Why you should wear the black wedding dress… regardless of what your nan says!
If you're anything like me, you grew up obsessed with Wednesday Addams and thought Morticia and Gomez were absolute couple goals, whilst your mum and dad argued their way through the '90s and beyond. So black is now your favourite colour and go-to staple wardrobe colour. So, as I see it, you've got two options - do the expected or the complete opposite of what people expect of you.
Thinking about it as I type, if I was posh and had a family motto, that would be it - do the unexpected. Or, f*ck it, what's the worst that can happen? 😜 But that's my ADHD talking.
I've always thought that black wedding dresses can look stunning, and I'd always swoon over them when I held the Alternative Wedding Network (AWN) wedding fayres. In fact, the lovely Hannah Black Bridal let me model on the catwalk at the AWN wedding fayre, and I was hooked! Having already been a fangirl of Hannah Black Bridal for years, getting to slip into one of her ballgowns - I swear it chemically changed my brain!
On your wedding day, you want to feel that you are the best version of yourself, but the bridal version. You definitely do not want to look back and have any regrets, and speaking as a divorcee, this applies to partners and dresses!
So, when choosing between ivory or black (or florals or red or basically anything), you need to think: will I always wonder what could have been and how I would feel if I didn't? Essentially - what will you regret more: backing down to appease family members and wearing ivory, or wearing the black wedding dress of your dreams and ruffling a few feathers?
So let me leave you with this story about a friend.
It's the early 2000s, when traditional weddings were the done thing, and that was that, pretty much. She was nagged and coerced into inviting a family member and his new wife and kids, whom she hadn't seen for years. She'd never even met the wife or the kids.
Anyway, she backed down and invited all six of them (yes, six!), and the day rolled around and guess what happened - they didn't turn up.
Picture this: a table of eight right by the top table, with six seats empty and this poor couple the groom knew from work sat there like Billy No Mates. But worse than that - they didn't even call to say sorry. Not even in the weeks afterwards, and they never did.
To this day, this bride hasn't forgiven them or let the relative that bullied her into inviting them "because it's tradition" forget it.
So just think to yourself - will I regret pleasing myself on the biggest day of my life? I think you know the answer!