Sunday, March 29, 2009

Let's Settle a Wedding Attire Debate- What's right about the whites?

One of our lovely readers sent me a message today!

The question is all about a uniform on a wedding day. I wanted to share with you all since we all have different opinions and it might be helpful to our reader.

Reader said: My daughter who is marrying a Coastie in August 2010. The groom will be an O-3 with 2-3 groomsmen being fellow officers. He wants to wear dress whites, but this is interfering with the dress selections my daughter is focusing on (they are shades of white and just don't look good with the CG whites). Would dress blues be appropriate here? Is there an appropriate uniform selection here? What about the groomsmen? The ceremony is early afternoon and the reception is 6-10pm. My daughter and her fiance attended the All Academy Ball in Chicago in December 2007 and we thought that he looked pretty good in a formal blue uniform.

Dear Reader:

First, let me say congratulations to your daughter and your family. What a momentous occasion to be celebrating. I remember fondly the planning stages of my own wedding. Of course, I remember the bickering, petty squabbles and silliness too.

Second, let me state that a wedding is really about the union of two people. Really, in the grand scheme of things, that is the most important thing. You already knew that though. Of course, it's hard not to get caught up in the little things when you are planning perhaps the biggest day of your daughters life.

Surely right now people are screaming at me through their computer screens. It's all about the dress! or It's her wedding, let her decide!

I say, it's the groom's day too! Let him wear his whites. Dress blues in the summertime, yikes! Unless they are getting married inside in Air Conditioning or in the Antarctic, I REALLY emphasize the whites. The bride and groom will look beautiful.

I say forget the blue and stick with the whites. The bride and groom don't have to be matchy-matchy. No one will be gossiping about what did or did not clash. If they do, ignore them and tell them to get over it.

Good luck to the happy couple in whatever attire they decide. I am sure my fellow bloggers will pipe in soon with their thoughts on the matter as well. So be sure to read the comments here.

Thanks for reading!

6 comments:

The FlyingFish said...

My brother wanted to wear his whites for his wedding, but his wife had picked out a slightly off-white dress. Before the wedding, we were all thinking it would look weird. Now, looking at a picture of them from their wedding as I type this, I have to say, you don't even see white and off-white... you see gorgeous wedding gown, and striking officer in his whites.

Especially for an August wedding, I DEFINITELY vote he sticks with whites.

JulieAnn said...

Go for the whites!! I love that I (along with serious help from my husband's mom!) convinced my husband to wear his whites! He had said something about "not wanting to take any attention from me" but I didn't feel he did that at all!

We still get compliments on our pictures...

C Anderson said...

Pale redhead here: my skin required an ivory gown. There was no clash with the whites. When working with the wedding party, have the bridesmaids bring in a balancing color. In my case, we offset any photo with David's bridal famous Apple Red gowns. I recommend finding a complimentary hue to balance. Enjoy the special day! Welcome to the coast family!

(A Little) Gris Gris said...

I got married in an ivory dress and hubby wore his dress whites. We got married in MD and I bought my dress from a shop that does a lot of Naval Academy weddings. One of the first things they said to me was that you should never buy a white dress to match the dress whites as they are an awful glow in the dark shade of white that simply doesn't quite match any other shade of white, let alone a fine silk.

If you're interested in a photo, let me know, I'm happy to send one to ease her worries. Clearly, I'm biased, but I think we looked great together.

Becca said...

My husband and I got married this past August and he decided against wearing the dress whites. As he put it, "I was marring him, and not the Coast Guard." I am a proud Coastie wife, but I am also not a spouse of the Coast Guard. We decided to do the civilian way with the wedding dress, and it came out wonderful.

Just a Girl in a Port said...

FYI, my DH didn't wear a uniform at our wedding--just not his style. Part of me wishes he would have, but looking back at our pictures, he looked very dapper in his tux. All in all, let the groom do what he is comfortable doing I say. It's great to see so many responses on here!