My bride is wearing black what should the guest wear?

You shouldn’t be dictating the color guests wear. Simply set the formality of the event (casual, semi casual, formal, black tie, etc. ) and guests will wear clothing that is appropriate. If the bride is afraid she won’t “stand out”, she needn’t worry- everyone’s focus will be on the couple getting married, and there will be no confusion as to who the bride is. For what it’s worth, I also wore a black dress, and many of my guests were black as well. It didn’t affect the day in any way, shape, or form. I didn’t feel any less special and there was no question about who the bride was.

Unless she wants many declines, I would not tell adults what to wear. White-clad parties are more appropriate for clubs with entrance fees, or a yacht party with men in white shorts. But, really, no one will mistake the bride for a guest even if they wear similar colors.

Also, what's her partner wearing? How come she's not worried about guests matching her partner? It's best to move onto more important matters like budget, venue, and food.

Please don't require guests to wear white (or any color for that matter). I would personally decline if this was a requirement as I am always on edge wearing white. A-lot of people don't own white wedding appropriate attire and it's one of those watch out colors (watch what your eating, watch wear you sit, drink, etc.). Let guests dress themselves. Set the formality, (cocktail, formal, semi-formal, etc) and let guests pick their clothing so they can decide if they want/need new clothes or wear what they already have

You should never tell guests what color to wear, and that goes double for an extremely common color like black. This is one of the downsides of choosing something like a black dress, is that it won't get to be "the bride's color only" for the night.

Yeah super don’t do that

Even dress codes are not appropriate to put on an invitation other than designation of a formal affair as black tie, for a venue with a dress code, or an unusual or very casual venue. Otherwise, guests should be presumed to know how to dress for a wedding based on time and venue.

The couple can request formality (casual, semi formal/cocktail, formal, black tie) but they cannot ask anything else of their guests’ attire such as color. They can dictate what color bridesmaids and groomsmen wear but not regular guests. Guests are not decor or props. Accept guests as is or don’t invite them.


Also it’s a big double standard that gets ignored that women are not “allowed” to wear any amount of white/cream under the idea that just a white pattern or background is considered “upstaging the bride” and deserving of a designated bridesmaid to toss red wine on a guest, but men’s attire is nearly identical and no one is ever up in arms that anyone is “upstaging the groom” because the groom is considered a prop at the end of the day.

View Quoted Comment I think this is my favorite response.


I'm seconding it.

Super don't do that.

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Well said.