totally OT: do i have to wear a black dress to a black tie wedding?

[RoadRaven]

I thought weddings were a chance to wear purty colours.....

And Belle, remember that black for funerals is culturally bound as is white for the weddding dress.
Some people have white as the mourning colour. And one country dresses its brides in red.

[SouthernBelle]

I thought weddings were a chance to wear purty colours.....

And Belle, remember that black for funerals is culturally bound as is white for the weddding dress.
Some people have white as the mourning colour. And one country dresses its brides in red.

True that. But the OP is in NH.

[SadieKate]

True, but that doesn't mean that there aren't potential ways to show respect for another culture. Older generations will certainly notice if you wear a taboo color.

And it can still be a chance for purty colors.

[xeney]

That is exactly why I don't wear black to weddings, SadieKate. The bride probably wouldn't be offended these days, but her grandmother might be, and why go around offending grandmothers when you can just wear pretty colors instead?

I forgot that for the last fancy evening wedding I went to, I bought a great espresso brown cocktail dress. I was probably the only woman under 50 who was not wearing black except for the bride, though.

[SadieKate]

And I bet you stood out like a beautiful orchid amongst the funereal masses.

[xeney]

Heh. A brown orchid.

[SadieKate]

Hey! My mother had a brown orchid corsage on her "going away" suit!