Halloween wedding attire for guests

As a guest I would feel completely lost if I was told to do a creative Halloween costume for a wedding. That said the more info you give the better but I wouldn't think everyone will be able to do what your vision is.

Unless you literally buy everyone's costumes, this is jot going to come out the way you want to. Frankly, it's kinda rude to 1. Request people wear costumes and then 2. Get mad when the costume isnt what you envisioned.

View Quoted Comment I am not "telling" anyone they have to wear a creative costume. It states semi-formal to formal with costume "encouraged" so that if someone doesn't want to wear a costume, they can simply dress up for a wedding. Overall, everyone invited as a collective are creative/artistic people so it is fun for 99% of my guests.

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I beg to differ. My guests as a whole are artistic/creative type of people, so the entire concept is very fun for them. ANY type of setting with a dress code has parameters. I am sure if you wanted guests to dress nicely at your wedding and someone showed up in cargo shorts and rubber flip-flops, you would be pretty annoyed too.

View Quoted Comment Sorry I thought you said formal creative costumes. Which I know a lot of creative costumes that arent formal but you know your crowd. I do like costume parties and dressing up dont get me wrong, I just think a level of formality probably wont work the way you anticipate with the costumes.

On another note Halloween is my favorite holiday, are you doing anything yourself? I saw a BAM from Friday the 13th and her dress was AMAZING and would work for Halloween theme too.

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I agree with you, Sivine. You gave your guests several options. Sweatpants is rude (maybe they were trying to be funny).

We requested era-appropriate attire for our local 60's reception and everyone had a blast (suits or tuxes were required for men, dresses for women. Only one guest didn't attend due to the dress code). Our photos were amazing and we asked the photographer to take pics of guests so we could send to them as a gift. Couples loved having adorable pro pics all dolled up. Here's how we worded the back of the invite...

We created a website with photo examples and links to clothes they could buy on Amazon or eBay if they wished. Several of my friends loved the links, they bought cute little frocks online!

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You're a saint. Thank you. This is very helpful!!!

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You're welcome!

For our pirate DW, we thought about asking guests to dress up but because our guests already had to pay for travel/hotel costs we didn't think that extra expense was fair (we also didn't want "Party City" pirate costumes. Nothing wrong with Party City but we wanted authentic pirate). So we decided to surprise guests with a pirate reception and only my DH/I changed into pirate outfits during cocktail hour for our welcome speech. Guests loved the surprise!

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I don't know what a BAM is. I am completely disconnected from social media entirely. This is my only contact with the outside world.

I am dressing as Countess Elizabeth Johnson of American Horror Story: Hotel.

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That is so cool! I love that. I would've totally had an outfit appropriate for that . I obviously take Halloween very seriously. We have some older guests coming that I didn't want to make uncomfortable, so that is why I gave the option. I don't mind if someone comes in a full mummy costume. I think that would be fun & contrast well in pictures. My best friend's boyfriend wanted to dress as the alter-ego of a musician (who nobody knows about in the first place) that wears 80's style sweats and backwards baseball caps. She kindly turned down his idea before it ever made it to my ears.

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The "formal" option is nice because even among a mummy and a 70's guy, a guest in her evening gown would still look good! It might help when some guests figure out their costumes, to send pics to other guests. I might feel weird about attending a wedding in costume because that request seems so vague I don't wanna look WEIRD. But if I heard there's a zombie, Dracula and Elvira I'd be all, "ok, I'll go as a witch or something dark and creepy, not a ballerina."

You requested they wear costumes and when they do so don't complain if the costumes aren't up to your standards. The only way to control that the costumes meet expectations is to pay for and provide them to guests. That would be a pain. No matter what happens, be gracious to your guests.

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Hahaha, that is a good idea. Our friends are a bunch of weirdos like us thankfully, so I could easily conclude 9 out of 10 guests will dress up. My fiancé and I met working at a music venue in our city. A huge portion of our guests are coming from there and still work together regularly. I know they have been mulling ideas over with one another. We also have a messaging option through our invitations and have encouraged others to reach out if they are unsure if their costume is good to go. It should be a hit, but wanted some constructive ideas on how to guide people. Thankfully, you came here with a great one!

View Quoted Comment I gave them options if you read correctly. "Costume" is a broad spectrum so I am trying to help my guests narrow down the parameters, just like any other DRESS CODE. I.e., black tie, tux, etc. Costume can have the same EXACT application off PARAMETERS. This is why I asked for other suggestions on how to convey this, which Pirate & 60s bride so GRACIOUSLY did.

Please don't make the video.

View Quoted Comment I have a huge problem with the word required.

View Quoted Comment I guess we didn’t need that word because the info was under “dress code” but it all worked out.

We made sure to touch base with our friends to ease their minds a bit. We said a suit with a skinny tie works fine. A black cocktail dress or pencil skirt with a nice sweater works for ladies, something you probably already own would work with pearls (real or fake). To our surprise, some guests went to vintage stores to get a new dress or couldn’t wait wear to wear their mother’s real pearls. One guest even wore his dress shoes...ones he had since the 60s!