She wore white to my wedding!"
Sound familiar?
Too often I've heard this comment come from many former Brides on their wedding day.
While the stigma of the little black dress seems to be cooling, the same can't be said for our friend the little white dress when it comes to weddings.
How we feel (as guests) about the little white dress, isn't as important as how the Bride feels about it.
Traditionally white was not always worn-it was blue to represent purity. Not until much later in 1840 when Queen Victoria married Prince Albert did white become the forefront to express virginity. It is also traditionally thought that a guest should not wear white, since the only one to stand out should be the Bride in her white gown on her wedding day.
Now if she is a less traditional or non-formal bride, she might not wear white herself. Many brides don't care for the "virgin stigma" attached to it, or feel it a bit inappropriate to wear white if the couple has been living together for a while.
Others dislike white as a colour of choice, and may opt for a more subtle shade of pink, or blue. Some might feel that white is too stuffy and want to express their personality with a more daring colour like red or violet.
In this case, should someone else wear white to the wedding, they could be mistaken for the bride!
Even in some cultural weddings, I have seen Brides wear 2 outfits, one that represents their culture during the actual marriage ceremony (which may not be white) and then change into white wedding gown later for the reception.
A bride has put so much effort into her wedding and making sure that all of guests are well taken care of, and attended too-her feelings and thoughts on this issue should be respected. It is her day afterall, and she deserves to shine the brightest.
My advice on this one would be to respect traditional etiquette and not wear white to a wedding, unless you ask the Bride first.
What are your thoughts on this? Would you wear white to a wedding?
Have a fabulous day!
3 comments:
I would never where white to a wedding as a guest for all the reasons you mentioned.
It's funny, a guest's outfit at my wedding raised some questions-it was a colleague and she wore a lime green dress. Let's just say our fashion sense is nothing alike! Anyway, after the wedding, about 5 people asked me 'who was that woman that wore lime green to your wedding?'. Not that I minded, because I know that's just her and thankfully nobody wore white!
Again, anything that competes with or draws attention away from the bride is a faux pas in my opinion.
Hi Karla! I've seen that as well with some wearing "questionable" wardrobe choices to weddings. It's never nice to try and "show up the bride" on her wedding day, and I've seen some attempts, that sadly in the end, only make the person dressing that way, look ridiculous.
BTW -great new look to the blog! Very refreshing and lovely!
~Carol
Thanks Carol! The new design got installed yesterday, I finally got around to starting a facebook page for it too. ;)
BTW-I meant to write 'wear' not 'where'. Geez, this is one more sign that I've been staring at my computer screen far too long this week!
Have a wonderful weekend!
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