Wearing White

Last night I had the pleasure of being involved in the wedding of a life-long friend and everything was perfect! The weather held out for us, the day ran smoothly as each of the 13 bridesmaids got our hair and make up done and the first glimpse of the flowers delivered to the house proved that this would be a wedding that none of the guests would soon forget. What I can not forget, however, is our limo pulling up the church for the ceremony and seeing not one, not two, but three guests walking into the church wearing…… WHITE!!!

I did not think this would be a topic that I would have to cover, but perhaps everyone needs a refresher course. While some professionals will tell you that the “no wearing white to a wedding” rule is dismissed, I am here to tell you that it is still in full effect and everyone should take it seriously!

Wearing an outfit with white in it is fine, but wearing an all white dress, or pants suit for that matter, is a major “no, no”. I believe in the past, before bridal gowns of this elaborate caliber came into the picture, other guests wearing white just made it confusing for the wedding attendees who might now wonder which of the white wearers were in fact the blushing bride.

In most cases today, there’s no question about who the bride is, but there’s a courtesy that each guest should give to the bride. That courtesy is not wearing white. If you had a birthday party and one of your friends showed up wearing the same dress as you, the birthday girl, how tragic would that be? When it comes to a wedding, consider any dress that is white to be the equivalent of you showing up wearing the same exact gown as the bride.

Rules are certainly meant to be broken, changed, bent and in some aspects ignored, but this is a very simple tradition that is here to stay. White is for the bride at a wedding, a wedding shower, a wedding luncheon or a wedding rehearsal. If you are attending something that has the word wedding involved in it and you are not the bride, find another color and wear white when it’s your turn. That simple color of white is what defines the bride as the most important person in the room so do not compete with her. You’ll never win!!!