Wedding guest dress etiquette

CariadAgain

I would wear it in your position.

AFAIK the only "rules"/customs are the bride is the only one that gets to wear white. Other people should avoid the bridal colour.

Last wedding I went to was some time back now - so I wore a "best" dress I had anyway (ie long length/long sleeves/high-ish neckline/Laura Ashley). It was multicoloured. I figured it covered all bases - not white/not sexy (and I was prone to wearing low necklines - but that dress was a bit more cover-up than that).

I think white or "sexy" are the only faux pas these days for female guests at weddings.

I was sent photos of my cousin son’s wedding in Australia - on the beach, everyone wore white (!!) and were barefoot. It actually looked lovely.

I would forget about it for now, you have 12 months to make up your mind and if you're anything like me you'll change it many times before then.
BTW the dress looks very nice but personally I'd not wear the hat.

RosieandherMaw
Absolutely 👍🏻

What is it that gets into people when the word wedding is mentioned that they overdress to such a degree? It was not a very warm day but so many bare shoulders. At one time they would not have been allowed in a church. I might add tight dresses in striking materials on very plump ladies is not attractive, we wondered if any of them had seen what their back view looked like

Absolutely! There’s some switch that’s turned off in the common sense/trust your own taste part of the brain when weddings are mentioned.
Look at all those “Mother of the bride” shops where the MOB (and possibly also the MOG) are persuaded to part with 4 figure sums to compete with each other - and possibly the bride.
I was not immune and spent a lot on a gorgeous (it was!) dove grey dress and jacket and HAT not to mention the shoes and the bag for D1’s wedding 20 years ago- the one which was cancelled at 3 weeks notice because the b*st*rd having got cold feet walked out on her.
She was well rid of him BTW and SIL is simply lovely , a 100% improvement but to get back to the outfit - “I’m afraid we don’t give refunds” so that was £700+ down the drain - until I sold it on eBay.
Wear something nice and something you feel good in, it is nice to dress up sometimes but “theme” or “dress code” -? No way.

Calendargirl

Colour codes?

Oh, for the days when you just attended a wedding, wore your ‘best’ or a ‘new’ outfit…

No stressing about colours, designs, ….

Totally agree. I was just happy that people made it to my wedding. Some had to travel, some had to stay overnight, so it was expensive. I would have felt really bad expecting them to buy new clothes as well.

You look lovely in it so wear it! Weddings are minefields these days and the money spent on them!

A friend and I were having a coffee in the sun oposite a church where ta wedding was just ending. We were convulsed with laughter at the preposterous outfits being worn: hats of strange contortions, dresses more suited to a pantomime and very scruffy men.

What is it that gets into people when the word wedding is mentioned that they overdress to such a degree? It was not a very warm day but so many bare shoulders. At one time they would not have been allowed in a church. I might add tight dresses in striking materials on very plump ladies is not attractive, we wondered if any of them had seen what their
Back view looked like.

Yes I am old so my views will differ from the young so I should learn to live and let live as my mother always said and not be so critical.

ftm420 You look lovely in that dress - I'd wear it.

I have some lovely frocks and hats that I have worn at weddings (charity shop finds). Unfortunately I am now getting to the age where I no longer get wedding invitations. Still, several second cousins have split up from their husbands and on a second relationships so they may get married again!

my goodness how times have changed, colour codes...I wouldn't like to be told what colour to wear, as I would be paying for my outfit, I'd choose a colour which suited me..

I understand your concerns. It can be tricky choosing the right outfit for a wedding. While bright red can stand out, many contributors point out that it’s perfectly acceptable for a guest, especially if there’s no explicit colour code from the bride or couple.

If you are just a guest, wear your pretty red dress.

The consensus is that the only true don’ts are wearing white (or something that reads white on camera) or something overly revealing. One helpful guideline sums it up well: guests should avoid white, sexy styles and anything that draws attention away from the couple.

I wouldn't change anything; I think it is an attractive well co-ordinated outfit. (But I bet you will see a perfect new outfit between now and next July, as you are not looking!)

There is no wedding outfit etiquette for guests other than to wear nothing to outshine the bridal party. There seems to be an awful lot of consideration given to formal long outfits which I think has been adopted from American Proms. If there are no official details on dress code wear your red dress, could change the shoes and hat though, you'll look great.

I too wore red for my wedding in 1968!

JoyBloggs

I have a friend whose grandson is getting married and the guests have all been asked to wear black!

That would stop me attending the wedding I look absolutelyd readful in black. As if I was attending my own funeral. Would they really want a deaths head at the wedding?

I think dress codes are WRONG. My daughter went on a hen do abroad recently and every day she had to wear stated colours, absolutely bonkers🙄
Wear your colourful dress, it’s not white and looks fine👍

The red dress looks good: wear it!

I guess no one at that wedding will have seen it before, you feel happy with it, and it’s a very pretty dress. I’d wear it.

I have a friend whose grandson is getting married and the guests have all been asked to wear black!

Wear it, it looks lovely but don't bother with the fascinator.

I didn't know there was an etiquette for what you wear at a wedding. I usually just put on my best bib and tucker and perhaps new shoes or a handbag.

Even for my son's wedding after looking for something new and finding nothing I liked, I wore a silk suit I had bought a few years previously and worn twice. I put some braid on the jacket, bought new shoes and a top.

Is that you in the dress ftm? It's gorgeous. And with the floral pattern definitely not too red.
I love it when I see women srandinv out at weddings with sthg that's different- it makes me feel brave too.

I wore red too - 1972 !

It's lovely - wear it.

If you did feel you needed to tone it down a bit you could team it with a short jacket or bolero perhaps in a midnight blue shade or similar.

Goodness - the invitations went out early, or is it Save the Date?
We had a couple of Save the Dates then came Covid so one couple lives in unmarried bliss and the other never sent us an invitation so we don't know what happened.

I would deliberately wear something a bit more original than the herd. Wear what you want - your the one paying for your dress and I guess you want several wears out of it.

Wear the dress, ftm, and enjoy the day.