Is the top too white as a wedding guest dress?

[ThisNewLemonBee]

I love this dress, I have purchased it and feel happy in it but two questions:

1. Is the top too white to wear as a wedding guest?
2. Is it a bit ‘extra’ to wear anyway?

I’m starting to doubt myself and not sure if it’s because I rarely have the oppprtunity to dress up nicely or if the dress is just not suitable and should be returned?

I'm thinking of buying this from Next - Love & Roses x RHS Floral Metallic Embellished Neck Long Sleeve Midi Dress Dress

It’s a lovely style - does it come in another colour less white?

And don't forget red means you've slept with the groom and green will irritate the fairies /leprechauns or mark you out as jealous. I recall seeing a veto on yellow as well (can't remember why)

Orange and black together aren't banned but worn with this amount of panache will mean you're the best dressed woman there, not excluding the bride. ( love this dress)

(should there be any doubt, I'm not serious about any of this - apart from loving that dress)

I think it’s beautiful and would wear the heck out of that dress! It’s perfect for a wedding guest.

It’s an “internet thing.” The most neurotic people have banged on about it so much online they’ve started convincing people that the rules for “not dressing like a bride” covers trousers, short dresses, dresses with patterns on them, and anything that is pale and “might photograph white.”

The point was originally just to not turn up looking like Miss Haversham. That was it.

Looks good white on my phone.

It’s about the bride being the only splash of white in the photos as much as anythkng else.

It’s fine if you like it, brides really don’t care

Not really just an internet thing.

Vogue: www.vogue.com/article/can-you-wear-white-to-a-wedding

It doesn't look white at all on some of the other pics on Next and is described as ombré with vibrant floral print. I think it's absolutely fine.

I love the dress. You should definitely wear it.

As that article says, it isn't about being literally mistaken for the bride, although now there's a definite trend for non traditional wedding dresses, it's perhaps more likely. It's about there being a colour reserved for the bride, something just for her. Sure, plenty of brides don't mind, but many do and there's an etiquette, so why risk it when you could wear almost any other colour?

We have a relative who has form for wearing white dresses to other people's weddings. Nobody ever mistook her for the bride, and she certainly never upstaged them, they were all dazzling. But it was rude, a sign of disrespect, because everyone knows you aren't supposed to do that and she did it. And it did mean that some of the energy at the occasion went towards people muttering about her, when the focus should be on the couple.

I've been to Indian weddings where the etiquette was not to wear red because that's the bride's colour. Nobody struggled with it.

Internet thing 😂

my DM was from a village in southern Europe, there was no TikTok in the 40s 🤣

It occurs to me that if more brides are opting for non traditional wedding dresses, it's more important than ever to stay away from white or largely white, because that might be the only distinction between the wedding dress and the guests' dresses, if the dress isn't going to be in a traditional sort of design and the bride isn't wearing a veil or headpiece.

It’s been returned and the search continues for a dress!

Utter nonsense!
Who tf makes these rules?
I know not a single person who would bat an eyelid at that dress. Or any other which had any amount of white on it unless it was an actual wedding dress.

If you have to ask, the answer is yes.

Of course not! Accessorize with dark pink? It’s got cream in it and it’s not bridal!

Just to add: there’s always someone a bit oddly dressed at a wedding! My DD is having black tie but some won’t bother I expect. We know they will stand out for the wrong reasons. Hopefully just a few!

It doesn't look remotely bridal and looks typical guest wedding attire to me! Such a shame you returned it 😔

@RedPony1 I agree. Women are so swayed by on line opinion. In real life - the dress was fine for a wedding.

Not bridal at all. If you like it then I’d say that was fine to wear!
MN has all sorts of weird rules about wedding guest dresses that don’t seem to apply out in the wild (no white, no black, no red, too fancy, too frumpy, blah blah blah)

I think not wearing the same colour as the bride is a pretty universal expectation. It really isn't just an internet thing.

I’m 55 - no-one gave a toot about white when we all got married.

In my 20s I had a cream suit with a fabulous hat. Princess Kate also wears creams suits to weddings. The only caveat was don’t wear something that makes you look like you’re in the bridal party - whether bride or bridesmaid.

So it’s all a new thing. Younger generations think is old school etiquette but it’s just celeb/influencer wedding bollocks afiac.

It’s really not. It’s become a thing because people on the internet believe it.

I first heard it as a child in the 80s.

You wanted to wear white as a child did you?