“My Niece Was Ugly”: Teen Wears White To Aunt’s Wedding, Ends Up Photoshopped In The Pictures
Interview With ExpertYour wedding day is meant to be one of the most special moments of your life, filled with joy, love, and memories you’ll cherish forever. And for this bride, it was almost perfect—except for one small hiccup. Her teenage niece turned up wearing a white dress.
Instead of making a scene, the bride decided to quietly photoshop the dress to a different color in the family photos. What seemed like a simple solution, however, sparked a whole new family drama.
Read the full story below, and don’t miss our conversation with world-leading etiquette expert Jo Hayes on how delicate occasions like these can be handled with grace.
More info: Reddit
The bride’s special day took a hit when her niece wore white to the wedding
Image credits: Juliano Astc / Pexels (not the actual photo)
So, she photoshopped the outfit in the family photos—but not without drama
Image credits: Yan Krukau / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Image credits: DesignedBasic
Expert advice
Jo Hayes, a world-leading etiquette expert, consultant, lifestyle commentator, and founder of EtiquetteExpert.Org, spoke with Bored Panda about how to approach occasions like these with care and thoughtfulness.
“This is something of a challenging situation to call, etiquette-wise, but I will make a call, erring towards the side of the bride,” she said.
In many cultures, it’s considered both poor manners and disrespectful for guests to arrive in white at a wedding. This isn’t just tradition; it’s a fundamental rule of wedding etiquette. “The bride wears white—this is her day, and the groom’s, of course. Guests do not want to steal an inch of her spotlight,” Hayes explained.
Image credits: Omelnickiy / Envato (not the actual photo)
“Now, we must not be legalistic here—elements of white in a guest’s outfit are completely fine. White panelling on a dress, for instance, is absolutely acceptable. Just as long as it’s not all white, and doesn’t resemble, in any way, a bridal gown, you’ll be good,” she clarified.
However, in this case, the niece’s choice of an all-white dress was clearly a misstep. “Surely she knew about the ‘don’t wear white to a wedding’ rule,” Hayes remarked. “In cultures where it’s a ‘rule,’ it’s widely known—even among teenagers.”
“Did this teen not discuss her outfit with another member of the family before the big day, such as her own mother, and have one of them advise her against it? Given that she’s a teenager, I find this a little difficult to believe. If they knew what she was planning to wear, someone should have intervened,” she noted.
Hayes suggested the bride could have approached the situation differently by having a conversation with her niece about what happened. “She could sit down with her niece—and possibly the niece’s mother—and explain kindly, calmly, but clearly, why the choice of a white dress was upsetting,” she said.
“She could explain that this is a well-known, though often unspoken, wedding etiquette rule that guests shouldn’t wear white, and that she didn’t want the photos to reflect this,” Hayes added.
“She could have told the niece that she would be photoshopping the color of her dress in the photos and perhaps ask if the niece had a preference for the new color,” Hayes said. “That way, it could be a collaborative approach, hopefully satisfying for everyone.”
Image credits: drazenphoto / Envato (not the actual photo)
But what if the niece wasn’t willing to cooperate? Hayes reassured that the bride would still have the right to move forward with her decision. “If the niece is resistant and refuses to come on board, I would encourage the bride to go ahead and photoshop anyway. She’s done all she can to inform the niece of her intentions and invite her to be part of the solution. If the niece doesn’t agree, so be it.”
In this disagreement, Hayes would like the niece to remember that this is the bride’s special day, not hers. “I’d advise the niece to offer grace and acquiesce to her aunt’s desires in this instance. Perhaps there’s a gorgeous color on the Photoshop app that would make the dress look even better,” she said.
For the bride, Hayes offered a valuable perspective: “Hold this situation very loosely. In the grand scheme of things, this is not a big deal. It’s in holding things, situations, people, and expectations too tightly that causes human misery.”
“Don’t let this small annoyance ruin what was, I’m sure, a beautiful occasion. Focus on the joy of marrying the love of your life—choose joy, and keep choosing it.”
In the replies, the woman shared that she was ready to let it go—until she saw the photos
Many readers sided with the bride, praising her for how she handled things
Others, however, felt she overreacted
Poll Question
Thanks! Check out the results:
You don't wear white unless you're the bride. Full stop. End of discussion. She's well within her rights to do what she wants with her photos too. It's her money. If she wanted to photoshop bunny ears on all her guests she'd be well with her rights. And FFS, the white dress thing was NEVER ABOUT VIRGINITY. I don't know who started that nonsense but white dresses became popular because of Queen Victoria. Everyone wanted to dress like the freakin queen and the dress itself was a symbol of her support of British lace makers iirc. I seriously don't know who co-opted this tradition into purity BS but that's NOT why white dresses became the norm.
My guess is they made the link purely because Queen Victoria was a virgin at her wedding and popularised wearing a white dress at the same time and the populace just conflated the 2. Just the year before a full length red gown wouldn't have caused anyone to bat an eye but fashions change
Load More Replies...The ES and YTA people and a bunch of y’all are quite self centered and rude.. Do I personally care about who wears white at a wedding? No. But many people do so guests don’t wear white.. You know another tradition I don’t care about? Taking off your shoes before going into a house. Shoes are not usually caked in anything and no one is putting their hands on the floor so why the extra effort? But you know what I do if I go to a no-house? I take off my gd shoes. Because, you know, it’s considerate. And if I waltzed into a no-shoes household fully shod but the hosts were too polite to say anything, would you hold it against them to still be upset about my rudeness later? No, you would agree I was a rude git.. Stop telling this lady how to feel. The real testament is she did not get upset or do anything about it at her actual wedding. The memory of the rudeness still bugged her later and instead of complaining to everyone she and her husband quietly solved the problem.
Take my vote. A coherent and down to the point post. Fully shod is my new phrase now. TY.
Load More Replies...16 is old enough to know it's rude to wear white to a wedding. OP should've said something straight away but her solution was also fine. If SIL and DIL are upset, they can kick rocks. Even if DIL was somehow innocently unaware, SIL should've damn well told her. OP is not a bridezilla or any other BS the ESH comments accused her of being. F*ck that noise.
What would saying something right away have solved?
Load More Replies...You don't wear white unless you're the bride. Full stop. End of discussion. She's well within her rights to do what she wants with her photos too. It's her money. If she wanted to photoshop bunny ears on all her guests she'd be well with her rights. And FFS, the white dress thing was NEVER ABOUT VIRGINITY. I don't know who started that nonsense but white dresses became popular because of Queen Victoria. Everyone wanted to dress like the freakin queen and the dress itself was a symbol of her support of British lace makers iirc. I seriously don't know who co-opted this tradition into purity BS but that's NOT why white dresses became the norm.
My guess is they made the link purely because Queen Victoria was a virgin at her wedding and popularised wearing a white dress at the same time and the populace just conflated the 2. Just the year before a full length red gown wouldn't have caused anyone to bat an eye but fashions change
Load More Replies...The ES and YTA people and a bunch of y’all are quite self centered and rude.. Do I personally care about who wears white at a wedding? No. But many people do so guests don’t wear white.. You know another tradition I don’t care about? Taking off your shoes before going into a house. Shoes are not usually caked in anything and no one is putting their hands on the floor so why the extra effort? But you know what I do if I go to a no-house? I take off my gd shoes. Because, you know, it’s considerate. And if I waltzed into a no-shoes household fully shod but the hosts were too polite to say anything, would you hold it against them to still be upset about my rudeness later? No, you would agree I was a rude git.. Stop telling this lady how to feel. The real testament is she did not get upset or do anything about it at her actual wedding. The memory of the rudeness still bugged her later and instead of complaining to everyone she and her husband quietly solved the problem.
Take my vote. A coherent and down to the point post. Fully shod is my new phrase now. TY.
Load More Replies...16 is old enough to know it's rude to wear white to a wedding. OP should've said something straight away but her solution was also fine. If SIL and DIL are upset, they can kick rocks. Even if DIL was somehow innocently unaware, SIL should've damn well told her. OP is not a bridezilla or any other BS the ESH comments accused her of being. F*ck that noise.
What would saying something right away have solved?
Load More Replies...
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