Tips for Wedding Guest Attire

Are you going to a wedding in the future and have NO idea what to wear??? Well check out this artcile from Metro Magazine on the cool and hip trends for wedding guest attire.

 

Stylish Wedding Attire

By Liza RobertsFASHIONABLE BUT ALWAYS APPROPRIATE 

 

The stylish wedding guest this summer has plenty of colorful, trendy options — ultramarine blue chiffon frocks paired with scarlet heels, halter-necked Pucci prints — but don’t allow fashion to get in the way of propriety, experts say.

“You want to be respectful,” says Paige Crowther, co-owner of Polished, a Raleigh personal shopping service. “We’ve gotten away from traditions, but weddings are sacred. You want to wear something that’s in good taste, but not over-the-top. It also has to fit the time of day, the location, as well as your personality and body type.”

Intimidated by that checklist? Don’t be. The truth is that some of the wedding-attire no-nos you may have grown up with have relaxed in recent years, most notably the acceptance of black as a suitable color for a wedding guest to wear.

 

Taboo No More

“Black is so chic at any time of the year, and for a wedding can be very appropriate,” says Ashley Vermillion Harris, owner of the North Hills designer boutique Vermillion. “If you do wear black, dress it up with pretty colors — like the black Lanvin dress we have with a ruffled collar that would look wonderful with big turquoise earrings.”

Annie Godwin, an owner of Fleur in Cam­eron Village, suggests black as best worn to a wedding after 6 p.m. “When it becomes black tie, you’re fine in a black dress,” she says.

To be sure, there are those who still adhere to the no-black rule. “It’s a great reason for every woman to have a black-tie dress in a beautiful color,” says one frequent formal wedding guest. “A wedding is a celebratory occasion, and the guests should dress the part.”

This season, there’s no excuse not to follow that advice. Color is everywhere, from lemon yellows to bright mint greens, with every shade of pink, blue and jolts of orange as well. “Everything this season is so colorful,” says Fleur’s Godwin, “no matter what time of day, the trend this year is color.”

The newest way to wear all of this color is to mix it up, Godwin and other fashion experts say, combining hot colors with cool ones, or shoes of one color with a dress of another. Lisa Marie L. Ferrell of Polished says not everyone should be a slave to such trends. For many, a more subdued version works best. “We selected a Tiffany blue dress for a client recently, and the shoe we chose was periwinkle. It gave a little edge,” she says, “not too much.”

Etiquette experts say a wedding guest’s attire must be formal enough to show respect for the occasion — whatever type of occasion that may be — while remaining restrained enough not to draw undo attention. “You show respect by dressing up,” says Ferrell. Ami Wheeler, who coordinates stylish nuptials at Cary’s Umstead Hotel and Spa, noticed this season’s wedding guests have been notably formal, wearing “lots of satin, flowy dresses, really high heels.”

 

Bare: Maybe; White: No

Like the color black, bare shoulders are no longer necessarily verboten in many churches. “All of the brides these days are wearing strapless,” points out Vermillion’s Harris. Still, a chiffon wrap, a bolero jacket or a pashmina is not only respectful for a church ceremony, but it often comes in handy once the sun goes down as well.

So, if it’s not wrong to wear a black, strapless dress to a wedding this summer, is there anything you simply cannot wear?

The resounding, unequivocal answer: white. “It’s the number one rule,” says Polish­ed’s Crowther. “It’s the bride’s day.”

Beyond the ban on white, experts agree that what not to wear to a wedding is a bit of you-know-it-when-you-see-it — sequins before dark, something too short or too revealing, something too plainly look-at-me.

Kim Seymour, owner of the stylish matern­ity boutique Cravings in Raleigh’s North Hills, says her expecting clients are “less likely to wear a red dress to a wedding than a black one. They don’t want to be too attention-grabbing.”

Indeed, the bottom line in wedding guest attire, beyond fashion, is suitability. “It all depends on the wedding’s time and location,” says Fleur’s Godwin. A beach wedding may call for some spiffy flip-flops, but a church wedding in town is another matter altogether. A multi-colored print might look festive on an outdoor afternoon but garish in a ballroom.

Wherever you are, and whatever style or color you’re wearing, there’s one thing all of the fashionistas demand: “Your dress must fit your body type,” intones Polish­ed’s Crowther.

So: If you’re dressed fittingly for the occasion, in a well-fitted, not too sparkly, not too white, not too revealing dress, possibly with something to cover your shoulders, and have even managed to embrace some au courant color, then get ready to raise your glass — not only to the happy couple, but also to yourself for navigating the what-to-wear wedding waters with good grace and aplomb!