Would a single mother who is the bride's main attendant be a maid of honor or a matron of honor?

Question

I'm not getting married, nor am I the maid/matron in question. Someone I knew, a single mother, faced this question some years ago as she prepared to be her friend's main attendant. I gave her my answer, which I'll share with you later. I thought this would be a curious question to ask here. And I'm sure some other single mother main attendants have asked themselves the same question!

Answer 1

If I read in a wedding program that someone was a matron of honor...I would definitely assume that she was married - I had always thought that matron meant married and didn't have anything to do with being a mother - the dictionary definition is "A married woman or a widow, especially a mother of dignity, mature age, and established social position." - so in that case, unless this mother is middle-aged I would call her a maid.

Just as a side note - the dictionary also calls a maid "An unmarried girl or woman" and "A virgin"...but when it comes to weddings these days I don't think that second part counts.

Answer 2

Defining a Maid and Matron of Honor:

The Maid of Honor is a single women who has never been married.

The Matron of Honor is a married, divorced or widowed woman.
If you have both as a part of your wedding party, the the Maid of Honor would take precedence in the service, traditionally.

Answer 3

Any female who is the main attending to the bride in an wedding the one who is married is the Matron of Honor and the single female is the Maid of Honor.....

I just got married in April of this year and I had Two Of them, My Married sister-in-law was my Matron of Honor and my 20 year-old single daughter was the Maid of Honor...

Congratulations and I hope your wedding is blessed and Beautifully Happy for you....mines was for me....

Good Luck
Best Wishes

Answer 4

I think the real question is if the woman in question had been
married or not, not whether or not she had had children.

If she had been married before, she is a matron of honor.
If she had not, she is still a maid of honor, no matter how
many children she is dragging down the aisle with her.

Now, similar to wearing white at a wedding, that sort of
ettiquette issue is, I'm sure, violated left and right.

Who cares? If she thinks of herself as the maid of honor,
why can't she be the maid of honor?

Its just a title! It has no different rights or responsibilities.

Answer 5

Being that she is now single, regardless if she has a child I believe she would still be the Maid of Honour. However, there are cases (as in a previous answer) where the bride has two honour attendents. In this case whether they were both single or both married, one would be named the Maid of Honour and the other the Matron of Honour. So, in my opinion, it's a matter of personal taste.

Answer 6

She would be a maid of honor - the only time matron is used is if the woman is married.

Answer 7

You would be the maid of honor. a matron is defined as a married woman usually marked by dignified maturity or social distinction. Since you are single and not widowed, you are a maid, reguardless that you have a child.

Answer 8

According to etiquette the position of the mother in the wedding is to be in the honored position of Mother of the bride. Obviously, she is not a maid and defiantly a matron if you choose to break protocol all together.

Answer 9

Maid of Honor.

Matron of honor is married..

Answer 10

I would say maid, only because she isn't married. But acording to the bible she would be considered married so she could go with matron also. It is up to her.