Formal wear for wedding

[~Hestia~]

I have never been to an event where I've had to wear 'formal' and we now have a wedding to attend that has stated formal dress. It's being held in a VERY nice venue.

What can I get away with? How formal is formal? I'm not a dressy uppy kinda gal so need some help as to what to wear! And my DH - he didn't wear a tie to his own wedding and says he won't to this one. Does that matter?

Don't get me wrong - I'm happy to go and get something special. I just don't know what I'm looking for

[Emma09]

I would consider "formal" to mean a long, dressy dress/pants suit.
And most definitely a tie for your DH.
But these days it's hard to tell....


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[Traveller]

I would say your OH could get away without a tie if he wore a tailored jacket and shirt. As for you there are so many options, do you have a particular style you like?

[Jellybean29]

For DH, they should really specify what kind of suit they are after. On our invites we had 'lounge' suit, which meant tie was optional.

For you, I would say a nice top with a black skirt or black dress paints would be fine, if you didnt want to do a full dress

[Phteven]

Formal means some kind of neck wear for your DH, tie, cravat, bow-tie, what ever works with his suit and whatever is appropriate for the time (day = morning suit or evening= black or white tie).
For you it means you get to splurge on a lovely frock that suits the season and time.

[Traveller]

If we were invited to a formal wedding, my husband would probably wear a kilt and jacket so there are alternatives to a suit and tie but it depends how Scottish your husband is

[lozzy_mac]

If you are worried about DH quite meeting the 'level', you can get soem fancy collars that are designed for no tie. can you sneak one of them on him haha
but really, i doubt anyone will complain if he is neat and has suitpants and a longsleeved buttonup shirt

What would you usually wear to a wedding? Many different dresses could meet the formal requirement. I'm sure you or a friend already own something that would work

[leckert]

Formal wear for the ladies is usually below knee (preferably near ankle) length for skirt or dress (pants not really the go here)
for the men usually a tie (bow or normal) is the go.

[peanutter]

from my experience, formal means long dress for you (ie: not pants, sorry!) and a suit with tie/bow-tie/cravat for him (ie: not a sports jacket, etc).

HTH

[Amy_jellybean]

Hi love,

To be honest I think it really differs. We had formal on our invitations - we had a very lavish wedding at a large hotel. I could think of maybe 8 women off the top of my head that wore and ankle length dress and all the rest wore ****tialy knee length dresses. A few of the guys wore suites with ties, others black dress pants and button up shirt with a tie but no jacket.....

And then you have my uncle who showed up to the ceremony (we had it at a very nice park) in a pair of stubbies (shorts) and a polo shirt....and then got changed into a pair of dress shorts and a button up shirt for the reception

My brother and sister in law are getting married in 2 weeks, they have stated formal on their invites (the place they are getting married is not overly dressy so im a bit confused but hey its their day). Ive already told SIL that as we are leaving to go backpacking in 5 weeks im not going to go out and buy a brand new dress that is only going to go in a box and would it be ok for me to wear and ****tail dress. She was perfectly happy with that and said thats what she meant by formal?????

[Nelle]

Yeah I think ****tail and upwards of that for 'formal'.
I would be thinking tie...but if your DH was looking sharp everywhere else, nice suit and shirt, clean shoes, tidy hair...he could probably get away without tie. What's wrong with ties anyway? They're hot!

[Phteven]

Cravats are hotter

[Nelle]

Only if they're a cravat sort of man. If you are a skinny black tie sort of man, don't go deceiving me by wearing a cravat. Only cravat men should wear cravats.

[MrsBexie]

I think knee length is perfectly fine!
We had formal on our invites and we meant suits (but tie was up to the guy) and at least a ****tail dress or dressy pant suit for women. But in the end, as the bride I would have no idea who wore what!! I wasn't concerned about what my guests wore . Haha.
I am sure as long as your DH wears a nice shirt and has the suit jacket, it will be fine without the tie.

[Nettie]

Hey! Are you going to my cousin's wedding?

I've got a 'formal' wedding in two weeks too and today went and bought an outfit. Ended up getting a nice ensemble with pants but I don't care if it doesn't fit other's version of formal - it fits mine!

It's the flashest thing I've had in many, many years so it'll do me! (and had the best shopping experience ever buying it!)

[CrazyLady]

I meant to add to earlier post. I think a lot of people state formal now because younger women tend to rock up in mini skirts with boobs popping out. I'm not a prude but there is a time and place for minis and weddings aren't one of them.... well unless you're the bride and want to go that way...