Across The Country Wedding guest ettiquite 101: What to wear for a daytime wedding

There is such a variety in weddings today that it is often hard, as a guest, to decide what to wear in order to be both tasteful and appropriate. You don’t want to embarrass yourself or the bride/groom who invited you, but sometimes it is tough to decide what is the most “correct” attire for that person’s special day.

Here are some general tips for what to wear for any wedding occasion. Yesterday, we examined morning weddings. Today, we turn to daytime weddings.

Daytime weddings are early to mid afternoon weddings (think noon to around 4:00 pm). Often, you will dress similarly to a morning wedding, but as the clock ticks around to later in the day, you should start deciding your wardrobe you examining the invitation. If the invitation is casual, then you can go more casual. If the invitation is more formal (heavy card stock, engraving, fancy print, that tissue paper inside the invitation, calligraphy on the envelope), then you should start considering more formal attire.

If you’ve inspected the invitation and you think the wedding might be more formal, you can also ask around. No one will be offended if you ask the bride or groom, their parents, or a groomsman/bridesmaid about the dress. If the groomsmen are in tuxes and the bridesmaids are in long gowns, then you should dress up a bit.

As we’ve already discussed the less formal wear (see the morning wedding article), we’ll talk here about appropriate more formal daytime dress.

For ladies:

1. A mid length cocktail dress or nice sundress is appropriate. Consider heels instead of flats, and also consider the material. Cotton or jersey is more casual, while silk or sheer layers are more formal.

2. No jeans, no flip-flops! If you hate skirts/dresses, dress pants with a dressy blouse and heels would be appropriate.

3. Nothing too short or too tight!

For gentlemen:

1. A suit is appropriate for a more formal daytime wedding. At the very least, a sports coat and slacks with a tie. Dress shoes are necessary as well–no loafers or sandals, please!

2. No jeans, no flip-flops, no hats!