--- title: Wedding Traditions: Millennials Think the Bride Shouldn't Wear White description: A new poll sheds light on some generational differences in our views on wedding traditions--including who pays for the party canonical: https://time.com/2822053/weddings-brides-white-dresses-millennials/ author: Charlotte Alter article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2014-06-04T16:13:59.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:55:24.892Z og:title: Millennial Brides Don't Want to Wear White og:description: A new poll sheds light on some generational differences in our views on wedding traditions--including who pays for the party og:url: https://time.com/2822053/weddings-brides-white-dresses-millennials/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a09bbfc9689e364/6986962335ba6f6206c026b3/79224010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3413 og:image:height: 1920 og:image:alt: 79224010 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Millennial Brides Don't Want to Wear White twitter:description: A new poll sheds light on some generational differences in our views on wedding traditions--including who pays for the party twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt4a09bbfc9689e364/6986962335ba6f6206c026b3/79224010.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Millennial Brides Don't Want to Wear White > Sponsored content. 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Worth Your Time is TIME's culture newsletter, published Tuesdays and Saturdays to 40,000 subscribers as of August 2026. #### Who writes TIME's culture recommendations? Culture editor Eliza Berman writes Worth Your Time, drawing on TIME's critics and culture desk. #### Is Worth Your Time free? Yes. It is a free newsletter available at time.com/newsletters.  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 4, 2014 4:13 PM UTC  A pink bride holding a pink bouquet A pink bride holding a pink bouquet MIXA—Getty Images/MIXA  by [Charlotte Alter](https://time.com/author/charlotte-alter/)  ## Charlotte Alter Senior Correspondent Jun 4, 2014 4:13 PM UTC White weddings might soon be a thing of the past, because almost half of Americans (46%) disagree with the expectation that brides should wear white. A new [Harris Poll ](http://www.harrisinteractive.com/NewsRoom/HarrisPolls/tabid/447/mid/1508/articleId/1446/ctl/ReadCustom%20Default/Default.aspx)shows that wearing white is just one of a few wedding traditions that’s changing in an increasingly frugal climate. 46% of millennials now think that the bride’s family shouldn’t have to pay for the wedding, and only 56% think the groom’s family should pay for the rehearsal dinner. But millennials care about engagement rings more than older people do: 43% of millennials say they care about having an expensive ring, but only 21% of people over 68 think the engagement ring needs to be expensive. (Probably because older people know that a fancy ring isn’t the main ingredient of a long, successful marriage.) Other traditions are hard to shake. Three quarters of respondents of all ages said bridal showers should be women-only, and 84% say that the bride’s father should still walk her down the aisle. 70% said the groom should ask the bride’s parents before proposing. Even more surprising: 51% (and 47% of millennials) think the bride and groom should “wait” to have sex until after the wedding. This one sounds slightly dubious — are half of engaged couples in sexless relationships? 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