Dear Beth,

Not only is black now considered socially acceptable for a wedding but for the past 15 years, it's been the most often chosen color for bridesmaids. I'm glad you're having an evening wedding though, because I do think it's not so appropriate for a morning affair.

Oftentimes the mothers will also wear black but before one of them chooses, you would want to be sure that both want to do so. Otherwise it looks like one was in the dark about the wedding theme colors. If both don't want to wear black, then I love it when they choose colors that are represented in the flowers. For instance, black is a great background for deep jewel tones i.e. reds, oranges, yellows, kiwi greeens, purples. Black also is beautiful when the maids are carrying shades of one color i.e. pinks or lavendars. There would be several options to choose from in those palettes.

If it's a holiday wedding, you might want to accent the bouquets with metallics i.e. gold, silver, copper, bronze. Any of those shades would make beautiful evening suits or gowns for the mothers.