Page 22 | Too white for a wedding guest dress?

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 2026-02-14T14:00:40+00:00

I have my eye on this for a spring wedding. I love prints, it’s silk and is in the sale - perfect combination. However, I showed it to my mother and she said “But it’s ^white^!” in a horrified way. I was bewildered. I don’t believe most people’s first thought on looking at this would be “white”. To me, it’s all about the print - and in any case, the background looks more cream to me. I love it, but not for the first time, my mother has created a nagging doubt. Would anyone really think I was trying to look remotely bridal in this?

FairFuming · 15/02/2026 20:22

Its gorgeous but i agree with pp who are saying its too bridal.
Something like this maybe?
tracylondon.com/products/rowella-elegant-pleated-maxi-dress

Elisirdamour · 15/02/2026 20:22

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 15:46

I prefer the cream too, but I think there are too many negative views on this thread to ignore.

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I prefer the green, if that helps at all.

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:24

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 19:46

The guests are mortified. Yes, right - I bet they are.

It was all people talked about? Sure it was. Intelligent and pleasant people don’t do that.

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I’m also very intelligent and pleasant and I would comment on a MIL wearing a cream dress at a wedding because it would look like it was done on purpose as a dig at the bride.

Just because you wouldn’t be mortified about looking like you wore white to a wedding doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t be.

BellaBlueee · 15/02/2026 20:26

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:24

I’m also very intelligent and pleasant and I would comment on a MIL wearing a cream dress at a wedding because it would look like it was done on purpose as a dig at the bride.

Just because you wouldn’t be mortified about looking like you wore white to a wedding doesn’t mean other people wouldn’t be.

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Thankfully my friends are all lovely and care about other people’s feelings! I had two friends who wore light blue and it photographed white and they asked me to delete the group photos that I posted on Facebook as they were upset they photographed white.

I wasn’t bothered as I know they didn’t wear white but I deleted them as I was asked.

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 20:26

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:20

I disagree. Wearing cream to your son’s wedding is out of order. What’s insane about thinking that?

That poster has also gone on to explain that the entire family are NC with the MIL so in this case it does explain she is of bad character.

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But a cream dress doesn’t automatically mean bad character. They’d have found something else to gossip about if it wasn’t the cream dress.

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:31

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 20:26

But a cream dress doesn’t automatically mean bad character. They’d have found something else to gossip about if it wasn’t the cream dress.

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How do you know? Do you know these people? Were you at the wedding? Are you the MIL?

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:33

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 20:26

But a cream dress doesn’t automatically mean bad character. They’d have found something else to gossip about if it wasn’t the cream dress.

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At the minimum it means attention seeker.

As PP said there is a vast variety of colours available to you as a wedding guest. Why do you have to go near any variety of white?

Let the bride have her day.

Original poster

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 20:34

CocoB03 · 15/02/2026 18:10

It looks like a wedding dress. Why would you even consider it after the advice your mum gave you. People at the wedding will remember you as the one that’s came dressed as a bride 😂

Erm… because I’m an adult woman and I haven’t had to do as my mother told me for decades now?

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RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 20:44

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:33

At the minimum it means attention seeker.

As PP said there is a vast variety of colours available to you as a wedding guest. Why do you have to go near any variety of white?

Let the bride have her day.

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We will have to agree to totally disagree.

Original poster

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 20:46

TheBushySquirrel · 15/02/2026 20:31

How do you know? Do you know these people? Were you at the wedding? Are you the MIL?

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I would hazard a guess that, if they’ve gone completely no contact, an ill-considered dress was probably the least of their concerns.

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Original poster

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 20:49

BellaBlueee · 15/02/2026 20:26

Thankfully my friends are all lovely and care about other people’s feelings! I had two friends who wore light blue and it photographed white and they asked me to delete the group photos that I posted on Facebook as they were upset they photographed white.

I wasn’t bothered as I know they didn’t wear white but I deleted them as I was asked.

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I think it’s bizarre to be so bothered about how you look in a group photo that you’d ask a friend to take her own wedding pictures off social media. That really DOES feel like attention-seeking.

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BellaBlueee · 15/02/2026 20:57

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 20:49

I think it’s bizarre to be so bothered about how you look in a group photo that you’d ask a friend to take her own wedding pictures off social media. That really DOES feel like attention-seeking.

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They weren’t the only people who asked me to delete photos. I uploaded all photos to an album on Facebook and received multiple requests from people who didn’t like certain photos of themselves.

These two people didn’t want people to think they deliberately wore white, which is fair enough. I’m not sure what’s attention seeking about that. I deleted all photos people requested to be deleted, I only shared them online for people to see anyway. I still have the actual photos.

ForPlumReader · 15/02/2026 21:19

If it was my wedding I really wouldn't care what you were wearing. I find it hard to believe that we've reached 2026 and we're still concerned about appropriate colours to wear to a wedding.

Who cares. If you like it and want to wear it then go for it!!!

packratandproud · 15/02/2026 21:33

When I go to a wedding I normally wear a full wedding dress and veil but it's a blue one so it doesn't distract from the bride

Chinsupmeloves · 15/02/2026 21:35

CantBreathe90 · 15/02/2026 20:03

Was it on your wedding day, do you mean?

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No, on my wedding day I wore ivory!

It was a friend's wedding and my dress was white but the rest of my outfit my true gothic style so no way did I look like a bride lol 😆

Zombie bride maybe...

doingmyboxin · 15/02/2026 21:40

When I was 21, I wore a white skirt with gold embellishments, and brown camisole top to a close friends wedding. Nobody warned me against it at the time, and over 20 years on, I really wish they had!

OneNewEagle · 15/02/2026 21:44

Khanga27 · 14/02/2026 20:05

The green one you have shared is much nicer anyway to be honest.

theres also this Hobbs one which is on sale at M&S though they seem to only have sizes 8, 10 and 12

https://www.marksandspencer.com/pure-silk-floral-midi-waisted-dress/p/clp23031431?intid=mobile_app_pdp_share

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That’s lovely

OneNewEagle · 15/02/2026 21:53

Shoecamp · 15/02/2026 08:42

And I’m sure you’ll look beautiful in whatever you choose. However, I think the fact tht a lot of brides nowadays, choose dresses from a high street shop rather than bridal wear, does mean that the chances of a guest having the same or similar dress increases. I can’t help but feel that if brides want to ensure they stand out and wear something that no one else is wearing, they perhaps shouldn’t get married in a shorter dress with flowers on it. I’m not sure the guest is at fault if they turn up in a Hobbs floral dress and it’s the same dress as the bride is wearing. And of course a bride can wear what they want, but when you veer from traditional wedding dresses and onto the high street, you are going to stand out less and someone else might be wearing the same. That’s fine if the bride is happy with that but if she’s not, then I do genuinely feel that’s on her

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So when I get married if a guest decides to wear the same as me that would be my fault? How?

our potential guests all know me well enough to know I would never be wearing a white wedding gown.

My OHs sister has already insinuated she would probably do this exact thing to me.and yes it will be done on purpose as it always has to be about her. When we got engaged instead of a congratulations and so on from her my OH got “oh my god I need to lose loads of weight first so give me some time as I need to make sure everyone notices me on the day” and that “she needs to know what I’m wearing to wear similar “. 😳

OneNewEagle · 15/02/2026 22:05

packratandproud · 15/02/2026 21:33

When I go to a wedding I normally wear a full wedding dress and veil but it's a blue one so it doesn't distract from the bride

😂😂😂

Original poster

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 22:08

Your SIL to be sounds nuts, @OneNewEagle! But that’s got to be a fairly extreme situation, right? Someone not only actively looking to clash with the bride, but actually telling said bride that that’s her plan?

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packratandproud · 15/02/2026 22:11

OneNewEagle · 15/02/2026 22:05

😂😂😂

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It's not funny. Once I went to a wedding in my early twenties in a white leather jumpsuit like Evil Kenivel but everyone thought I was the bride and now I've ended up married to a right knob for 30 years

Pipsquiggle · 15/02/2026 22:24

EndlessCupsofSugaryTea · 15/02/2026 22:08

Your SIL to be sounds nuts, @OneNewEagle! But that’s got to be a fairly extreme situation, right? Someone not only actively looking to clash with the bride, but actually telling said bride that that’s her plan?

@EndlessCupsofSugaryTea
The thing is, there is usually one crazy person invited to a wedding - a family member or an old mate.

The lady who wore white at my friend's wedding did it on purpose. She was / is a real cow - I wrote about it a few pages back. Everyone who knew her, knew she had done it on purpose, those who didn't know her thought she was a bit of a prat.

Cloudyonasunnyday · 15/02/2026 22:26

No way

RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie · 15/02/2026 22:31

doingmyboxin · 15/02/2026 21:40

When I was 21, I wore a white skirt with gold embellishments, and brown camisole top to a close friends wedding. Nobody warned me against it at the time, and over 20 years on, I really wish they had!

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Why?!

OneNewEagle · 15/02/2026 22:34

Pipsquiggle · 15/02/2026 22:24

@EndlessCupsofSugaryTea
The thing is, there is usually one crazy person invited to a wedding - a family member or an old mate.

The lady who wore white at my friend's wedding did it on purpose. She was / is a real cow - I wrote about it a few pages back. Everyone who knew her, knew she had done it on purpose, those who didn't know her thought she was a bit of a prat.

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Exactly. My future sil is already planning this. I could have told you as much decades ago. She does have previous for this , but will be far more extreme in our case (my OH currently doesn’t want to invite her). She will purposely want to upstage both of us.

A wedding she attended years ago just as a standard unimportant plus one type guest she wore a very pale yellow and white outfit and I saw a photo where she was also holding something that looked a bit like a bouquet. She also dressed her daughter in what appeared to be a bridesmaid outfit (she wasn’t a bridesmaid). So the photo I saw it looked like she had got married 🙈 . The poor bride.