to wear a big white wedding dress to a registry office?

[snarfungus]

As the bride of course, not as a guest.

Or will I look like a donut?

My cousin wore a huge dress and veil to her registry office wedding. She looked wonderful and it was joyous - do it!

I did it and have seen about 7 other brides so far getting married at the Registry office all in full wedding dress.

Their wedding is most women's only chance to wear a big dress, so take advantage of the opportunity!

when I went to see the registrar about paperwork and to book the wedding, she told me that it wasn't a "lesser" day because it was in a registry office - and not to let anyone tell me it's not "real" if it's not in a church.

she said if anything, it's more "real" because when we sign on the day, we're married instantly and we get our marriage certificate right away. She said that marrying in church and signing register is symbolic rather than legal.

I wore a big ivory dress - it was our wedding day!! if we'd been skint and/or eloped I'd still have got dolled up.

wear exactly what you want to wear - it's your day. It's not a second best ceremony - it's your choice and it can be as fancy as you like

good luck!!

It depends on the registry office and the dress.

If it's quite a small/narrow office-like venue and you are fighting your way down a two foot 'aisle' in a huge meringue, it might not be the look you're going for!

Congratulations and I'm sure you will make the right choice.

It's your wedding day - wear whatever the hell you like!
Have a lovely day, and a happy life

Wear that beautiful big dress! Do it!

Definitely do it!

Like a previous poster, I allowed myself to be persuaded out of looking 'bridal' for my registry office wedding and didn't have a bouquet or even put my hair up or anything because I was made to feel so embarrassed about wanting to look special. I ended up looking so unbridal that an old lady asked me who the bride was as I was going in then snorted in disgust and said that I looked a state when I told her that it was me!

I TOTALLY regret this now so reckon that you should totally go for whatever makes you feel good, OP! Wear a HUGE dress and EVERYTHING.

I'm having a registry wedding and wearing a beautiful Suzanne Neville dress. It's not a big skirted confection but it is still very definitely a wedding dress.

We're not religious (both mostly atheist) so marrying in a church would have felt quite fraudulent, and I don't see the difference between getting married in a beautiful registry building vs getting the registrar to attend your wedding venue. It also meant we could hold our reception in a very un-weddingy venue and veer away from wedding 'packages' to focus on the bits that matter to us (great food and wine).

MmmeGuillotine I'm torn between being horrified at that woman's breathtaking rudeness and wanting to laugh at her breathtaking rudeness!

Put on the dress. Feel fabulous. Have a wonderful day!

squoosh I know! I'm conflicted too! I was appalled and SO upset at the time but now, almost ten years later, I can just about laugh about the whole thing and see it as the icing on the unkempt wedding cake.

MmeGuillotine, sounds like your tenth wedding anniversary should involve a huge vow renewal with a LOT of diamonds

meandjulio, I TOTALLY agree and am currently working on my husband to make it happen! I might see if I can track down the same old lady and get her to be a witness. 'NOW WHO LOOKS LIKE A BLOODY BRIDE, EH?'

YES and rather than a register office you should have an initial [fake] ceremony at Lidl with nine bridesmades in peach and a 2 foot beehive wig JUST TO SHOW HER

Hahaha! I'll arrive in a carriage carved entirely out of SPAM, drawn by ten rottweilers. NOW WHO LOOKS LIKE A FUCKING BRIDE, BITCH.

(Sorry OP.)

badtime I would have been up for that but DH didn't see the point.

Of course you can, I know people who have and it has never looked out of place. I wore a very big wedding dress for my beach wedding elopement! It looked amazing and my photos are gorgeous! It is your big day and you must go for it, you may regret not doing so.