Black tie vs Black tie optional

We told people to wear their Sunday best! That way it's formal but not SUPER formal!

Yeah, not sure his family will know what that means lol They are sweat and comfy kind of people ugh We dont need them coming black tie but definitely formal you know. Im thinking maybe if we put black tie they will come semi formal lol

Had to edit. that sounded mean and i did not mean it too

If you put black tie, you need to be hosting a black tie event. If you aren’t, attire doesn’t belong on the invitation, but you can put “formal attire” on your website.

That was just a joke, I would not put black tie unless that is what we were doing. But what is the difference between between black tie and black tie optional

View Quoted Comment Black tie is a lot more than just dressing formal. It is an extremely high level of hosting too.

Dress code doesn’t belong on the invitation unless it is truly a black tie wedding. You can put your dress code on your website and spread it by word of mouth. The formality of your invitations will also set the tone of your wedding.

View Quoted Comment IMO, black tie optional isn’t a thing. It either is or isn’t. If it isn’t go with formal attire. Keep in mind the venue, catering, and time of day you’re selecting though. Your attire should match those things. Realistically, you can’t stop people from showing up how they want and that will reflect on them not on you.

Agree with everything pps have said. Also, even if "black tie optional" were a real thing, that would suggest wearing a tux would be totally appropriate -- everything about the wedding should be at that level of formality. If your goal is to discourage the wearing of jeans or khakis, there is a LOT of middle ground between a tux and jeans that would meet your goal. On your website and through word of mouth, you can share the suggestion of "semi-formal" or "dressy" or "cocktail attire" and, hopefully, most people will get the hint. If you have some specific guests who tend to dress inappropriately casual for events, you or a relative with some pull with them (like a parent or grandparent) might be enlisted to communicate what's appropriate to them. In a previous post, a bride was concerned some of her female cousins would show up in overly revealing "club attire," but liked the suggestion that she get her grandmother to let them know in no uncertain terms that would NOT be appropriate.... But, in the big picture, you can't really control how adults dress. Good luck!

Black tie optional is a way of suggesting dark suits and long dresses or cocktail dresses. Wedding wire has an article about it. This is usually an evening thing unless European. Hope this helps.

Black tie means women in cocktail dresses or long gowns. men in tux
Black tie optional same for women, men can be in dark suits or tux.

The hosting requirements are exactly the same for black tie and black tie optional. The "optional" refers to the attire. It literally means wearing a tux, i.e. "black tie", is optional. It doesn't refer to anything else. Thus, if your wedding meets all the hosting requirements for black tie then and only then may you indicate a dress code of either black tie or black tie optional. Either way the men in the wedding party should wear tuxes because the guests should not be dressed more formally than the wedding party.

Https://www.brides.com/story/wedding-dress-code-explained/amp might help

My FH and I went to a “ black tie optional “ wedding recently and tbh I suggest NOT going that way .. it was confusing half of the people were dressed in gowns and tuxedos and the other half looked equally as nice in suits and cocktail dresses

We made ours "cocktail" attire, when asked what that means, I just tell them to dress like they're going to a Total wedding! It's the same rules

Oops, Royal wedding.

My wedding will be "Black Tie." I know most men won't actually show up in tuxedos but I'm hoping for formal suits. My main concern is that I do not want anyone to show up in khakis and a button down sans tie or jacket. I also hope saying 'black tie' will keep the ladies from wearing too-short dresses or anything meant for the daytime like sundresses.

View Quoted Comment So then you say black tie optional. Black tie means a tux, black tie optional is a tux or dark suit.

I believe black tie optional means formal attire, and men can wear full tuxes but a suit still works. I would say formal instead of black tie.

I’ve never been to a black tie optional event that didn’t still have black tie service. Only differences being you could get away with a dark suit instead of a tux , and theoretically a fancy sparkly knee length dress instead of floor length (though depending on the event, you might stick out like a sore thumb in a non-floor length). So, black tie optional is basically: same service, slightly more relaxed dress code (potentially more confused guests).

I think “formal attire” best describes what you are looking for