Guests who wear white or ivory to a wedding. Poor etiquette or is it perfectly fine?

I would say poor etiquette unless instructed to do so by the bride. I feel bright colors are fine (as long as they're not obxiously neon), but white/ivory is still off limits to me.

Yeah. I'm of the opinion that while no one will confuse the bride with a guest, white and ivory are off limits regardless of the color the bride is wearing (and if bride is wearing a different color, that should be off limits too, but a lot of guests won't know). Anything else that's not too obnoxious or revealing is fine.

It's also nice for people to avoid BM dress colors if they know. Of course, my BMs are in navy and I'm sure someone at my wedding will wear navy since it's a common color. NBD--won't let it bother me.

I'm not a fan of pure white cocktail dresses at weddings. A white blouse with a black skirt and dress slacks doesn't bother me, nor would a patterned dress with white in it. My bigger issue is some of the super tight, super short dresses guests wear. Some of them are so short, that as these women lean over the bar to order their drink, you have to look away. They also can't sit in them unless they have something draped over their lap. I'm all for "if you've got it flaunt it", but flaunt it a little less at a wedding.

I've always been told you shouldn't wear white to a wedding. Its one thing if there's white in your outfit, like a white shirt under a jacket. But an all white outfit seems inappropriate. If someone did that at my wedding I don't know what I'd do. I'm mean, I'd like to say that it wouldn't bother me, but honestly it probably would. Not enough to make a scene but I'd be complaining to my mom for sure lol.

LOL -- Sara, that's exactly what my daughter would do. She'd say, "You noticed who just HAD to show up in white sequins, right?". Then we'd roll our eyes and laugh. Other guests notice those things, and unless it's your 80 year old great-aunt in her favorite church dress that happens to be ivory, they'll silently judge.

I don't think it really would bother me. I know the tradition/etiquette is that you don't wear white to a wedding, but to be honest no one is going to mistake a guest for the bride. And even if they did...it's hardly the end of the world.

I'd be more concerned about people dressing shabbily for a wedding. Even if it's a more casual wedding you still make an effort.

I see white AND black every week. A long white gown might be a problem, but there are bigger things to worry about. I can't imagine any of my friends talking about two people wearing white....

It wouldn't bother me unless they came in a wedding gown lol

I was invited to a black and white cocktail wedding - everyone was asked by the bride to wear either black or white, and I wore a white mini dress with a black jacket. I then also wore this dress to two other weddings with the jacket.

I think its poor etiquette. Its really not that hard to avoid white so why????

It wouldn't bother me at all. I don't think anyone is going to wonder who the bride is.

I wouldn't really mind because at one point I wanted to ask guests to wear black and/or white. (Unless they came in a ball gown or something lol) I'm the bride! No matter if someone comes wearing white, you will KNOW who I am! Lol

With some of the outfits I see at weddings, I'd be THRILLED to see someone in a nice, tasteful white dress if i was the bride or groom.

Black is a breach of etiquette? I honestly didn't know that. Shame on me. It's my formal color of choice, and I've worn it to many weddings.

The "rule" is that you don't wear a long white gown or anything that may upstage the bride, not that you don't wear any white at all. I think a white cocktail dress with perhaps a colored jacket or belt and colorful accessories is fine. White is a popular color right now.

I have seen photos of weddings my parents attended in the 60's and 70's and saw a lot of white / ivory on guests - short dresses, white blouses with dark pants, ivory pant suits. It was common at weddings.

I think a lot of people overreact about this. I also agree that the super short, inappropriate, dresses are the bigger concern.

Thankfully, no one wore white to my wedding but if they did I would be mad. I would make a sarcastic remark like "I thought the bride was only supposed to wear white ". People should just know not to do that.

Black is FINE for weddings. Some people need to get their head out of the sand. There is nothing wrong with it.

I definitely agree that the tacky super short inappropriate dresses are a NO NO!

Though I had mixed feelings, it certainly wasn't a huge deal to me. Can't say the same for the others sitting at my table. They were QUITE offended lol. I'm not into policing people about what color they should or should not wear. I'm not even putting the color in my invitation as an indication. We kept it neutral with black ink. Would I wear ALL white...no. Just out of 'respect' for the bride. With a colored blazer and accessories/shoes...sure.

I too like black at weddings. I've done it several times and it seems to be pretty popular. Besides, men wear black suits all the time, so why is a black dress unacceptable? Black is another color that still makes others uncomfortable. I like it though

It's common etiquette to not wear bridal colours at a wedding, I don't think would go crazy if someone wore those colours to mine, but I would think it's in poor taste.