What to wear? Not us, our guests!

He Says

I suppose there a few different options for dress code at a wedding. But constraining our guests into a corner of what they should/shouldn’t wear is not what Jess and I want. So there will be no such dress code acknowledged on the invite.

I think there is a small part of Jess and myself that loves the eclectic. So if we have every person attending mixing it up with what they wear (colours, style, etc.) that is probably a best case scenario.

Of course there is a limit to what is acceptable. But truthfully, as long as no female guests wear a white dress, I’m tipping that everyone that matters will be happy (i.e. Jess).

She Says

One of the first things that crosses your mind when you get invited to a wedding – What am I going to wear?

It is (for us girls) a very important decision, so is it a fashion faux pas not to give instructions on your invite? And if you do, do people still follow them anyway?

So many rules… so what does it all mean? After a bit of research (and some assistance from the easy weddings articles) I have surmised the following options:

Smart Casual – quite informal and could infer that jeans are allowed.

Semi formal / Smart Casual?
Semi Formal/Lounge Suit – men should suit up, but it has a slightly less dressy feel as outfits are suitable for the daytime (definitely no jeans!). Women are expected to wear day dresses.
Cocktail – after 5 look where men are again expected to suit up and women are expected to wear a more evening suitable dress.
Black Tie – a formal affair where men wear a tuxedo and bow tie and women wear a full length gown.

And finally another option – you can remain silent on the topic like Jared and I. We decided to keep our invites very simple and not include a detailed dress code. We want our guests to wear whatever they are comfortable in and I am sure everyone will look amazing! (I just hope the ambiguity doesn’t lead to frustration for our guests.)

Another interesting debate that we have been dealing with is the ‘mother of the groom’ (MOG) outfit. The MOG is going to feature in a lot of photos so it is really important that the outfit choice is classic and stylish, that it doesn’t clash with the bridesmaids or, just as importantly, it’s not too ‘matchy-matchy’ with the bridesmaids and also doesn’t take the attention away from me, the bride he he! (but seriously!)

My future mother in law and I get along really well and I was so excited that she was so excited about finding the perfect dress and embraced her outfit choice – she even bought two outfits to choose from (much to the dismay of the ‘father of the groom’!). They are both lovely dresses, one is green and the other black and white. The feedback that she has received has been quite interesting… with most of it being “well you can’t wear black to a wedding… and you definitely can’t wear white!”. But, as the bride I say “so what!!!”, if that’s the dress of choice it doesn’t matter what the ‘rules’ are. The dress is beautiful, stat!