The most important person in any wedding is the bride and the most important person to the bride - especially before the event - is usually the bride's mother.

The enormous amount of care and attention which is all part of making the bride look as glamorous as possible is something which is a team effort.

This involves many different people such as hairdressers, dressmakers and shoefitters.

The person who organises that team is often the mother of the bride.

It's a well-worn saying that a girl's best friend is her mum, and wedding days are the ultimate test of the bond between mother and daughter.

Luckily for all concerned, the mother of the bride nearly always comes up trumps and, for this reason and many others, it is all important for the mother of the bride to be almost as much the centre of attention as the bride.

The word 'almost' is important.

We've all heard stories about women who always turn up at events determined to upstage everyone.

The last thing the bride's mum want to do is upstage her daughter.

Looking you best is vital and there are dozens of specialists willing to offer help and advice to help that process along.

There aren't many rules in life that are worth sticking to absolutely, but the bride's mother not wearing black or white is one of them.

That leaves you the whole rainbow of colours to chose from, and the general idea is that there is some sort of co-ordination between bride's mother and bridesmaids.

Aim for a classy look. If something is worth doing, it is worth doing well, and there are fewer bigger days in most women's lives than the day their daughter gets married.

So, let others take some of the strain, and has as hassle-free day as possible.