"For the longest time (since teens perhaps), I have had my heart set on a pink wedding gown," the bride wrote on Reddit.
Updated on January 04, 2026 10:47AM
Photo by Jose Villa for Monique Lhuillier
Key Takeaways
- The bride’s dream of wearing a pink wedding dress caused tension with her parents, who expected a traditional white gown.
- Her parents refused to pay their share of the dress if it wasn’t white, but her brother offered to help instead.
- Many supported the bride’s choice, sharing stories of colorful wedding dresses and encouraging her to prioritize her happiness.
Decades ago, wedding dresses were almost exclusively white—it was expected that women would walk down the aisle in a traditional white gown, and very few, if any, retailers offered alternative options. Today, however, wedding dresses can be found in a multitude of colors, and brides-to-be are saying "yes" to any bridal gown they love, regardless of color. Unfortunately, not everyone is on board with this sartorial shift. One bride-to-be took to Reddit's AITA forum to share her story and find out if she's right or wrong for wanting to wear a non-white wedding dress on her big day.
On a thread titled "AITA for Drama Over Pink Wedding Dress," a poster noted that she's getting married in May of 2025, and recently began discussing granular plans with her parents. Things became contentious when they started discussing wedding dresses. "For the longest time (since teens perhaps), I have had my heart set on a pink wedding gown. That color makes me feel the prettiest and (I believe) suits me more than white. My mom has known about this interest, but always thought it was one of those fancies which would 'go away' once I grew up and actually decided to get married," the OP wrote.
"When I brought up the pink wedding dress again during our discussion, my mom and I got into a serious argument about it. She said that it would be childish and embarrassing of me to get married in a gown that color and she doesn't want me to regret in the future looking back at my photos," the OP noted. "I argued that there was nothing embarrassing about wearing a color I like on MY special day, and even James didn't mind what color of the dress I wore. I also said that regret could go either way and I could end up regretting NOT wearing pink in the future so I'd rather go with the decision that makes me happy right now. Although my dad hasn't been as vocally against the pink dress, he is starting to side with mom seeing how upset she is getting over this."
Courtesy of Ines Di Santo
It's not just a matter of the bride's parents being disapproving of her choice, though. There's also a financial component at play. The original plan, the OP noted, was for the bride and her parents to split the cost of the dress 50-50. "Over the whole week, there has been no end in sight to this argument, with my mom bringing up multiple times how they won't pay their half for the wedding dress if I go with pink," she wrote. "I am not sure anymore if I want the pink dress that badly just because I feel hurt the way my parents reacted to it and made such a big deal out of it. On the other hand, this is what I have always wanted but I do feel like this small of a decision is causing a huge drama for no reason. AITA?"
So, what did other Redditors think? On the whole, everyone agreed that the bride's mother was being unreasonable and that she should choose the gown that made her happy, regardless of what her mom thinks. "This is not your mother's wedding. She needs to take a seat," one commenter replied. Others added their own stories of wearing non-white wedding dresses. "My grandma got married in 1923 and wore a brown silk wedding dress. I got married in 1981 in a purple dress. There's no law that says wedding dresses have to be white," another posted added.
Though the situation clearly left the bride-to-be feeling discouraged, there is a silver lining to the story. Her brother agrees that their parents are being unreasonable and has offered to pay for her half of the wedding dress so that his sister can wear exactly what she wants. "My brother (30m) thinks the whole argument over this color is ridiculous and told mom that he'd be happy to split the bill with me instead, and they might end up being the ones regretting this whole drama more than me regretting the color in the future," the OP wrote. Reddit users noted that her brother's kindness shouldn't be overlooked. "Can we say that brother is the absolute OG here? He knows his mom is being petty and creating drama, and he is stepping up to make sure his sister has the wedding dress she wants to spite the mother. That says a lot about the mom. I love this brother!" one poster added.
