DEAR MISS MANNERS: Once the bride changes out of her wedding dress into something else, is it OK for the bridesmaids to also change out of their dresses into something more comfortable? Don't wanna breach wedding protocol.
GENTLE READER: What bewilders Miss Manners about this new habit of changing mid-celebration is why a bride would buy an uncomfortable wedding dress.
No matter how splendid the look, would it be worth it to have to stand at the altar thinking she can't wait to get out of it? And what is wrong with the people who were supposed to be fitting her?
Yes, Miss Manners realizes that this is not really the explanation. On probably the only truly formal occasion of her life, the bride wants two overpriced dresses -- one of which she might get a chance to wear later, out on the town, as she can hardly appear again in a long white dress with a train. Also, she doesn't know what to do with the train so that she can dance at the reception. (If properly made, it has a loop for draping the train from her wrist.)
But chiefly, it is probably because by "comfortable," the bride means "sexy." Regardless, if she is going to change, Miss Manners permits the bridesmaids to do so as well.