What Should Wedding Guests wear to a Wedding?

There are different Wedding customs and faiths and the type of Wedding Apparel that you wear may be defined by the type of wedding that you attend and the traditional dress. 

If you were a Wedding Guest at an Indian Wedding for example you may choose to wear a Saree or a Salway Kameez, at a Catholic Wedding there may be rules around covering shoulders in the Church and at a Jewish Wedding men could wear Kippahs to cover their heads.

The Wedding might have a Wedding Theme that would define what outfit you would like to choose, this could be a colourful event, something based on their favourite film or an era from history.

At Non-Religious Wedding Ceremonies or less formal events there may be no dress code as such so it may be more difficult to decide what to wear, the general rule of thumb I that Wedding Guests should make an effort to look smart so if you are in any doubt it would be advisable to wear something more formal that you would not normally wear every day.

Some Weddings are quite formal affairs and a Wedding couple may wish to enforce a dress code on their wedding day for the guests and whilst you may have a personal preference on that it is good manners and etiquette to stick to the wishes of the couple seeing as it is their wedding, however It goes without saying that whilst a dress code is a nice to have it may put pressure on some Wedding Guests who have to buy clothes for the occasion particularly in the case where they have their children attending.

You may be invited to a more laid back Wedding day and told that there is no specific dress code to encourage guests to feel more relaxed and comfortable. 

Here are some questions that we have found that Wedding Guests are asking on the internet…

Is It OK To Wear Jeans To A Wedding?

In most cases it would probably be a no particularly if you were attending a religious ceremony or the actual Wedding itself unless you were told a smart casual look was acceptable. Wearing denim may be comfortable but it may be looked down upon by other guests and the wedding couple themselves.

You might be able to wear Jeans to an evening reception rather than during the day or it might be that you have been invited to a really laid back affair in the summertime and jeans are totally acceptable.

For the avoidance of doubt avoid the denim….

What is the difference between a “White Tie” and “Black Tie” occasion?

The White Tie Wedding will be a very very formal day, these are high society type wedding that will be lavish and debonair and there will be expectation of ballgowns, bow ties and tail suits

The Black-Tie Event is slightly less formal but has almost the same kind of expectations of ballgowns or cocktail dresses with men wearing tuxedos with bow ties.