What To Wear, What To Wear

What To Wear, What To Wear

April 2nd, 2007 @ 10:35 am by Mrs. Blueberry
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Robyn just blogged about several dresses she’s considering wearing to my wedding, and it got me thinking…

I’ve never put a *ton* of thought into what I wear to other peoples’ weddings. I always try to look nice, definitely, but I don’t generally buy a new outfit for every wedding I go to.

My main requirements for wedding attire are:
~appropriately dressy
~for an outside wedding, I need to wear shoes that won’t get ruined in the grass
~nothing white, or nothing with too much black

Obviously, I don’t have a lot of criteria. But now that I’m getting to the point where several of my friends will be getting married in the next couple/few years, I’m starting to wonder if I should be putting more thought into what I wear, and maybe investing in a couple of really “wow!” dresses.

I think part of this stems from the fact that here in the midwest, people don’t generally get as dressed up for weddings as they do in other parts of the country. I’m not especially fond of this fact, but a lot of people just treat weddings as casual affairs around here.

How much thought do you put into what you wear to weddings? Do you have any guidelines for yourself?

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9 Responses to “What To Wear, What To Wear”

Guest

Iris

I think it’s important to dress well when attending another person’s wedding. I consider: formality, weather, modesty for conservative religions (often you can show your figure without showing skin), preparation for soft grass, blasting air conditioning (wearing date’s jacket is not so cute), etc. I totally agree with avoiding white and minimizing black. Anyway, it’s usually a dinner/dance date, so it’s a great excuse to dress up. I can’t stand the frumpy elastic-waist skirt and sweater set or the ol’ khakis and golf shirt. (UGH!!!)

Another rule of thumb of mine is to pick one body part (legs, cleavage) to show off; never show them all off with one dress! Looks flirty instead of skanky. Weddings are about romance, after all.

The guests’ dress is so important. It’s ridiculous for the B&G to be in a formal gown and tux, yet the guests look like they are headed to a baseball game — completely disjointed.

4/2/07 @ 10:57 am (reply)

Guest

helene

hmm I’ve actually thought a lot about this too recently, since in addition to my own wedding I have 4 others to attend this summer! So I went to Macy’s to browse their dresses.. got pretty frustrated after trying on a bunch of very nice looking dresses that didn’t fit well at all and were between $150 -200.

Then I wandered over to the juniors section and amazingly… found two cute dresses for $80 and $40! And they actually fit… not too long like all the women’s dresses (I’m only 5′2″). Just a tip for any other short girls looking to save some $$.

My favorite is a white dress with a teal floral print, teal ribbon around the waist, and teal tulle edging at the bottom. Do you think I could still wear this to a wedding, even though the background is white? I love this dress, it’s so flattering (strapless A-line, perfect length)! I feel like it should be ok, since there’s a lot of teal in it…

4/2/07 @ 12:02 pm (reply)

Guest

kandaceandjason

Helene - I would say go for it. I bought a really cute dress at TJ Maxx of all places but had no idea where to wear it to. Then my friend’s wedding came up and I decided to wear it there. It’s a white background with black detailing, very similar to this
http://sc7img.dillards.com/is/image//DillardsZoom/jd-071_zi?layer=comp&op_usm=2.0,0.5&&rgn=0,0,1760,2040&scl=6.666666666666667&fmt=jpeg&id=01vjC56-ZMsUmwDYZq3VVJ

I know it’s the two colors to stay away from at a wedding, but there was no mistake that I wasn’t trying to upstage the bride, nor was I mourning anyone. It was enough white to be able to wear it to their summer wedding, and enough black to match the semi-formality of the day. So I think your dress sounds just fine!

4/2/07 @ 12:26 pm (reply)

Guest

Iris

helene — Your dress sounds ok. The rule on white is just to avoid looking like a bride-wanna-be; sounds like there is plenty of color in it!

4/2/07 @ 12:28 pm (reply)

Guest

Lou

I have three dresses I wear to weddings depending on the season. I have a dark purple velvet dress for winter, a muted silver/gold slip dress for summer and a red silk dress for spring/fall. Works for me!

4/2/07 @ 1:17 pm (reply)

Guest

flip flop girl

in addition to venue, time of day, weather, etc…

i actually put a lot of thought into respecting the PARENTS of the bride and groom. i read the post about red dresses being a no-no for wedding guests, but i must admit, i wore red to the wedding of my best friend’s brother. i did it because i knew that the mother of the groom would appreciate it — red being good luck for the chinese. (i am chinese, as is the groom and his family.)

i have also worn long black gowns (another no-no, right?) to formal weddings. however, i would never think of doing so if there was a chance the the families of the bride and groom would be offended.

on a side note, do you think it’s peculiar when ladies wear pants to an evening wedding? i’m not talking about a dressy pant suit, but just ‘ol slacks and a plain ‘ol sweater or shirt. i think it’s odd!

4/2/07 @ 1:31 pm (reply)

Guest

Iris

Red dress is a plus for Chinese weddings, or so I was told by the Chinese bride and her family! It’s not that red is racy, but if you wear a dress that is really sexy AND red, it can be too much (whereas the same dress in navy blue or champagne might be very tasteful).

Agree that slacks (other than a nice pant suit) at a wedding is odd, and no fun for dancing anyway! (Possible exception for great-grannies and those preggers with very swollen legs.)

I also hate guests wearing flip flops with a sundress. Shoes need to be kicked up a notch; you can kick off your shoes to dance later (or wear bride-provided flip-flops for beach events)!

I’ve seen a Filipino family wedding where almost everyone (guests included) wore a shade of the bride’s wedding color. It was really cool-looking (neat photos), and didn’t look at all like they were trying to pose as members of the wedding party. Anyone know whether this is this a Filipino tradition, or it was just an exceptionally spirited and unified group? In this case, the color coordination by guests may have occurred because her extreme passion for the color (obvious on the invitations, too) was a long-running joke among her friends and family so maybe they spread the word to surprise her?

4/2/07 @ 2:19 pm (reply)

Guest

Fatafelice

Hmmm…interesting to see people who agree with my black/white rules. I have been trying not to overreact to FSIL’s announcement the other day that she will be wearing a white dress with a black floral print to my wedding…Nothing I can do about it, of course, but I do find it aggravating. Yes, it is floral, so that is better than solid, but out of *all* the color options out there in the world, couldn’t she have found something else?! It will likely be cut to her navel as well…Grrrrr.

As for me, I think your three requirements fit the bill. Though I will add that I generally try to look “classy” at weddings. You know, not too much skin, no crazy colors, etc. Just out of respect for the sacred nature of the ceremony. And also, you know, so my hotness doesn’t draw attention from the bride.

4/2/07 @ 4:44 pm (reply)

Guest

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