Strapless Bride in a Catholic Cermony?

mountaingirl18

I’m curious- what are your thoughts on strapless bridal gowns in a Catholic wedding. If you had a choice, would you go conservative, or not?

GeauxTigers17

It's completely up to you, and your priest/church. I would go more conservative on the style of the dress (ie, I wouldn't wear a body hugging mermaid gown) but I don't consider a strapless dress automatically immodest. It depends on the dress. And you can always get a bolero jacket or wrap to cover your shoulders during the ceremony - that's what I am doing. 

Calypso1977

i personally would never wear a strapless gown to any church wedding - catholic or otherwise.  but i also would not wear a strapless anything to a regular church service either.  same goes for the BM gowns.  i just personally dont feel that showing that much skin is appropriate in a house of worship.

that said, many do.  however, you shoudl check with your priest.  many parishes and priests do have requiremetns regarding attire, and strapless is often not allowed.

achiduck

Don't a lot of Catholic churches have rules about how covered you have to be? You could always wear a bolero for the ceremony and then lose it as soon as it's over.

doctabroccoli

I wore a strapless dress to my Catholic wedding, but it was about as modest of a strapless dress as can be.  I would feel really strange wearing one of those slutty Pnina Tornai dresses to any kind of Church wedding.  But like PPs said, whether or not it's allowed is totally dictated by each individual Church.

jmorford

check with your church.
mine said that strapless was fine, but to be fairly modest still.

but if you're uncomfortable being strapless in the church, you should look for one with straps.

redheadfsu

It depends on the Church and how conservative the priest is. (Make sure you check the rules in your church).
 
However, I honestly, judge the girls that wear the very very sexy dresses (see thru) in front of  their grandmothers.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I'd probably get a bolero or wrap if you go with strapless.

If you can look up Expat Pumpkin's profile, that's what she did. She had a custom bolero for her dress for the Catholic ceremony and then went strapless for the reception.

ETA: Expat got married in the US, but her husband is Mexican and I do know many Latin Catholic churches are more conservative. I'm not sure if it was a priest issue or just that their guests were more conservative about that thing.

Bubbalub

Many churches insist that bare shoulders be covered. So a strapless dress would need to be covered by a bolero jacket or shrug of some sort.

I find overly sexy dresses in church weddings tasteless too, Red.

NOLAbridealmost

The see-through Pnina dresses make me gag every time I see one--church wedding or not. 

I've been to lots of Catholic weddings and the brides wore strapless to each one. I don't think strapless automatically is immodest when it's not a plunging neckline, bare-backed, etc. 

blush64

I have seen many Catholic brides wear strapless dresses. They were all still conservative. I think it's better not to show cleavage but shoulders are pretty innocent.

MyNameIsNot

As much as it pained me to check "it's your day" that got my vote.  That phrase still makes me want to poke someone in the eye.

I bought a strapless gown for our catholic wedding, but like PP, it's was fairly modest.  The church didn't care, but my dad hated that it was strapless.  So, I had spaghetti straps added.  Somehow those 1/8 inch wide pieces of fabric made it so much more appropriate.  

leahwaz73

Wow - I'm getting married in a Catholic church and never even thought about that! My dress is strapless, but I wouldn't consider it inappropriate at all. If my 81-year-old mother approved of it and made no mention of me covering up, I guess I'm ok.

Bubbalub

leah I would just check with your priest/church to confirm their policies. It can vary and you don't want to be surprised on the day of your wedding.

meep2

Depends on your priest and church. As for my personal opinion, it's more a matter of how much cleavage is showing than the straps for me. What can I say, I've never found the shoulders to be a particularly erotic body part; after all, if you can go in there with a dress that's not floor length, is it really just about covering up more skin? I'm not a huge fan of strapless for other reasons, but a lot of women look great in them and there are some beatiful styles. Other than the shoulders, just avoid see-through and anything that screams "I'm trying to be a sex goddess on my wedding day" and you're covered. But given the fact that you're even asking this question, I'll assume that you're classy enough to know that there's a difference between flattering and va-va-voom

mica178

ask your priest. I wore a strapless dress but covered my shoulders with my veil.