Can wedding guests wear the same colour as bridesmaids?

Everyone knows the old saying about never wearing white to a wedding, but in some cases, that’s been turned on its head. In recent years, an increasing number of couples are asking their guests to dress in all-white attire for white themed weddings. So, do you need to worry about what you'll wear to a wedding if you're not part of the bridal party? Not necessarily but there are some things you need to keep in mind when choosing a wedding guest outfit, to avoid looking like a bridesmaid.

Can you ask what the bridesmaids are wearing?

If you’re close to the bride or one of the bridesmaids, there’s no harm in asking what colour the bridesmaid dresses are if you’re worried about what to wear. Some couples might even include the wedding palette colours in the invitation so guests know what colour the bridesmaids will likely be wearing. This will help you get a better insight into what colours you should avoid when rooting through your wardrobe or shopping for occasion dresses.

Is it ok to wear a bridesmaid’s dress from a previous wedding?

It’s widely considered to be acceptable to reuse a dress from a different wedding as long as it suits the formality and style of the wedding you’re going to. There are a wide variety of bridesmaid dress styles that can be adapted to suit other weddings where you’re not part of the bridal party.

If you had a beautiful, formal, silky full-length gown that you wore as a bridesmaid to another wedding and the wedding you’re attending now is a casual, backyard barbecue style, that dress probably isn’t the right fit and you’ll look out of place. However, if you feel your dress will fit in well with the formality of the wedding, then you’re more likely to feel comfortable in it.

How can you style a bridesmaid dress, so it doesn’t look like you’re reusing a gown from a different wedding?

It’s recommended that you stay away from accessorising the bridesmaid dress in a way that looks to neutral, as that is normally how a wedding party will style a bridesmaid. You could possibly wear a chunky necklace, a jazzy pair of shoes, or a leather bomber jacket, or anything that makes it feel like your own style and not a bridesmaid. As long as it’s within the wedding day dress code, you should be able to wear it and look lovely as a wedding guest.

What colour should you wear to a wedding?

Pastels

Naturally, the colours you should wear to a wedding depends on the formality and theme of the wedding as some colours will suit certain weddings more than others. Generally speaking, however, you can’t really go wrong with selecting an outfit in a pastel colour palette. The biggest advantage to pastel wedding guest dresses is that they look great on any skin tone, and you can typically find dresses in pale pink, lilac purple, pale blue, and light green at any time of year.

Pastels are a soft and warm way to show your support for the bride and groom without stealing focus from them with an outfit disaster. If you’re not a fan of wearing a dress in one solid colour, you could always opt for an outfit that has pastel designs or prints. They’re fresh, romantic, and stylish, plus they’ll work perfectly with any type of wedding décor.

Season appropriate colours

If you’re not someone who likes wearing pastel colours and you still can’t decide what colours to choose for your gown, it’s often easiest to select a dress that fits in with the season of the big day. For example, if the wedding is taking place during the autumn, or it's a winter wedding, you can choose deeper colours that work with the season.

Whereas if they’re getting married in the summer you can go with brighter, more vibrant colours. The biggest benefit of dressing for the season is you can easily find a range of stunning dresses that fall within the ideal colour palette. Deeper colours like navy and burgundy tend to look amazing on most people, making them a widely popular choice.

Conclusion

It’s probably not the best idea to wear the same colour as the bridesmaids if you can avoid it as you don’t want to be mistaken for one or draw attention for all the wrong reasons. There’s no harm in wearing similar colours to the bridal party as you’ll be showing that you’re including colours the couple like. Explore our gorgeous range of special occasion dresses to find the right outfit for an upcoming wedding.