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MrsLaguna
VIP April 2015

Wearing white to a Wedding?

MrsLaguna, on February 26, 2014 at 1:06 AM Posted in Wedding Attire 0 40

So my mom is going to a wedding this Saturday and she asked me if she could wear white I told her NO! and she gave me a weird look haha. I think this is her first or 2nd wedding as a guest and I explained that only the bride wears white cuz that's how I have know the tradition. What do you guys think? Is it ok for guest to wear white at a wedding? If it's your wedding would that bother you?

40 Comments

Latest activity by MrsLaguna, on February 26, 2014 at 11:32 PM
  • Brittany
    Super June 2014
    Brittany ·
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    No no no! My mom wore white to my sister's wedding. She claimed she never heard the "don't wear white to a wedding" rule. I told her it's absolutely not ok to wear white to my wedding. I'm not huge on tradition but that is one I am adamant about.

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  • Sh
    VIP July 2013
    Sh ·
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    Before I got married I thought it would bother me if someone did. The day of my BIL's GF wore a short white lace dress, but I was too busy to notice and didn't find out until I saw a far away picture of her and it didn't bother me. Honestly I think a lot of brides overreact, everyone knows who the bride is and the guest that wears white will just be looked at weird by the rest of the guests, no need to make that person feel bad, your guests will do that for you.

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  • B'sWife
    VIP September 2014
    B'sWife ·
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    I'm super "meh" about this. I get that it's tradition of sorts, but it's not one I care one way or the other about. No matter what color my guests wear, I'm pretty sure people will know I'm the bride at my wedding.

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  • Happy In Hawaii
    Master July 2015
    Happy In Hawaii ·
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    I think if someone honestly hasn't heard that rule before it's alright, but the people that wear white to spite the bride is rude. I think people probably think white is a happy and nice color and associate it with weddings and might want to wear it. However, I'd be pretty bummed if someone wore white, white is my special color and what I've wanted to have for my wedding day since forever ago, but I'd probably forget about it pretty quickly and wouldn't care. I don't think it's a matter of confusing the bride with the guest, just that to me white is special and I want to be the only girl in white for just one day.

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  • Donna
    Master June 2014
    Donna ·
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    It would not bother me if someone wore white to my wedding, unless her dress came with a train and a veil. My dress is not actually white anyway. That being said, I do not think I would wear white to someone else's wedding, because I know some people are bothered by it, and I would not want to take the chance of offending them.

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  • Out the Window
    Master May 2014
    Out the Window ·
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    The idea bothered me up until I went to a wedding and I saw someone wear white other than the bride. Everyone gave her the side eye. The grandmother of the bride actually went up to her and said, "You're not the bride!" loud enough for everyone to hear. In reality, they're the ones who look ridiculous. So after grandma's ballsy move, I no longer care.

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  • OMW
    Master August 2013
    OMW ·
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    I personally don't care if guests wear white. I'm the only bride, and everyone will know that. Brides don't have to wear whites, guests don't have to NOT wear white.

    Besides, I'm having a beachy wedding. I'm sure someone will wear white. Whatever floats their boat!

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  • Katydid
    VIP May 2014
    Katydid ·
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    Everyone knows I'm the bride. I'm the one in the big white dress. Other white dresses are not going to end my party. I personally wouldn't wear white to a wedding unless it was part of a design, because I don't know how the bride in that wedding feels about it.

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  • Stephanie
    Master November 2014
    Stephanie ·
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    It's rude to intentionally spite the bride(s) by wearing white, but honestly, it's not going to ruin a wedding (if it's accidental OR intentional). It was a good call to let your mom know that wearing white to a wedding is frowned upon, but if she had gone ahead and worn it anyway, it wouldn't have been THAT rude.

    Not everyone can afford a new dress for every wedding, so if the one wedding appropriate dress you have is white or ivory ...

    Plus, as other folks have pointed out, what, are we NOT going to know who's getting married? I think that 1) knowing who the bride(s) is(are) will help a lot (like, if I go to a friend's wedding and another guest wears white, I think I know who my friend is), and 2) most people can guess based on who's standing at the front saying vows and stuff.

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  • Barbara
    Master September 2014
    Barbara ·
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    To me, it's not about "knowing who the bride is" or "who looks ridiculous"-- it is disrespectful to the bride if a a guest wears white, whether the bride cares or not (which probably she doesn't bc she has better things to care about).

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  • N
    Master September 2014
    Now I'm Mrs_M ·
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    I have. However, it wasn't an all white dress. It was white with a lot of black lace all over it so I felt it was appropriate. Are we talking all white dresses here? If so, I would NEVER do that out of respect for the bride. However, if someone wore a white dress to my wedding, I wouldn't care in the least. Everyone knows I am the bride.

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  • Shannon S.
    Master March 2011
    Shannon S. ·
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    I wore a white dress with large black polka dots on it to my SIL's wedding, and she said it was a cute dress. If you're wearing all white, and trying to upstage the bride in some way, it's a problem. But overall I think it's not worth getting upset over.

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  • FinallyMrsB
    Super July 2014
    FinallyMrsB ·
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    I view myself as a pretty chill, non-traditional bride, but I think I might freak of I saw someone in a white dress at my wedding. Red, black, sure, whatever, but no white

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  • Shannon A
    Master May 2014
    Shannon A ·
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    It would bother me. Especially someone like the mother who will be in pics with me. I'm just traditional I guess

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  • We'llAlwaysHaveParis
    Master November 2013
    We'llAlwaysHaveParis ·
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    I wouldn't wear white, but it's not something that would flip me out if someone else did.

    I am surprised though that people are so clueless on etiquette.

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  • TheOGJesse's Girl
    Master March 2014
    TheOGJesse's Girl ·
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    I personally wouldn't do it, but if someone did that at my wedding, I probably wouldn't even notice.

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  • mary
    Beginner January 2014
    mary ·
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    I did wear a white. A simple dress of course! haha

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  • Tiffany M. ( Tiffany P.)
    Master August 2012
    Tiffany M. ( Tiffany P.) ·
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    My cousin, who was 15 at the time of my wedding wore a white lace dress to my wedding. Didn't bother me a bit. She had a brightly coloured sweater she wore most of the time over it.

    I would never wear white to a wedding, but as I said someone else did to my wedding and it wasn't a big deal.

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  • M
    Master May 2014
    MizizAngi ·
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    It is kinda weird. I wouldn't care, most likely, but I would never do it myself. If the dress has a pattern, then I think it's fine.

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  • MNA
    Master April 2018
    MNA ·
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    It wouldn't bother me at all. In honesty, I don't even find it disrespectful unless the person is wearing a wedding gown out of spite, and I can't imagine that happening very often.

    People are going to know the bride is the one hidden away until she enters by walking down the aisle. Most people would realize that anyone out mingling prior to the wedding probably isn't the bride.

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