Wedding Belles

I was chatting with a friend last week about the weddings we're going to this summer--we have one in August and I CAN'T WAIT--and that kind of morphed into a conversation about dressing for weddings in general. For the most part, weddings were pretty fancy in the past, but now they're however glitzy the happy couple wants them to be. Which is way more interesting, but it can make picking an outfit a little tricky. I had some downtime over the long weekend, so I fiddled around with some different looks and made a mini guidebook for myself (and you--sharing is caring!) so the next time I'm standing in the dress store like, "Uhhh..." I can think about this instead and remember that I've already figured it out.

Ready? Go!

Casual:

dress  //  earrings  //  bracelets  //  clutch  //  sandals

Let's start with the most informal getup of the bunch. We went to a wedding on a farm once, which was a cool change of pace from the usual banquet halls and hotel ballrooms people do in the city. I actually wore jeans to that, but if I had a time machine I might go back and do a day dress instead. Even though the wedding was super casual, it's still a big event in somebody's life and dressing up even slightly is a nice way to honor that. The look I made for you here would work for all sorts of informal locations: the beach, a park, somebody's backyard, etc. Comfort was the main focus, since you'll probably be doing more moving and shaking at a party like this. Bonus: this outfit would be really easy to wear again. All the time.

Garden/Daytime:

dress  //  earrings  //  clutch  //  bracelet  //  shoes

This daytime look is my default setting when it comes to wedding wear. If the invitation doesn't say what to do, or I can't really tell just by looking at it, then I put on a dress and some smaller jewelry and call it good. I purposely picked a dress made of lightweight fabric here, since most weddings are in the summer and it's about to feel like the surface of the sun. Ain't nobody got time for heat stroke at an outdoor wedding.

Cocktail:

dress  //  earrings  //  bracelet  //  clutch  //  shoes

Because I'm drawn to glittery things like I'm ALSO drawn to nachos, my favorite wedding category is cocktail attire. The main difference between this one and the previous garden party look is that cocktail-attire weddings take place at night. I'd say anything that starts at 5 p.m. or later is a good excuse to get your bling on. For this example I kept with my theme of lightweight fabric (because seriously, the heat) but went with a darker color and kickier details. A fancier dress means you can wear fancier accessories, so I obviously went with the biggest bracelet I could find.

Black Tie:

dress  //  earrings  //  clutch  //  bracelet  //  shoes

Okay, this one is probably pretty rare for most of us, but since I'm putting together a bunch of looks ANYWAY, I might as well cover all of the bases. You know, for reference. Just in case one of us suddenly befriends Kate Middleton and has to go to the palace. Black tie is another way of saying formal, which doesn't necessarily mean you need to rock a floor-length gown, but whatever you wear needs to be fancy enough to make sense in a room full of tuxedoes because that's what all of the dudes will be in. This is a good chance to experiment with more luxurious fabrics, like lace, damask, allover sequins, maybe even a bit of velvet if you know you'll be indoors the whole time. Get fancy!

So, who's going to a wedding this summer? If you're married, how dressy was yours? (Ours was somewhere between #2 and #3 since we got married at night but it wasn't a super fancy venue.) What's your favorite look here? I'm really into the blue dress from the daytime outfit, but the mere idea of a black tie affair is making my brain short circuit from excitement, so it's a tough call.