Rehearsal Dinner outfit

dcbride86

What are you all wearing?  I've been told that I'm "supposed" to wear a white dress, but honestly, I don't want to.  There aren't a ton of occasions to re-wear a white dress, and it seems silly to purchase TWO white dresses that I'll never wear again.  I was thinking of wearing a floraly sundress that I could rewear to dinners or even a casual outdoor wedding.  That's not weird, is it?  Will people side-eye it if I don't wear white?

southernbelle0915

You definitely don't need to wear white. You're not even required to wear white to your wedding, so definitely not to the RD (or showers). If someone side-eyes a non-white RD dress, they have WAY too much time on their hands.

I like your sundress idea. The only questions you really need to answer are: Does the outfit match the formality of the venue? Do you feel beautiful? If the answer to both is yes, rock whatever you want!

ShesSoCold

dcbride86 said:

What are you all wearing?  I've been told that I'm "supposed" to wear a white dress, but honestly, I don't want to.  There aren't a ton of occasions to re-wear a white dress, and it seems silly to purchase TWO white dresses that I'll never wear again.  I was thinking of wearing a floraly sundress that I could rewear to dinners or even a casual outdoor wedding.  That's not weird, is it?  Will people side-eye it if I don't wear white?

Not weird at all. People who side-eye a bride for not wearing white to every single thing need a hobby. 

Maggie0829

No you don't have to wear a white dress and anyone who says that you have to is being ridiculous. Just wear whatever you want that you feel good in.

This is what I wore to my RD.  I still have it and have worn it again.

msuprincess04

I wore blue, with red pinstripes. It was comfy and cute, and that's all I was going for.

dcbride86

Thank you guys!  I thought it was so weird, but one of BMs is SO adament that ALL brides wear white to the RD, and if I don't EVERYONE will notice.  It seemed so weird to me, but I couldn't remember what the bride wore to the 1 RD I've been to.  Honestly, it will be hard enough for me to not spill all over ONE white dress, let alone 2 in a row!

dcbride86

Maggie0829 said:

No you don't have to wear a white dress and anyone who says that you have to is being ridiculous. Just wear whatever you want that you feel good in.

This is what I wore to my RD.  I still have it and have worn it again.

@Maggie0829 - I LOVE that dress!!  You're one of the only people I've seen who can pull off that color!!

plainjane0415

I'm wearing a one shouldered pale pink dress.  I looked for something white to wear for the Rehearsal Dinner, but I found nothing I liked.   So no, you definitely do not have to wear white.

Maggie0829

dcbride86 said:

Maggie0829 said:

No you don't have to wear a white dress and anyone who says that you have to is being ridiculous. Just wear whatever you want that you feel good in.

This is what I wore to my RD.  I still have it and have worn it again.

@Maggie0829 - I LOVE that dress!!  You're one of the only people I've seen who can pull off that color!!

Thank you!  Funny enough it was the same color as the BM dresses.  I didn't realize that until I looked back at some pictures.  And as you can see it was the same color as my old car.  I must have some sort of love for bright green lol!

climbingsingle

We did a casual dinner. I wore jeans, heels and a cute top. 

labro

I was going to wear white but never really found a dress I fell in love with so I ended up wearing a red maxi dress that I've had for awhile and a pair of cute sandals. Our RD was a backyard bbq so there was no need to dress up. Nobody said a word to me about it. Not wearing white is NBD.

cupcait927

We had a very casual rehearsal dinner and I just wore a black maxi dress. No need to wear white!

flantastic

I think the "bride wearing white to all WR events" became a "thing" recently - I don't remember anyone worrying about that five years ago.

I wore this awesome deep purple velvet cocktail dress that I already owned, because November is ideal for that and there really aren't that many times you can wear velvet.

beachyone15

I wore a navy lace dress that I LOVED! No one said anything to me about not wearing white. Wear what you want!

redoryx

I don't think I've ever been to a RD where the bride *did* wear white.

blabla89

You definitely don't need to wear white. I was on the fence between wanting a white dress and thinking it's cliche. I settled on this one as a happy medium:



I say use the RD as an excuse to splurge on a dress you love and might wear again. Definitely doesn't have to be white.

justsie

Another option OP is to wear a dress that is one of your wedding colors, if you feel like your going to have people who are judging you/asking why you aren't wearing white (but really, who does that). That way you can easily answer that yes, it is tied to my wedding mindyabusiness and you still get to wear what you want. 

That is what I will probably do, but it is probably 99% because I just look damn good in navy.

ahyatt87

I wore a blouse, jeans, and running shoes. We had our rehearsal dinner at a bowling alley and bowled a few games, so I was not going to wear a dress or skirt.

southernbelle0915

@blabla89 - LOVE your dress!!!

MandyMost

Q: "Why aren't you wearing white?!?!"

A: "Because the wedding is tomorrow...."

But honestly, I did wear white to my rehearsal dinner because I wanted to be all "Eeeeee I'm a bride look at meeeeeeee I'm special". Haha. I'll admit it. And I found a great white dress I looked fantastic in, that didn't hurt either. 

I'd say probably 25% of the brides I knew wore white to their shower and/or rehearsal dinner. 

I will say that it's pretty typical for the bride AND groom to be just a tad more dressed up than the guests at most rehearsal dinners I've been to, even if it's a casual event. 

lovesclimbing

I wore a blue top and jeans.

vmj23

 I didn't wear white!  I wore a purple dress I found in my closet and had forgotten about.

ashley8918

I wore a white dress, because I wanted to. It's definietely not a requirement.

AddieCake

I wore jeans and a cute top. Honestly, I eye roll at people who wear white to their rehearsals or showers or other parties. I know I shouldn't b/c there is nothing wrong with it, but my years on here have made me annoyed at all the "overdoing" of all things wedding.

JennyColada

I wore a white-ish sundress. It had an embroidery trim that was sparrows on a wire. Birds are kind of our "thing", so I thought it was cute. I've worn the dress a bunch since, it's one of my favorites.

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