Style Q&A: What Should I Wear to a Casual Wedding?

Question: Outfit for a Casual Wedding

Hello, Glee! 🙂 I have a question for you; I’m kind of stumped.

I’m attending a wedding in a couple of weeks. I’ve gone to a number of weddings in the past, all of various levels of formality, but this particular wedding will be really, really casual.

The ceremony is going to be very, very small, held in the afternoon or early evening in a park. My boyfriend will be a groomsman; his only requirement from the soon-to-be-married is to wear a black suit (pinstripes acceptable), with no preference to his tie color or shirt color. The groom will be wearing a nice-looking black suit of a casual cut, with a black shirt and probably a bow tie. I’m not sure what the bride will be wearing.

The wedding reception is going to be held for a little while at a local pub, and then at the couple’s house; they specifically mentioned that they want the reception to be as low-key and casual as possible, as they really want to simply enjoy the day with friends.

So that’s where my predicament comes in; it’s a wedding, so I automatically want to look respectful and nice, but ”low-key and casual as possible” puts pictures of casual, everyday jeans in my head; then there’s the fact that my boyfriend will be wearing a suit, and I’m his date. What would be wedding-guest-appropriate for me in this scenario? ~ Ally

Hi Ally! While prepping for my own wedding 11 months ago, I read about the tips on how to inform your invited guests and friends about the appropriate outfit that they can wear to your ceremony and party. It is said that in the invitation letter, it´s wise to include photos of sample outfits for women and men. That way, your guests will need not guess. Afterall, the term “casual”, for example, is defined differently by different people.

As to your question, I believe you can look casual yet nice and respectful in a little dress, in a dark pair of denim or in black slacks. The idea is styling them correctly. I´ve created two looks for you to check below.

Style a sundress
Personally, if I wear to attend a low-key, casual wedding, I would wear a little yellow dress and pair it with black kitten heels or black ballet flats. The cut of this yellow chiffon dress is girly and not restrictly formal. Accessorizing it with colorful bangles will create an even casual look. I lean more to this outfit because while you´re wearing casual, there´s still an element of fairytale, which all weddings of any kind is what it´s suppose to. Of course, you can wear any little dress in any color, but black?

Dress up your dark denim jeans. It´s a casual wedding so what comes to your mind are jeans. No problem, you can wear jeans to a casual wedding provided they´re in dark color. Avoid worn-out looking jeans, faded jeans with tattered details. In this example above, I chose a classic dark blue straight leg jeans. I paired it with a sleeveless layered hem scarf top. Notice that while the top is sleeveless, the scarf gives an elegant touch to the entire look. You can wear a matching strapped sandals or a black peep-toe pumps. Bangles and a not-too loud clutch are enough spices to make your outfit look casual but nice.

Wear black slacks. Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake once attended a wedding and while Justin was in a suit and bow-tie, Cameron was wearing only a sleeveless white ruffled top, black slacks and black pumps. Nothing else. You can take this as an option too. There´s always an element of sophistication in a black and white combo, and going sleeveless gives an aura of casualness.

I hope this helps. 🙂

So tell me Creative Fashionistas, what will you wear to a casual but nice wedding?