, particularly
cognitive skills and short term memory. Maybe berries will help me avoid that
frantic search for the right noun that’s become my nemesis.

Does that mean berries will keep us
young? Maybe. Could it also mean blueberries are better for me than spinach?
Hey!

Berries Are Extremely Nutritious

Strawberries are an excellent source
of vitamin C, with one cup of berries supplying 150% of the recommended daily
intake. Vitamin C is necessary for both the growth and repair of all our body
tissues, so that’s pretty important.

All berries provide vitamin C as well
as manganese, a nutrient essential for bone health. As we get older, we need to
do everything we can to keep our bones strong, and berries are one way to do
that.

Fresh Berries Can Significantly Reduce the Buildup of LDL Cholesterol

If you worry about your cholesterol
levels, reach for the blackberries first, but all berries have a similar effect
in lowering LDL (the bad cholesterol), consequently reducing your risk of heart
disease and stroke.

Berries Taste Great

Who among us doesn’t smile at the
prospect of a bowl of strawberries with cream? Or a sprinkling of raspberries
on a salad? I don’t think there’s a fruit that I enjoy more than berries, and
that makes me happy. They’re just berry delicious.

And then, if you’re like me, you enjoy
picking berries. Hence, another health benefit – exercise. I love to canoe up a
local river for my blueberries, which involves packing a lunch (25 calories),
heaving my canoe on the car (50 calories), picking up a friend (0 calories),
then paddling up the river to our secret blueberry portage (another 500
calories expended).

Then we have to hike, stoop, and squat
to pick the berries (100 calories). Of course, we finish by cooling off with a
swim in the river (another 100 calories), for a total of nearly 1000 calories
burned. Yup, it’s a win-win.

Once I return home with a gallon of
precious wild blueberries, I can indulge with impunity, knowing they’re doing
me a world of good.

What’s your favorite berry? Do you buy
or grow it? How do you prefer to eat it? Any special recipes you’d like to
share? Please do in the comments below!

It
is said that once a mother, you are always a mother. However old your son or
daughter may be, they are always your children. This may be right, but it is a
blessing and a curse. Most of us cannot escape it.

The Nature of Motherhood

This
realisation came home to me a week or so ago when I passed a restless night,
even waking at one point in a clear state of panic.

I
don’t know what I was dreaming, but it was probably one of those dreams where
you can’t get to where you want to go. All I know is that I was visibly shaken,
and it took awhile to settle back down.

I
knew immediately that I was worried for my son. But why? Was he a new-born, and
was I a new mother who knows absolutely nothing and worries about every little
thing? Nope.

Had
he just started nursery school, when you worry about whether they will manage
without you for the first time? No, not that either.

Was he
at the end of secondary school, when you worry about whether they will get into
the college or apprenticeship of their choice? Wrong, again.

No,
I was worried about an interview he was having the following day for a job that
would make his life very much easier (due to its location) and set him on a
good ladder for his professional career. He is not new-born, nor age three or
even age 18.

He
is, indeed, in his late 30s, married, a father himself, and completely
independent. He doesn’t need my worry at all.

Worrying

Are
you more easy-going than this – or do you worry, like me, in such
circumstances? Do you feel it deeply when your no-longer-young children pass
through important life stages?

Perhaps
you worry whether your daughter will juggle a new baby with her developing
career. Perhaps you worry whether your son’s new girlfriend is entirely
suitable. Perhaps you see signs of mental instability or too much alcohol and
wonder what you should do.

There
are a myriad of circumstances and important decisions they will make, over
which you have no control.

And
I don’t mean worry in the sense that we worry slightly over loads of day-to-day
irritations. I mean worry in the sense that it is immediate and palpable to
you. You begin to be easily distracted when you should be thinking about other
things. Or lose sleep. Perhaps you even lose your appetite.

This
is a deep-down, umbilical-cord-still-attached kind of worry.

And
it doesn’t help that we mothers of middle aged children are the subject of
ridicule all over the world. I am sure we have all seen some movie where the
young hero has to stop an important business meeting to deal with his
over-protective and very annoying mother on the telephone.

It
is always shown from the child’s point of view, too. The mother should have let
go a long time ago.

Developing Coping Strategies

For
those of us who do worry, it must be said that we probably have little control
over the matter. The important issue is not what we feel, but what we do
about it.

We all
need to develop coping strategies for such moments. Go to the gym or for a long
walk. Talk to your spouse or partner. Or a friend. More than once. Read a
distracting book. Meditate.

The
main thing is not to put our problems onto the very sons and daughters we are
worried about. Avoid making a nuisance of yourself, however hard that might be.
And, most certainly, don’t make that phone call.

When interviewing women for my book on being a grandmother, one woman made a very wise a comment about giving advice on parenting:

“Every grandmother has to be issued with a zip [finger across lips]. There’s a fine line between help and interference and you have to learn it. Nobody can teach it to you, because everybody’s experience is different.”

The
same is true for other aspects of our children’s lives, however old they are. It’s
not easy and I don’t always succeed myself, but it’s good advice.

Afterthought

In
case you’re wondering, he got the job. I wonder what I will worry about next?

How
much do you worry about your adult children? What sorts of things have worried
you recently? How do you cope? Please use the comments below to share with our
community.

Caroline Stanbury’s Blue Striped Maxi Dress on Instagram

Caroline Stanbury Instagram Fashion 2020

You know what they say — a Caroline Stanbury post a day keeps the doctor away (well they don’t, but we’d like to think that they do), and today we are selling prescribing you her super chic, blue striped cutout maxi dress from Instagram that we thankfully managed to find still up for grabs. Now please kindly excuse us while we go search for the perfect matching face mask…

Fashionably,

Faryn

Click Here to Shop Her Elisabetta Franchi Dress

Photo: @CarolineStanbury

Originally posted at: Caroline Stanbury’s Blue Striped Maxi Dress