One of the most important decisions a bride will make about her wedding day is what she’s going to wear. It may take her months to find the perfect dress, and often, she’ll want to keep the look a secret from her fiancé until the big day.
But sometimes the bride and groom have to worry about what their guests will wear too. And when one man found out that his mom planned on showing up to his big day in a white gown, he had to put his foot down. Below, you’ll find the full story that the bride and groom detailed on Reddit, as well as some of the replies invested readers shared.
This couple was thrilled to have a traditional Indian wedding to honor the bride’s culture
Image credits: Bhola Chourasia / Pexels (not the actual photo)
But when the groom found out what his mother planned to wear, the couple hit a rough patch
Image credits: Kunsulu Saurtaeva / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ConfusedBride234
Later, the bride responded to several readers and shared some more details
Readers assured the bride that she hadn’t done anything wrong, but many agreed that the groom’s mom shouldn’t wear white
Then, the bride shared an update on the situation
Image credits: August de Richelieu / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ConfusedBride234
And finally, the groom shared his side of the story
Image credits: Gaspar Zaldo / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: HONG SON / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: SAMPARK FILMS / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Darina Belonogova / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Sharan Sathya / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: ConfusedBride234
In many Eastern and African cultures, brides wear vibrantly colored wedding dresses
“Have you found a dress yet?” is one of the most common questions that brides receive while planning their big day. Everybody wants to look fabulous on their wedding day, and all of the guests know that finding the perfect dress isn’t always easy.
Experts say that brides usually try on between 6 and 12 gowns before finding one they’re absolutely in love with. And as we know, in many Western cultures, brides tend to go for white wedding gowns. In which case, it’s frowned upon for any wedding guests to wear the same color.
But in many Eastern and African cultures, brides opt for bright, vibrant colors instead. In India, for example, there are thousands of dresses that can be worn for weddings, as there are thousands of cultures making up the nation’s identity, designer Anita Dongre told The Knot.
Indian brides will typically have one look for their wedding ceremony, which might be an ethnic saree, a bridal lehenga, or a sharara. Then, she might change into another saree, lehenga, sharara, or ethnic gown for the reception. These looks are usually accessorized with traditional jewelry that is meaningful to the bride’s culture.
When it comes to colors, Dongre says that red is particularly popular. “In some cases, it’s the whole outfit, and in others, it’s the border or accessory. Red symbolizes the rising sun and is thus seen as the color of prosperity and fertility,” she explained.
The bride certainly has plenty of options if she wants to be more creative, though. It’s trendy for summer brides to choose lime greens, corals, warm yellows, and bright oranges, Dongre noted. Some are even opting for ivory and white nowadays.
Image credits: cottonbro studio / Pexels (not the actual photo)
It’s important to set strict boundaries with an overbearing mother
Regardless of the couple’s culture or what they have planned for their wedding day, it’s important for the bride and groom’s families to be relatively hands-off. It’s extremely kind of them to help pitch in with wedding costs if they’d like or to offer some assistance, but trying to steal the show or take over is always a bad look.
In this particular case, the groom’s mom clearly wasn’t involved in the wedding planning process, or she would have known it was a traditional Indian affair. But dealing with an overbearing mother is always going to take effort, even when you’re busy planning a wedding.
To navigate this difficult relationship, ChoosingTherapy recommends first recognizing her toxic behaviors, then setting and enforcing boundaries. It’s important to minimize your own emotional reactions and to know when to walk away from a situation with your mother. If possible, try to build a support system separate from her, and remember to engage in self-care.
She is not entitled to every detail about your life, no matter what she says. And if you have a partner or spouse, it’s time to prioritize them. If that means taking some time away from your mother or setting harsher boundaries with her, that might be necessary.
We would love to hear your thoughts on this situation in the comments below, pandas. Do you think the bride and groom handled this dress drama appropriately? Then, if you’d like to read another Bored Panda article featuring wedding dress drama, look no further than right here.
Readers congratulated the happy couple and said they were relieved to hear that everything worked out
Poll Question
Thanks! Check out the results:
Explore more of these tags
Coming from an Indian background, I can tell you guys Indians are super privately judgmental. Coming to an Indian wedding wearing Indian funeral colours would 100% garner lots of comments behind the mother’s back, and her behaviour would garner even more. But I’m very happy to hear everyone else had fun and that OP’s fiancé/husband was super enthusiastic and respectful of Indian traditions, not to mention his knowledge of them.
It makes me so happy to know tht, so thanks for adding that wonderful detail! I’ve never sobbed this hard over a Reddit story before, and certainly not first from sadness when I thought the wedding was off, and then from joy that it went so well! I hope Danny Boyle reads this and turn it into a movie; I’d be first in line to see it! I also hope the lousy, rotten MiL stews in her embarrassment for the rest of her life!
Load More Replies...The real hero of the story is the SIL for suggesting to let mommy dearest wear white and humiliate herself. Good of him to tell his bride how his mother was before the wedding.
Queen Victoria wore white for her wedding, and all the copycats created the "tradition." Before that, women wore whatever color made them feel beautiful. So the "tradition" is less than 200 yrs old, is an archaic symbol of the virginal bride, causes way too much wedding day drama, and I would love for it to go away.
It makes me crazy angry how the white wedding dress has been twisted around as one more sexist thing weaponized against women. We're supposed to wear white to show we're pure and chaste, but a man can show up to the wedding so diseased his dickk glows in the dark.
Load More Replies...Coming from an Indian background, I can tell you guys Indians are super privately judgmental. Coming to an Indian wedding wearing Indian funeral colours would 100% garner lots of comments behind the mother’s back, and her behaviour would garner even more. But I’m very happy to hear everyone else had fun and that OP’s fiancé/husband was super enthusiastic and respectful of Indian traditions, not to mention his knowledge of them.
It makes me so happy to know tht, so thanks for adding that wonderful detail! I’ve never sobbed this hard over a Reddit story before, and certainly not first from sadness when I thought the wedding was off, and then from joy that it went so well! I hope Danny Boyle reads this and turn it into a movie; I’d be first in line to see it! I also hope the lousy, rotten MiL stews in her embarrassment for the rest of her life!
Load More Replies...The real hero of the story is the SIL for suggesting to let mommy dearest wear white and humiliate herself. Good of him to tell his bride how his mother was before the wedding.
Queen Victoria wore white for her wedding, and all the copycats created the "tradition." Before that, women wore whatever color made them feel beautiful. So the "tradition" is less than 200 yrs old, is an archaic symbol of the virginal bride, causes way too much wedding day drama, and I would love for it to go away.
It makes me crazy angry how the white wedding dress has been twisted around as one more sexist thing weaponized against women. We're supposed to wear white to show we're pure and chaste, but a man can show up to the wedding so diseased his dickk glows in the dark.
Load More Replies...





















































































34
11