It’s springtime and wedding season is clearly blooming.  How do I know for sure?  I’m finding more and more traffic on my essay, titled “Who Says You Can’t Wear Black To Your Son’s Wedding?“

I wrote it several years ago, shortly after my eldest son was married.   I’d stressed for months over what to wear to his wedding. MONTHS.  Just as I was concluding the Gods MUST be crazy,  a Coke bottle fell from the sky, carrying with it the epiphany which finally lit up my bulb:  It’s not about what you wear, it’s about how you feel in what you’re wearing.  And if you let anyone tell you otherwise, well…you’ve got bigger issues than what to wear to your son’s wedding.

What’s hilarious are the search terms folks are entering into their search engines which lead them to my essay.  Today, someone from The Republic of China typed in these words to their search engine:  ‘short and fat mother of the groom what do I wear’.       SERIOUSLY?  Yesterday someone typed in: ‘what do you wear in your hair at your son’s wedding’, and someone else typed in: ‘dress suit no ties’. And my personal favorite; ‘what to wear to a wedding when the groom wears shorts’.

When did Google become the Ambassador of Dress Code Decorum?  My son, the groom, wore a linen suit, no tie and Panama sandals, for heaven’s sake.  Google didn’t advise him. Nor did Bing.  His own sense of decorum was his guide, and like his 5 o’clock shadow, he was comfortable in his own skin.  He went for the beachy, California vineyard style that he never normally sports.  He’s typically a flannel and jeans kinda guy.  But that’s okay…it was HIS day, not mine.  And I sure didn’t want to spoil it by wearing someone else’s skin, feeling like an imposter on one of the most special days of my life.