I hate the attention-seeking dress my sister is wearing to my wedding – am I in the wrong?

A bride-to-be has sought advice on whether the dress her sister plans to wear to the big day is inappropriate. 

A 25-year-old woman shared that her younger sister – who is not in the bridal party – had found a slinky, low cut, floor length yellow gown to wear to her formal beachside wedding.

But the bride felt uneasy about the dress – so she decided to ask a forum for opinions on whether the dress was suitable.

Posting to a Reddit thread about wedding attire, the bride shared a screenshot of the Oh Polly Aldona Slinky Jersey Floral-Appliqué Gown in pastel yellow and asked to ‘help settle a debate’ about whether the dress is ‘appropriate for a wedding guest’.

‘I’m the bride [and] my sister got this dress to [wear to] the wedding and I feel super weird about it,’ she wrote.

‘Don’t know if I’m just being crazy or if it really is just too much.’

Many strongly agreed that the bride was well within her rights to veto her 22-year-old sister from wearing the statement dress.

‘This is very attention seeking and inappropriate for 95 per cent of weddings,’ confirmed one highly up-voted reply. 

The future bride responded directly to this comment, saying, ‘That’s how I feel.’ 

This type of sentiment repeated throughout the comments.

‘Just tell her no. You don’t need to justify your decision by checking if strangers on the internet share your opinion. It’s YOUR wedding,’ read one reply.

‘You’re the bride, it’s your day! Case closed,’ another agreed.

‘There’s nothing wrong with saying no and that it’s too revealing,’ one more chimed in.

The bride admitted that she’d previously harboured concerns about her younger sister pulling an attention-seeking stunt at the wedding, particularly since the siblings don’t always get along.

‘We don’t have a good relationship,’ the bride said. ‘My fiancé actually said months ago, “Let’s see what she wears to try to upstage you [at the wedding]”.’ 

Another response asked the bride if she disliked the dress because it was ‘too revealing’, or, because she was simply worried about the sister ‘trying to upstage’ her.

The reply? ‘Both. And I know my sister…she’s definitely the type.’

A number of replies delved deeper. One person queried: ‘Are you worried she will look better than you?’

It was at this point that the bride confessed to feeling ‘insecure’ because her sisters are ‘gorgeous’.

‘I don’t want them wearing garbage bags but I also feel like this is just a bit too attention-seeking,’ the bride mused. ‘I don’t want my insecurity to be the only reason I say no [to this dress].’

‘What do you find inappropriate about it?’ another person asked.

To this, the future bride replied: ‘Skin tight, low back, boobie, light yellow… just feels like a bit much at once if that makes sense.’

Despite many commenters siding with the bride, a number of responses were firmly of the opinion that she ultimately didn’t get to have final say on what any of her guests wear – aside from those in the bridal party.

‘It isn’t white and it’s formal,’ read part of one reply which saw no wedding etiquette issue with the dress.

‘I don’t care for this dress, but no one is going to mistake her for the bride,’ agreed another response. ‘The dress is not bridal in any way. The focus will be on you!’ 

‘Respectfully, you’re not able to control what every guest wears to your wedding,’ read another thought-provoking reply. ‘It would be a shame to spend your wedding focused on what other people are wearing rather than enjoying your day with your spouse and loved ones.’

The gown at the centre of the discussion is made by UK fashion label, Oh Polly, which is a brand renowned for its trend-driven pieces.

Their Aldona Slinky Jersey Floral-Appliqué Gown is available to be purchased in Australia for AU$170, with delivery charges additional.

As well as the distinct pastel yellow shade, the gown also comes in three other colour options: blush pink, white or scarlet red.

According to the online listing, the dress is crafted from ‘super soft and stretchy jersey fabric’ and has a ‘figure-hugging fishtail silhouette framed with a sweetheart neckline’.

It also ‘features a statement low back and delicate trailing shoulder straps adorned with tonal rosettes’.