Ariana Grande's Inappropriate Dress At Her Brother's Wedding Will Always Haunt Her

Ariana Grande's brother Frankie Grande tied the knot with his husband Hale Leon in a small Florida ceremony in May 2022. Though the guest list was minimal, they had to go all-out for their theme. As both are diehard fans of "a galaxy far, far away," their intimate wedding pulled out all of the stops to make it the ultimate "Star Wars" extravaganza.

Together with light sabers and characters in costume, they even had their wedding on May 4, National Star Wars Day. Frankie's mother Joan Grande officiated the family-only ceremony, and Dolce and Gabbana handcrafted their tuxes — Frankie's in white and lace with gold detailing, while Hale was rocking a black suit embellished with crystals. To commemorate the day, Frankie uploaded a series of photos of the celebrations to Instagram, writing, " ... I am the happiest I've ever been ... I'm married to the man of my dreams, our families have merged together so beautifully, and we are well on our way to happily ever after." However, one key element was missing from the pics: Frankie's bridesmaid.

Ariana served as Frankie's bridesmaid for these particular nuptials, and while normally there's a specific dress, cut, and color worn by the women standing at the altar, Frankie let Ariana decide what she was going to wear (according to a Tweet made from Vera Wang). Based on the polarizing reactions to the two-piece, all-black risqué look, it may have been one of the things that went wrong.

The politics of what one can and cannot wear to a wedding has been hotly debated for decades, but many could agree that what Ariana Grande wore to her brother's wedding was less than appropriate. The "Wicked" star donned a lamé Vera Wang two-piece set, featuring a bra top and a maxi skirt. She finished off the look with dark tights, dainty jewelry, and a black satin bow fastened to her half-up, half-down cocoa-brown hair.

We all know Ariana Grande is flawless makeup-free, but her glam completed the sleek and sexy look, with black winged eyeliner and a warm-mauve lip gloss. Now, though her look was technically on theme, let's get into why some thought it wasn't exactly appropriate for a wedding. For starters, there's an old wives' tale about wearing black to a wedding, as some believed it meant that the individual was grieving or disapproved about the union; however, the superstition is quite dated. It was the skin-bearing element of Ariana's ensemble that ruffled some feathers, as wearing something revealing can be seen as disrespectful to the betrothed, or taking attention away from them.

Let's face it: Some celebrities are just prone to inappropriate wedding-guest outfits, and Ariana Grande is no different. As soon as viewers saw her outfit for Frankie Grande's wedding, they didn't hold back. When Priya Shukla, former senior vice president of global communications at Vera Wang, posted the look, it was met with nothing but praise for the "We Can't Be Friends" singer. One user wrote, "This is like just so ari, so made for her," while another added, "MY JAW DROPPED- SHE LOOKS SO F****** PRETTY ASF."

Unfortunately, X users weren't so kind. In response to Vera Wang's Tweet, one wrote, "This is really poor taste. The day belongs to her brother." Another quipped, "Because it can never be not about her for one damn minute." However, another user brought up a valid argument, as many critics assumed there was a bride in the picture. "I don't understand these replies, she looks gorgeous, it's a themed wedding not a traditional one, there is no bride to 'outshine' and it's not your wedding in the first place." Maybe we'll hold off before adding two-piece sets to the ultimate guide of what not to wear to a wedding.