Wedding guest black dress

[AuntieSoap]

My niece is getting married next month - country house wedding, fairly big do.
She's specified that all guests are to wear black, although will allow a little bit of white if unavoidable.
She's had some comments about Halloween/funeral etc (not from me) but she's standing firm. Everything I look for in black seems to be wintery or work-y or not formal enough for a wedding.
Is it weird to specify a dress code like this? I haven't been to a wedding in years and wondering if it's a thing.
Any ideas for a black summer wedding outfit? I'm size 16, bit wobbly and 5'6" so nothing clingy.

This?

https://liveunlimitedlondon.com/products/black-textured-ruffle-sleeve-midi-dress?variant=40596339163196

Ooh that's nice actually. Good find! Fits the bill nicely. Wonder if I'll be allowed coloured accessories...

Or this has nice detailing?
https://www.vinted.co.uk/women/clothes/dresses/special-occasion-dresses/wedding-dresses/2686016910-black-dress

Yes, it is weird.
It is weird and controlling to specify what people wear to any function, beyond the general level of smartness - eg 'black tie' suggests what sort of dress you should wear and what most of the men will be wearing ..... 'business suit' ... or ...'jeans' .... suggest the level of smartness at a function and do not dictate the specifics.

If it were the wedding of someone that I really wanted to go to (and I suspect your niece will fit into that group), I'd just put my 'funeral dress' on and try not to outwardly huff and puff. If it were someone not so close, I probably wouldn't go if they were trying to micro manage people, in truth.

How is it weird? If that's what she wants

There are lots of gorgeous black summer dresses - poplin fabrics - dress up with gold heels and jewelry

Very modern & stylish IMO to request black

I think it's weird because I've never been told what to wear for an event before. It's not as though I'm a bridesmaid. It's her wedding, yes, but it's my clothes.

That's pretty much how I'm feeling about it.

Finery has a good selection of black dresses www.finerylondon.com/dresses

Thank you, there's a really nice one there!

vm.tiktok.com/ZGJ9bYyj3/

How gorgeous is this black dress!

Oh … An insta wedding!

The photos (against country stone and green?) will be lush …

Just go with it; there are countless beautiful black linen or silk Summer dresses around.

This.

I probably wouldn’t go because I prefer to make my own decisions about what I wear and don’t like being controlled like this. Bride is out of line here.

It’s weird and extremely controlling as it’s treating other people as props.

Oh please tell her to reconsider. I was having lunch at a very grand golf/hotel/wedding venue when a coach drew up and a wedding party alighted. Dress code black.

It looked awful, there are so many shades of black, so a lot looked really shabby and dowdy. It did not look glamorous and sophisticated which I assume was the brides intent, it looked as though the local employment office had rounded up a load of its clients to provide waiting staff at short notice and had found them some old uniforms to wear . I imagine that the photos looked even worse since all the black clothing would have merged into a block and all you would have seen were heads arms and legs.

Nobody's Child has a section on black dresses, but their fabrics can be a bit hit and miss, worth a look though:

https://www.nobodyschild.com/dresses/occasionwear/black-dresses.html?page=2

Very weird and controlling.

imo few people actually suit black. it can be very draining.

id hate to be told I had to wear black to a wedding.

That’s so weird. It’s going to look like a funeral! Id be massively put out at any directions about dress code on a wedding invite

I think this could be dressed up with the right accessories

https://www.boden.co.uk/en-gb/strappy-seersucker-midi-dress-black/sty-d0509-blk?tc_ch=ps&tc_ve=goog&tc_so=pla&tc_me=cr&tc_ca=drop-offer&tc_au=pla-300681553331&tc_cr=na&tc_campid=UK+-+Shopping+-+WW+-+Brand+Queries&tc_adgroupid=Catch+All&tc_kwid=PRODUCT_GROUP&tc_matchid=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMImYyz8Z6Q_wIVA97tCh3giguuEAQYEiABEgKhIfD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds&cacheVariant=variant_C

I went to a black dress code with touches of white a few yrs ago , the bride wore purple ( the Cadbury’s choc wrapper colour ) she looked amazing
it looked great , one woman had a white feather boa , a guy dressed like a gangster with black and white shoes ! Everyone looked fab and you could easily identify who was in the party

have fun !!

I probably wouldn’t go because I prefer to make my own decisions about what I wear and don’t like being controlled like this. Bride is out of line here.

I probably wouldn't either. Unless I really couldn't get out of it.

I would quite like this as it cuts down on decisions.

I think it's terrible to dictate specifics of what guests wear...... but, personally, I would have no problem complying with black. So many smart beautiful black dresses etc to choose from- so many different shapes/ lengths/ details/ textures etc.
If pink or yellow or something else were specified, I wouldn't comply or i wouldn't go.

I agree it sounds like an insta wedding. On the other hand, I love black dresses...

I wouldn’t say it’s weird as such, it’s just different. Given it’s a niece I’m assuming there’s a generational difference? Lots of things now are themed and image focussed (often social media influenced) and this probably falls into that category.

I’d like this as find black easy to wear.