Opinions please: Mixing White and Ivory Wedding Attire
judy way
I've been lurking here for some time. I'm not the future bride, but her
mother and I'm having a wonderful time helping her plan her wedding. I've
never been good with coordinating colors -- I have absolutely no eye for it.
My daughter has decided on a black and white gown for her bridesmaids. All
the bridesmaids have tried the dresses on and love them. They all look
lovely in them. No problem so far. My question centers around my
daughter's choice of gown. She has tried on several and leans toward ivory
rather than white. The ivory is far more flattering to her than the stark
white gowns.
My question is: would it be a terrible blunder to mix the ivory gown with
the black and white bridesmaids attire. The bridesmaids gowns are primarily
black and I've seen the gowns with an ivory gown next to them and I didn't
think it looked bad, but again, I'm really not confident with my own
judgement in this case. My daughter has asked my opinion. Please help.
Also. Assuming we proceed with mixing white with ivory, would you use ivory
or white in decorations at ceremony and reception. We will also be using
red in flowers and decorations.
TIA for your opinions.
Judy (proud Mom of the Bride)
Puester
My question centers around my
> daughter's choice of gown. She has tried on several and leans toward ivory
> rather than white. The ivory is far more flattering to her than the stark
> white gowns.
Then she should absolutely wear ivory! I would hate to see a bride in
an unflattering color just so she doesn't clash with the bridesmaids'
gloves!
> My question is: would it be a terrible blunder to mix the ivory gown with
> the black and white bridesmaids attire. The bridesmaids gowns are primarily
> black and I've seen the gowns with an ivory gown next to them and I didn't
> think it looked bad, but again, I'm really not confident with my own
> judgement in this case.
There are literally hundreds of shades of "white" depending on dye lot,
fabric texture, etc. and it's nearly impossible to match whites. As long
as there
isn't enough "stark white" in the wedding to make an ivory gown look dirty
you have nothing to stress over.
I truly think this is a case of "Don't sweat the smnall stuff." and no
one else at the wedding will even notice unless you go around announcing
it ahead of time, and why on earth would you do that?
Good luck and I hope this is your biggest dilemma!
gloria p
EHS
Sounds like you're having a great time planning the wedding with your
daughter. In my experience people do pretty much what they want whether
it looks "right" or not.
I'm going to be very blunt and state my personal opinion. Combining
white and ivory *can* be done successfully but it's VERY tricky - and
usually entails using a "white" wedding theme with the addition of
softer pastel colors if any. I know that it's traditional for the
groomsment to be wearing black and white formal attire even if the bride
is wearing ivory but in the photographs I've seen where the attendants
are wearing black/white and the bride is in ivory it just doesn't seem
to jive. I think it's the starkness of the black/white theme with the
softness of the ivory. Ends up making the ivory look dirty or the
black/white too harsh. And then you add red flowers, woops it starts
really fighting because red/white is definitely one color theme where
red/ivory is another one altogether. I can see some accessorizing
problems down the road.
Now, have you checked to see if the black/white gowns come in
black/ivory?
Ellen
Izzysmydog
called Natural White and is softer than pure white but not quite ivory... This
might be something to look into...
Noe Spaemme
wrote:
>There are literally hundreds of shades of "white" depending on dye lot,
>fabric texture, etc. and it's nearly impossible to match whites. As long
>as there
>isn't enough "stark white" in the wedding to make an ivory gown look dirty
>you have nothing to stress over.
Completely true. *Everything* would have to be stark white from all
the flowers, to men being dressed in all white, to the officiant in
all white to the carpet being all white - you get the idea.
Bridesmaids' dresses being partially stark white and the bride in
ivory isn't not going to be a problem.
>I truly think this is a case of "Don't sweat the smnall stuff." and no
>one else at the wedding will even notice unless you go around announcing
>it ahead of time, and why on earth would you do that?
I agree completely. But do tell the photographer in advance so he/she
can bring whatever is necessary to stage and light the shots so as to
not emphasize any color differences.
Hope this helps,
Noe
Catherine C.
If your daughter looks much better in ivory than white, she should
definitely wear ivory...(I look wonderful in ivory myself, but white
totally washes me out!)...
I agree with another poster that noone will notice a thing unless you
tell them and you certainly wouldn't want to do that...
Have you decided on the bm's flowers yet? A much younger friend of
mine is getting married in San Diego next summer and she has asked me
for ideas for the bm's flowers...her bm's dresses are black and I
would love to have some ideas to give her...if anyone else is reading
this, any and all ideas are welcome...I know that my friend loves the
colour purple and wants this colour to be in the bouquets but what
else would look good in their bouquets? (the male attendants will be
wearing grey/silver vests and purple boutonnieres...)
TIA,
Catherine
"judy way" <way...@home.com> wrote in message news:<%pQf7.4093$xb1.1...@news1.rdc1.ne.home.com>...
Baltigirl
the bridesmaid dresses. The bridesmaid dresses, ideally, should complement the
dress in overall "theme," not just color compatibility--when I first got
engaged, I saw a lavendar tulle bridesmaid dress in a magazine and absolutely
fell in love with it, but am very glad I did not put in an order right away,
because the wedding gown I selected several months later would have looked very
wrong with that dress. The BM dress was girlish and elaborate, and my wedding
dress is so simple that they just would have looked wrong together. My
bridesmaids later picked out simple silver spaghetti strap dresses that fit the
theme of the gown--and the wedding, in fact--much better.
I hope you two have fun making all these decisions. My mom and I have had an
absolute blast since I got engaged.
In article <%pQf7.4093$xb1.1...@news1.rdc1.ne.home.com>, judy way says...
Sandy Gonzalez
here I've heard it called Diamond White. It's not quite white, and not
as dark as ivory. Hope this helps.
Sandy
1/5/02
Izzysmydog
purple statice, white or purple lisianthus, white or purple stock and galyx
leaves... If you use the purple stock then the lisanthus should be white or
just the opposite... With the black dress this would be striking...
EHS
>
> Hi,
>
> If your daughter looks much better in ivory than white, she should
> definitely wear ivory...(I look wonderful in ivory myself, but white
> totally washes me out!)...
>
> I agree with another poster that noone will notice a thing unless you
> tell them and you certainly wouldn't want to do that...
Actually guests are the least likely to notice much of anything...lol.
My previously posted opinion (which is the only one voicing a nay) that
one shouldn't mix an ivory wedding gown with a black/white attendent
theme was more based on seeing photographs of weddings that did this.
It's just my opinion but it looked out of whack. The stark white of the
accessories and flowers pretty much clashed with the soft creamy shade
of ivory. What was also noticeable in at least one of the wedding photos
I recall is that the attendents wore a "brighter" palette of make-up
which went well with the black/white but the bride wore more of a
subdued sunkissed palette that went really great with the ivory gown.
They looked very weird together.
I'll also note that the BMs dresses were fairly sleek, contemporary and
"almost nightclubby" where the brides had a more romantic classic look
going. Just didn't mesh. That being said I adore white and ivory
weddings and have seen some really elegant ones done with the bride in
ivory and the attendants in white with ivory/pastel accents.
> Have you decided on the bm's flowers yet? A much younger friend of
> mine is getting married in San Diego next summer and she has asked me
> for ideas for the bm's flowers...her bm's dresses are black and I
> would love to have some ideas to give her...if anyone else is reading
> this, any and all ideas are welcome...I know that my friend loves the
> colour purple and wants this colour to be in the bouquets but what
> else would look good in their bouquets? (the male attendants will be
> wearing grey/silver vests and purple boutonnieres...)
Ah, San Diego...lovely place to be wed. Not sure if orchids are in vogue
these days but I always ADORED big fluffy purple cattalayas and/or
dendrobiums for weddings. Orchids are so glamorous and would go
beautifully with both the silver and the black.
Ellen
RICK5347
>one else at the wedding will even notice unless you go around announcing
>it ahead of time, and why on earth would you do that?
I agree completely. But do tell the photographer in advance so he/she
can bring whatever is necessary to stage and light the shots so as to
not emphasize any color differences.
>>
Speaking as a wedding photographer there is really nothing problematic about
mixing the colors you have discussed. Without any special techniques or
lighting changes the off-white wedding dress should be clearly differentiated
from the black and white dresses of the attendants.
Don't sweat the small stuff and have a wonderful and joyous wedding day!
Best regards,
Rick Rosen
Newport Beach, CA
www.rickrosen.com
EHS
>
> << >I truly think this is a case of "Don't sweat the smnall stuff." and no
> >one else at the wedding will even notice unless you go around announcing
> >it ahead of time, and why on earth would you do that?
>
> I agree completely. But do tell the photographer in advance so he/she
> can bring whatever is necessary to stage and light the shots so as to
> not emphasize any color differences.
> >>
>
> Speaking as a wedding photographer there is really nothing problematic about
> mixing the colors you have discussed. Without any special techniques or
> lighting changes the off-white wedding dress should be clearly differentiated
> from the black and white dresses of the attendants.
LOL....you missed the point. The advice was to ask the photographer to
make adjustments so there would NOT be a strong differentiation between
the yellowish-ness of the ivory and the starkness of the white.
Ellen
judy way
A great big thank you to all of you who replied. Your comments and
suggestions have been very constructive and helpful. You've provided much
peace of mind for me. I will heed much of the advice given, not only to my
own posting, but to many that I have read in this column over the last month
and, I'm sure, to much more to come.
Thanks a million!
Judy
Aimee
completely! I think the problem I am having after thinking some more about
it, is combining the off-white, and white with black. It's really hard to
tell without actually seeing it though.
--
Aimee
"Baltigirl" <nos...@newsranger.com> wrote in message
news:KBWf7.7274$2u.5...@www.newsranger.com...
Catherine C.
pass them on to my friend!
Catherine
EHS <nos...@nospam.com> wrote in message news:<3B8044F3...@nospam.com>...
RICK5347
>LOL....you missed the point. The advice was to ask the photographer to
>make adjustments so there would NOT be a strong differentiation between
>the yellowish-ness of the ivory and the starkness of the white.
I read the entire thread and the original question was not related to
photography at all. The only post mentioning photography was the one from Noe:
<<I agree completely. But do tell the photographer in advance so he/she
can bring whatever is necessary to stage and light the shots so as to
not emphasize any color differences.>>
Perhaps I missed something and if so then I apologize for any confusion but I
read about ALL the different whites of the dresses, flowers, etc. as compared
to the off-white wedding gown and thought that was what Noe was referring to
with the emphasis on the gowns. My suggestions still stand though, perhaps in
a slightly different context. There is nothing the photographer can do special
to emphasize or NOT emphasize the color differences. Modern films, especially
those used by professional photographers, are very good at differentiating even
subtle color differences. There are a few colors in nature among flowers
(purplish) that are problematic to record accurately but every other color is
generally not a problem so bypassing the color sensitivity of modern films
would be difficult.
Aimee
grossly misrepresented. I would think skin tones would be most important,
than the exact shade of a dress or flower.
--
Aimee
"RICK5347" <rick...@aol.com> wrote in message
news:20010820133024...@mb-md.aol.com...
Richard Clinton
Usually the bridesmaids colors do not need to match the bride, just each
other. So, "mixing" as you say, is really not an issue. If the bride
looks best in Ivory, then that is really all that matters. As for white
or ivory with the decoration. Either is appropriate and truthfully,
mixing white and ivory gives a brightness to the ivory and a warmth to
the chalk white. I would choose red and cream roses with white toile or
lace bows...Go ahead and mix all you'd like...As long as your bride is
happy and feels good with what she is wearing. These days, you really
can't make a mistake.
Have fun, Cameron Clinton, Wedding Consultant, Southern California
--
-----------------------------------------------------
Click here for Free Video!!
http://www.gohip.com/free_video/
JMH
EHS wrote:
> Actually guests are the least likely to notice much of anything...lol.
> My previously posted opinion (which is the only one voicing a nay) that
> one shouldn't mix an ivory wedding gown with a black/white attendent
> theme was more based on seeing photographs of weddings that did this.
> It's just my opinion but it looked out of whack. The stark white of the
> accessories and flowers pretty much clashed with the soft creamy shade
> of ivory.
How is this any different than the stark white wedding gown that is often
accompanied by what is supposed to be an all white bouquet? Stark white is
not a natural color in nature so what is called "white" is really cream or
ivory colored. Roses, in particular, are not stark white so when used in an
all "white" bouquet, look more antique white/ivory than true pristine white.
Noe Spaemme
<richard...@home.com> wrote:
>Usually the bridesmaids colors do not need to match the bride, just each
>other.
Actually, the bridesmaids don't need to match each other either. As
long as they match the overall formality of the wedding and no one
maid stands out above all the others owing to being overdressed or
inappropriately dressed, they can wear whatever the bride agrees to.
Hope this helps,
Noe
EHS
>
> Dear Judy,
> Usually the bridesmaids colors do not need to match the bride, just each
> other. So, "mixing" as you say, is really not an issue.
As already mentioned attendants don't have to even match each other, BUT
the general formality and yes, even theme should prevail throughout the
attire worn by the bridal party. One would certainly not select lavender
dotted swiss ruffly BM dresses to go with a sleek tank-top wedding
dress, nor would an ivory Victorian influenced wedding gown go well with
sequined spandex halter tops & slit skirts. Of course it's okay to do
whatever one wants, right? Whether it looks "good" to anyone but the
bride.
> I would choose red and cream roses with white toile or
> lace bows...
That's a "country" look for what sounded like a fairly contemporary
theme????
And there are LOTS of shades of red. Bright christmas-y red might work
with black and white, but it looks garish with ivory. Perhaps those deep
dark wine red roses.....
> Go ahead and mix all you'd like...As long as your bride is
> happy and feels good with what she is wearing. These days, you really
> can't make a mistake.
Oh puhlease. Why is it that a wedding is the only place people tip-toe
around not wanting to say anything to hurt anyone's feelings but watch
plenty more than one mistake being made. Yet you paint your kitchen an
off-color yellow and you hear about it for years.
There is creative mixing and matching, and then there is slap it
together and one will notice that everything clashes.
White and Ivory can work together beautifully but it requires a little
more work throughout the wedding ceremony/reception to tie them together
in a cohesive color palette. That's my story and I'm sticking to it.
:)))
Ellen
EHS
> How is this any different than the stark white wedding gown that is often
> accompanied by what is supposed to be an all white bouquet?
Not all white wedding gowns are created equally. A white satin gown
tends to have a more blue/grey-white cast to it while matte finish white
gowns remain more pure white.
> Stark white is
> not a natural color in nature so what is called "white" is really cream or
> ivory colored. Roses, in particular, are not stark white so when used in an
> all "white" bouquet, look more antique white/ivory than true pristine white.
Ivory tends to have a much yellower cast to it than cream or off-white.
The only flowers I know of that truly are Ivory would be Stock and
perhaps some antique varieties of Roses and well nothing else comes to
mind.
True white flowers include carnations, orchids, stephanotis, lily of the
valley, tulips, daisies, some varieties of mums, gladiolas, asian
lilies, freesia, delphinium plus I bet lots more but that's just off the
top of my head. In many of the true white flowers the sepals and the
reproductive parts of the flower are yellow green which can lend a more
cream like look to the flower but that's pretty much reflective light.
The off-white/cream family of flowers would include more commercially
grown roses, gardenias, freesia, baby's breath, carnations, asian
lilies, canna lilies, etc.
But any good florist knows how to handle "all the shades of white" and
that really is the least of a brides concern. Now mixing black/white
with ivory...that's another matter...roflmao!!!
Ellen
Izzysmydog
the ivory isn't a pure deep ivory, but a light ivory and yes, there are
different shades of ivory just as there are white... You need to go to the
salon where the bridesmaid dresses are and have one of the girls try on the
dress and then have your daughter try on a number of ivory dresses and stand
next to them... check them out in a mirror both in the lighted mirror room and
in the lighting in the rest of the store...I would then ask the clerk if I
could take a picture of the dresses next to each other if you are concerned
about the pictures, but they might not let you... You will only know for sure
if you put the dresses together... Don't depend on anyone elses opinion from
NG, who haven't seen the dresses in person... We don't have a clue what shades
of white or ivory are being used...