How many of you can actually wear white in its true meaning?

Since a large majority of people keep quoting the old etiquette about not wearing white, black or even red to a wedding because it has old traditional or etiquette meaning, I was wondering how many of you that quote that are actually sticking to the traditional meaning of a white wedding dress? And, if you are not, in it's full definition, technically able to wear white to your wedding and are doing so, isn't it hypocritical to tell someone which color she can or cannot wear to a wedding?How many of you can actually wear white in its true meaning?
Either way I don't think it's anyone's business who wears what color and why.





It's the special day of the couple getting married therefore it is up to them to plan the wedding according to their personal tastes.





:)How many of you can actually wear white in its true meaning?
Contrary to popular belief, the wearing of white at a wedding was not to indicate virginity or purity. In the 1840's Queen Victoria was married in a flamboyant white dress. To create white fabrics took lots of labor or the purchase of rare fabrics that were naturally white. They were harder to work with and cost much more. White fabrics were a symbol of wealth.





So the white wedding dress was a symbol of worth of the bride and her families ability to provide a dowery.
Well for one thing white was meant to prepresent purity of the soul not the body. For another thing, white wasnt even worn for wedding dresses before Queen Elizabether decided to wear white on her wedding day insted of the (traditional at the time) silver dress. I dont see how anyone has the right to say anything about what color you can wear... who the hell cares?
I was honestly able to wear white on my first marriage. I was 20 years old. After my divorce 10 years later... I was celibate until I remarried. My hubby took allot of cold showers. On my second marriage... it was an Ivory dress.


I think you can wear any color you want. Times have changed. I don't think anyone cares about that anymore.
Since when does not being a virgin make someone impure? I guess your mother is dirty. Of course, the 'true meaning' is not virginity that came about later...as for the etiquette, that's about not drawing attention away from the bride no matter what she is wearing...your question flips and flops. I'm not even sure you understand yourself!
White really doesn't have a true meaning, blue was the original color for virginity, and red is infamous for getting married in other cultures. Truly up to the person!
I am wearing ivory, which is in the white family. But it looks better with my skin complexion than white does. White makes me look way too pale. While Ivory gives me a nice tan look. That is the only reason why i am not wearing white.
White has nothing to do with being pure. A white dress back in the day meant that the bride had a large dowry.


Queen Victoria started the fashion of white wedding dresses.
Wear what you want...white wasn't originally intended to mean 'virgin/pure' anyway (that idea came about much later).





If it's your wedding, who cares what anyone else thinks? You're the one who should be happy with it.
If, by ';true meaning'; you're implying virginity...that's not the true meaning at all. White was originally worn to a wedding as a symbol of wealth.
Actually this was a trend started that showed $$. Whit dresses are hard to keep clean. plae blue is actually the color of purity. So yes I can wear white with it's true meaning.
i am wearing white and i am not a virgin....i also dont care what other people wear to weddings.....well as long as it is not white!
I'm wearing white and I'm not a virgin. People can wear what they want in my opinion.
What does it say about marrying in Ivory?????
I'm wearing white and I'm not a virgin. A bride has the right to wear whatever color she wants though!
I am planning to wear white...and since I am divorced and have two children it's a pretty safe bet that I am neither pure nor a virgin! I have also lived with my FH for the last 3 years so all bets are off on the whole concept...





With a black %26amp; white tuxedo theme with red accents, I need to have a white dress to complement his black tux. :)
Wearing white started because only rich people could afford to wear that color. I wore white to my wedding. I wore it because to me it symbolized purity which is something I strongly believe in. I don't care what it means, if anything, to anyone else. That's what it meant to me. A wedding gown can mean whatever you want it to or it can just simply be that a bride wants a pretty dress in her favorite color. My aunt wore a white suit (she said it was ';light cream';) to my wedding. It caught me off guard a little bit. I wasn't offended because I knew she wasn't doing it to make a statement or anything. She just really likes that suit. I know in some Asian countries wearing white is the color of mourning and they wear red as their wedding attire color. In this day and age, especially in the US, a bride can wear any color and it doesn't matter.
I'm wearing white to my wedding. In its true old fashioned meaning as in ';wealth'; then no... we are definately not wealthy. In its traditional meaning as in purity/virginity, then yes I can wear white in that meaning.





I think you can wear whatever color you feel comfortable in to your wedding. I don't think anyone would look down upon you for not wearing white these days.
I'm in agreeance with CJ. The white dress was suppose to symbolize the purity of one's soul and also their heart. Basically meaning they'd never been married before and so they were giving their heart and their soul for the first time. All this rubbish about virginity is just that rubbish.





I'm wearing white and I'm not a virgin, so who cares. I see lots of bride's opting out of the white dress for gorgeous colored gowns in red. Etiquette rules are a bunch of nonsense in my opinion. Who cares what color you wear!! I say wear what you want/
Its true meaning as in a symbol of wealth? Hmmm...We are paying for our entire wedding out of our own savings... we own a house, 2 nice cars, no credit card debt... so yeah.. I could if I chose to.





Edit: I completely agree with you that people choose to comply with the rules of etiquette when it serves there purpose and to completely ignore it when it doesn't. And typically the etiquette that they are referring to is completely outdated. Guess I should get back to cleaning... where did I put my shoes??? oh yeah..did I mention I'm pregnant... J/K.
Depends on what meaning you are referring to. The origin of the white wedding dress didn't come by virginity and purity originally. The symbolism behind the white wedding dress was wealth, because you were wealthy enough to wear a dress you were only going to wear once, which was in the 1800s and started by royalty.





In the 1950s or thereabout is where it's got it's tradition of being about virginity and purity.





So which tradition are you referring to?





I'm assuming you're referring to the second less than 100 year old tradition. I'm not wearing white; I'm wearing blue. I wouldn't wear white even if that tiny bit of flesh were still intact. White washes a lot people out and doesn't look so hot on a lot of skin tones.





People wear what they want these days.
Queen Victoria wore a white dress because she had some lace she wished to display. White had formerly been a colour of mourning. People who wore white dresses with lots of material showed that they could afford to wear a dress once only, and it became a symbol of extravagance.





Blue is the colour of virgins, (used in art for the Virgin Mary).





Why not wear red? It's a colour for good luck in Asian weddings. Most people look awful in pure white. But most people look GREAT in red - and you can serve red velvet cake!
The point of leaving the color white just for the bride, is not a question of who whether or not the bride is pure anymore. My guess is the majority of brides in white are not virgins. I know I'm not and I am still wearing white. But I still don't think it's hypocritical to ask the rest of the women to choose another color (there are so many, why would you choose white???) because it is the bride's day to be special and white linked with brides. I think it is acceptable to ask guests to forgo any color, for that matter. If you want to be different, and say get married in purple, you could ask your guests to not wear purple. It's YOUR day and you can ask your guests anything you want. If they care about you they will oblige.
Wearing white ';originally'; meant that you were rich and could afford to buy a dress you will only wear once.





So if you buy the overpriced dress and only wearing it once and it's not breaking you.. then...





you can wear it with it's original meaning.





What a horrendously rude and ill informed question.





I don't consider the 1940's early enough to consider this it's ';original'; meaning. Gals were wearing white before this.
not me! why buy the pig when you can get the sausage for free, that's what I say.