Black tie wedding ettiquette

[Lulu]

Ohh no, I thought black tie meant tux. I think you may get away without floor length dress though.

[Doing my best]

Ohh no, I thought black tie meant tux. I think you may get away without floor length dress though.

That's what I thought, and why I am asking. I did a google search, and a few sights said if the invite stated black tie, then the attire is tux and floor length gown. I was talking to my aunty earlier today and she mentioned it as she already has her invite. I am so confused.

LZ - my dress has thin straps, and is mid calf length. I wore it to a friends wedding, also a formal affair, just not black tie. And DH's suit is Navy.

Oops, I didn't mean it to sound like I didn't want to get something nice for my kids to wear, but more not sure what I need for them to wear.

[Muppity]

Ohh no, I thought black tie meant tux. I think you may get away without floor length dress though.

:Yeahthat:

Except so many different people have different expectations on what it is these days - a lot of people think that black tie means formal when all they really want is a formal wedding (which is what Ladie Zadie described)

If I were you I would wear the dress that you have - so long as it is a little conservative - and at least to the knee and not strapless (the rule is that it can only be strapless if the skirt is full length and full) and if you are stressed about your DH and the suit isn't black (or charcoal at a stretch) I would just put him in black pants, a while shirt and a bowtie (which are quite cheap to buy) so that it just looks like he has taken his jacket off - noone would question it.

As for kids, so long as they are neat and tidy it doesn't really matter at all but I wouldn't put them in denim IYKWIM.

[Lulu]

I wish the Brownlow chicks would get some sort of understanding about black tie

[Muppity]

I wish the Brownlow chicks would get some sort of understanding about black tie

I can't immediately think of any rules that the rest of us follow that apply to footballer's wives/girlfriends/both!

[Ca Plane Pour Moi]

I would have a hat/fascinator in my hair too, and take a shawl/pashmina to the wedding JIC you feel you want to cover your shoulders for part of it. I know when I'm in something strappy I can feel a little underdressed at times... but then again, you'll be in the height of summer so it will be less of an issue. I'm in the land of permanent cold and am ALWAYS half-frozen.

and I'm sure your children ALWAYS have nice things to wear... but they may need something different for the wedding.

[Doing my best]

and I'm sure your children ALWAYS have nice things to wear... but they may need something different for the wedding.

LOL, maybe I should change the wording to suitable.. I was looking at some gorgeous dresses the other day, but was too scared to guess what size she will be in April. So am just waiting till end of Feb for both of them to make sure I get the right size and can pay off over a few weeks if need be.

[misty]

My advice is to ask your brother.

We put formal on our wedding invites, because DH's side is extremely casual and have been known to turn up to wedding in thongs and shorts. But we explained to my side that suits and ties would do, because they most certainly would have turned up in tux and top hats (I wouldn't have minded that, but it would have been impossible to get DH's side to go to that extent).

generally speaking though, it is completely acceptable nowdays to wear a suit with either tie or bowtie (or some variation), dress that hangs lower then the knee, button up shirt and slacks for boys and party dress for girls, to a black tie event.

[Doing my best]

Misty. Ta. that is my next plan.

Just waiting on the invite first to see the exact wording. But with little things my Mum has said after spending some time with them, I am under the impression that she wants everyone to go all out.

And I am hoping that I might be jumping the gun and the bride is requesting it so our side of the family doesn't come as the country hillbillies that some of my relos are (and for the record some of my relos think a new pair of jeans and a new flannelette shirt is formal!)

[~Phoenix~]

What you have described you have sounds fine, but yeh I would confirm with your bro what they are after

We had a pretty casual wedding but wanted something a little more dressy than jeans so put semi-formal on our invites as DH's bro thought a black pair of cargo pants & a new motocross tshirt would cut it and some of my rellies are about the same, so yeh the hillbilly gene seems to run in most families

Little girls in gorgeous party dresses are just adorable

[Astrid]

From what I can gather that black tie/formal often just means "no jeans". The last wedding I went to was like that, the one lady who turned up in a full length gown looked very out of place. There really needs to be a new term to cover "no jeans"

[Laranna]

I agree, what you have in mind sounds fine to me. I think if you go all out with a proper floor length gown, you may end up looking like a bridesmaid!

Have you had a look on ebay for the kids dresses/suits? There are some really nice ones you can get cheap. For our wedding, I actually got DS (15 months at the time) a full tux brand new for $40.