Wedding Dress Codes and How to Abide

When
you receive an invitation to a wedding the chances are it will include a dress
code and possibly two different dress codes for the main event and for the
evening reception so it’s important that you know what they mean and how to
follow them.
Wedding Dress Codes and How to Abide
Not
every wedding will have a dress code so it’s always worth checking with the
groom what his expectations are for guests who will be attending as it’s also
possible the groom won’t understand what the dress codes really mean.
For
this post we asked the team behind
Dobell – an online source of fashionable
menswear; and they gave us an easy guide to what the wedding dress codes mean
and how to abide by them:
Smart casual
Smart
casual means the wedding is going to be a fairly relaxed event and provides you
with a broad range of clothing choices however for men it doesn’t mean jeans
but more like chino trousers with a smart shirt and an optional jacket. Don’t
wear trainers either, go for brogues or loafers with your smart casual outfit.
Cocktail dress code
Cocktail
dress code is semi-formal and can be fun and creative but is more formal than a
smart casual dress code. For men it means wearing a suit, generally a dark
colour such as navy or charcoal, with a white or single colour shirt and tie.
An
evening wedding certainly needs a dark suit and muted shirt, whereas an
afternoon wedding could give more leeway when it comes to colours and patterns
but if you have any doubt as to what’s appropriate, check with the groom.
Jacket and tie dress code
This
is another code for a semi-formal wedding and requires men to wear a suit
jacket with a tie, as the name implies. It can either be a matching suit or, in
this situation a smart blazer and tie, teamed with a pair of smart chinos would
also be acceptable.
Lounge suit dress code
This
one can be confusing for men but it just means a formal suit with waistcoat,
shirt and tie so is a step above jacket and tie dress code in the formality
stakes. It’s a dress code which applies mainly to day time weddings.
Morning suit
A
very formal daytime event might require the guests to wear morning suits in
which case you need to don a full tailcoat, waistcoat and trousers. This would
be a very formal dress code and the wedding would need to be taking place
before 4.30pm for this to apply.
Formal dress code
A
formal dress code requires men to wear a traditional dark coloured suit,
conservative tie and white shirt. For an evening event a tuxedo can be
appropriate as well. It’s another way of saying black tie optional meaning
guests need to be formal but not necessarily full black tie.
Black tie
Black
tie is the most formal dress code for an evening wedding and requires men to
wear a black tuxedo with a bow tie.
White tie
This
is quite an unusual dress code but is also known as full evening dress. With
this dress code a man needs to wear trousers with satin sides, an evening
tailcoat which is double-breasted, a white waistcoat and bow tie.
Clothing optional
This
unusual dress code is generally reserved for nudist weddings so that non-nudist
guests can decide if they feel comfortable naked or would rather wear clothes.
There is no guidance as to what kind of clothes can be worn so it might be
worth checking with the groom.
No dress code
Sometimes
you might be invited to a wedding which doesn’t have a dress code at all and in
some ways this makes deciding what to wear even more challenging. In this case
perhaps seek some advice from the groom about expectations and then go for an
outfit which you think is appropriate. However casual the event might be, it’s
always better to err on the side of formal as you can always remove a jacket
and tie, but it’s harder to dress up jeans and a t-shirt if you get it badly
wrong.
Conclusion
Following
a wedding dress code is important for the bride and groom as it means all their
guests will look smart in the photographs and everyone will fit in with their
chosen theme. There might also be guidance from their venue as to what type of
clothing people are permitted to wear so bear in mind it might not be the bride
and groom dictating the dress code, but the wedding reception venue.
As
long as you abide by the dress code, which should be easy now you have our
quick and easy guide, you will be fine and will be able to work out what to
wear to every type of wedding event and venue without any difficulties at all.

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