Can't Believe What I've Just Seen at a Wedding

[Bulbsbulbsbulbs]

Afternoon wedding, on a beach. Bride in traditional wedding dress, guests mostly in smart normal wedding attire.

One guest was in a wedding dress. A proper, full on wedding dress. Strapless, corset back, full length, big full skirt with a TRAIN.

The bride had asked guests not to wear white and it wasn't white but bloody hell, who would do that? She looked amazing in it but I simply can't understand the thought process. I've no idea who she was other than a friend of the bride, close enough to go to the hen night, but I'm pretty sure the bride wouldn't have said this dress was OK if she'd been asked. She wasn't a bridesmaid, literally just a guest with no other role to play at the wedding( unless she's going to step up and sing Don't Cry For Me Argentina at the reception later which is possible I suppose!)

I'm just gobsmacked that someone would do this.

Why? It takes minutes to post you don't have to be glued to bride and groom the entire time!

Why would anyone do it? Because a lot of people know nothing about weddings if they haven't been to many perhaps.

Honestly, before I got married and went on wedding forums and found out more about what's commonplace, if anyone had asked me to be a bridesmaid on the assumption I would 'obviously know' I was expected to attend every dress shopping expedition, be really involved in wedding planning and to sort out a hen weekend for a dozen people in Aiya Napa or whatever, I would have got in such trouble. I assumed the bridesmaids just got bought a dress and had to turn up on the day and look worse than the bride.

Obviously, not every bride expects super involved bridesmaids and most will communicate upfront what they want. But I see online a lot of arguments about being a bridesmade that seem to come from exactly this misalignment of expectation. So I think it's possible a first time guest could just make an error about what you're supposed to wear.

You have to find out who she is... in relation to the B&G.

Of course you can take a photo! Just don’t include her face. Easy

When my daughter got married 3 years ago she had zero opinion of what people chose to wear, she just wanted everyone to be comfortable! I’m sure that this kind of thing reflects poorly on the guest, not the bride.

Blimey - that’s a choice.

i mean, at least it’s pink.

I’m guessing she’s a very close ‘friend’ of the groom!

OTOH friend’s son got married recently and the whole wedding party wore white dresses (the female ones anyway!)

She should have checked with mumsnet first!

Are you outside the UK OP? There are as far as I know hardly any places in the UK where you can actually get married on the beach itself (Lusty Glaze in Cornwall is one I know of) so if it's in the UK you might have given away what wedding you're at and roughly where you live. If you're outside the UK obviously there are no such worries.

It's actually not that unusual for the guests to be in cream - makes the photos look coordinated

Maybe she’s making a passive aggressive point because the bride has tried to dictate that the guests can’t wear white.

I’d never wear white to a wedding but i bloody hate how some couples try to dictate what their guests can/cannot do.

There was a bride last week on TikTok who had her transwoman brother turn up to her wedding in a wedding dress paid by the mother. (The mother didn’t pay for the bride’s dress btw) 👀

This just reminds me of the episode of Derry Girls where the auntie turned up in a wedding dress and walked up the aisle before the bride 😂.

Get a photo. Narcissists need exposure

I once wore a gold and cream sixties style swing dress to my SIL wedding. It was the first wedding I had ever been to and I had a very limited experiences as a child due to my upbringing. I honestly did not know the etiquette and rules I feel awful when I think about it. I definitely did not up stage the bride she looked stunning but I seriously cringe thinking about it and I had shown friends the dress and not one had told me the ‘rules’.

I am on tenterhooks, and need a full update on what happens when bride spots Gwyneth!

There's quite a few in the UK. My husband and I looked when we got married and whittled it down to our favourite 5 beach wedding locations. We did end up having a UK beach wedding. Some of them require you to get 'officially married in a registry office in advance but still do a wedding ceremony on the beach.

I wouldn't have noticed that something was off tbh. Just not that interested in what people are wearing. Barely interested in what I'm wearing myself nowadays😅

At 6:50pm you said the reception was due to start at 7pm, so should be underway now. Was there no wedding breakfast before the reception when the dress would have been seen?

Are you returning to the reception OP?

Seems like she misjudged the situation. I can’t imagine turning up wearing something like that. I reckon she probably feels quite out of place seeing how other guests aren’t dressed the same way. Either that or she’s making a point for some reason.

My MIL wore a strapless gown with a train to my wedding. I didn't even have a train on my wedding dress. Honestly, what goes through people's heads is baffling. Why anyone would wear a dress with a train to a wedding is insane!

My MIL wore a strapless gown with a train to my wedding. I didn't even have a train on my wedding dress. Honestly, what goes through people's heads is baffling. Why anyone would wear a dress with a train to a wedding is insane!

Someone needs to have an unfortunate accident with a glass of red wine 😁

😂😂