I just wonder how the bride and groom would feel if the preacher showed up at their wedding wearing cutoffs and a sweatshirt. Would they feel like "Our wedding is going to be ruined," "All anybody is going to remember of our wedding was how the preacher was dressed," "Boy, that took a lot of nerve to come dressed like he was washing the car," or "Somebody ought to say something to him"? Somebody would and they'd have every right, wouldn't they? Yes! Yes!

How about a bride who comes with an immodest wedding dress. I am embarrassed as the preacher. She should be. Did she not try the dress on until just before she "walked down the aisle"? Probably the father never saw it until then, but the mother surely saw it on her daughter. Couldn't you make a statement like, "Sweetheart that neck-line is cut too low"? Maybe the daughter doesn't understand the effects of such a dress, though one would think since she is getting married she should understand. Maybe no one ever talked to her. That is a big problem, perhaps, with the failure of many marriages, no one ever explains to them the "facts of life."

Come on! Moms and Dads, give your daughters a clue! Usually the bride is not taller than all the men to whom she will talk. They are already looking down at her. Maybe she is in the habit of exposing that much flesh. I hope not! I would think that when she tried the dress on her sense of modesty, which she should have as commanded by her God, would automatically kick into gear. But alas! At the weddings I have been to in the last few years the brides have lost their ability to blush in some cases. I have made an effort to compliment those who did not expose themselves. I appreciated their effort and they appreciated the compliment. I think those young ladies have more respect for themselves and their future husbands.

I don't have any idea how many future grooms who will read this, or have some input on their bride's dress. I doubt you can tell by just seeing a dress hanging whether or not it is cut too low. I guarantee people are "thinking something" when she marches out "in front of God and everybody" and displays herself with an immodest wed-ding gown. Here is a dress, whose color represents purity, but is giving a hint of impurity. Just a little (very little) more material would take care of the problem and it wouldn't cost an arm and a leg.

Our dress expresses a part of us that can't be seen, our character. What is this expressing about the bride? Not godliness or virtue.

Guardian of Truth XXXVIII: 9, p. 1
May 5, 1994