to have black bridesmaid dresses?

[BlackTieEvent]

Hey! I’m getting married this November, and pretty much immediately decided on having black bridesmaid dresses.

It’s an evening wedding at kinda an “upscale” venue, where a lot of the decor is cream, gold, brown wood and black accents. Very formal, and classic.

Husband and his groomsmen will all be in black, and I love synchronicity, so the idea of my bridesmaids matching the groomsmen really stands out to me. Plus, black is versatile and can be reworn.

A friend of mine (not a bridesmaid) went off on me when I showed her a pic of my bridesmaid dresses inspiration (not purchased yet, as bridesmaids are picking out their own styles). She told me it would be like attending a funeral, and bridesmaids are supposed to be colorful and bright. I reminded her that I’m not really a color person, as I prefer neutral tones anyway (my favorite color is genuinely white). She said “well I won’t be wearing black” and I reminded her I wasn’t asking her to. Guests can wear whatever they like - I don’t mind if someone shows up in pjs, as long as everyone has a nice time!! She then said “everyone is going to hate it but won’t want to tell you. You’re making a mistake.”

The whole thing has left me baffled. So what do you think? AIBU to have my bridesmaids in black?

It's very Charlotte in SATC!

It could look beautiful to have your bridesmaids in black dresses, but it depends on the style of dress as to wether it looks weddingy or not. A splash of white in their outfits would look nice.

I thought she had champagne bridesmaid dresses?

Have whatever you like at YOUR wedding. Of course bridesmaids don't have to be in bright colours. You can have them wearing any colour you want.

Did you actually request your friend's approval for your choice of colour scheme? Because if not, she was really bloody rude to say anything.

She had two weddings - first to Trey and then to Harry.

It’s not uncommon to have black bridesmaid dresses, not sure why you let friend is so surprised.

Guests can wear whatever they like - I don’t mind if someone shows up in pjs, as long as everyone has a nice time!! She then said “everyone is going to hate it but won’t want to tell you. You’re making a mistake.”

I would be uninviting this absolute cow from my wedding at this point.

My husband had female ushers who wore black cocktail dresses with accents of gold (they styled themselves with a gold belt/bug hoop earring etc)

They looked absolutely phenomenal.

It's your wedding.

I had my bridesmaids in black for a December wedding.

I attended a November wedding a few years ago.
All the bridesmaids wore black and they choose their own dresses and paid for them but it was abroad were that is the norm.

No, Charlotte wore a black backless bridesmaids dress for some random wedding..

My friend had black bridesmaid dresses, it was either late November/early December. Looked amazing and suited them all.

YANBU to have whatever colour you want! Nothing wrong with black, and I’d have thought it would be quite flattering and therefore popular with bridesmaids.

It’s entirely up to you!

I can see there have been quite a few threads about it from the “similar threads” feature, so unsurprisingly you’d be far from the only one.

I think it's a lovely idea, these all look gorgeous....

Cheeky cow would not be getting invited now regardless of bridesmaid colour. Black looks very sophisticated.

I'd be dis-inviting her, the rude cow.

Have whatever colour you want.

I had black bridesmaid dresses, they looked fab. My dress was white with black detailing and we had fuchsia bouquets with matching ties for the men. I love our pics

Ask the bridesmaids?

Same here, had black. You know it will suit everyone no matter what. Mine were simple, long and strapless and looked elegant. Everyone loved them and I told them to keep them. Two have worn them since. Congratulations in advance on the wedding op!

My 2 bridesmaids wore black then we accented it with another colour from the day - they wore 50's style swing dresses with turquoise petticoats and belts. They looked stunning.
I say go for it!

I had black bridesmaid dresses with lots of white and greens and sunflowers for a bit of colour. Everyone loved it and said how good it looked

Mine wore black with ivory accents and were stunning. They looked beautiful and were delighted with them.
Your friend is a cow, and I’d be revoking her invitation.

Are you in America? I’ve never seen black bridesmaids dresses in the UK but think it may be more common in the States because, as you said, the men are usually in black tie so it matches. I think evening weddings are more common too, which it feels more in keeping with.

I was a bridesmaid many moons ago and we wore black strapless dresses, they were lovely. Go for it.

I thought black was quite a normal colour for bridesmaids, even if not the most popular colour. It wouldn’t cross my mind to think it wasn’t acceptable or that people might think it odd.