Proper Attire?

I don’t see why this would be an issue. It’s pretty common for the bridal party to be dressed more formally than the rest of the guests.

It's common to have the wedding party dress nicer but I would side eye that big of a gap in formality but not say a word. Guests dress semiformal (Sunday Best) by default unless the venue mandates tuxes and gowns to be allowed inside.

However unless the venue requires the fancy attire, you can't tell your guests how to dress because they are adults. And witnessing your wedding should take priority over a dress code.

Hi Zoe! That’s very similar to what we did! My husband really wanted a tux and so did the groomsmen, dads, and my Man of Honor in tuxedos. The guests were semi formal - men wore suits and women wore maxi dresses, sundresses or cocktail dresses. Here are a few pics to give you an idea of how it looked:

First, you do not have a black tie affair til 6 pm ( or dark in winter. The daytime equivalent of a tux is a cutaway, and most will not be pleased if you request it. To a certain degree, a wedding party is a costume event these days in that many wear evening style tuxes during the day time, and people don't care. The rules of formality which govern attire, say that the guests and family dress the same level of formality Or one step down from the bride and groom.

A cutaway jacket ( day tux) is usually in shades of grey or navy, often with trousers lighter than the jacket, often with an ascot not tie, and always with a waistcoat, not cummerbund. And has tails. ........ No one should be in a cutaway if you aren't. Although your setting could be black tie, is your service going to be - live bands, top level and number of waiters, multi-course plated meal at the table ( though you may choose from a buffet, which they serve and bring to you. ) Valet parking, top shelf liquors. Womens gowns may be ballgowns, or of other luxe material, silks and satins in all colors except white. No tight fit, body baring slits, or styles associated with clubs.
If you simply invite people to a wedding and a formal reception to follow, you should get women in floor length, and if you invite them to cocktails and a semi formal reception you will get many short cocktail dresses with men's dressy suits. ... People ( me included) get annoyed to find that as a couple they spent $400 and then found it was not a black tie event, judging by service. Also, if you are big on black keep in mind that at this time of day / evening you will have many in very light or silvery things, not black. Black is mostly After Six. As Bride and groom, if you are dressier, guests don't mind of comment, as long as it ia not asked of them.

I think that semi-formal attire sounds perfect for the type of wedding you're describing. A great place to indicate "semi-formal attire" would be on your wedding website. I think it's pretty common for the wedding party to be fancier than the guests. I wouldn't think twice about your groomsmen in tuxedos and your guests in semi-formal attire. To me, semi-formal means a suit for the men and nice dresses or sundresses for the women. In my opinion, cocktail attire might be asking a bit too much of the guests if it's outdoors and won't have a plated meal, but semi-formal sounds absolutely perfect

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Semiformal doesn't need to be mentioned anywhere because it the default dress code. It's Sunday Best, what you would wear to church. Whenever in doubt, most people ask matriarchs in the family or social group since they are familiar with how things go.

I think this all sounds great! And it’s nice to see a couple that is having consideration for their guest’s physical and financial comfort. Too often you hear the opposite- the bride wants her guests to wear black tie attire, but doesn’t want to host a black tie event.

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Of course it doesn't NEED to be mentioned anywhere, but it's very common these days for couples to list attire on their wedding website, which is why I suggested it. I have personally never heard that semi-formal is the default dress code for all weddings? My understanding is that the attire is supposed to match the formality of the venue. I personally think that it's very considerate when couples indicate attire on their website, because it provides clarification and eliminates questions. Also, everyone comes from different backgrounds. For example, saying to dress in "Sunday best" means absolutely nothing to me because I'm Jewish and have never been to a church before in my whole life, other than to attend a wedding. Anyways, I'm not the OP (my wedding was over a year ago) so you should be telling her this not me, lol

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For those who read the websites, the info is helpful. Not everyone does as many posts have mentioned when the website is given to guests.

I've always understood attire to depend on the time of day. But every group is different.

It is very common for the bride, groom and bridal party to be more dressed up than their guests. My husband, the groomsmen, my brother (bride's man), and my dad all wore tuxes (my father-in-law elected to wear a suit he already owned) and the bridesmaids and groomswoman wore long formal dresses. Our moms also wore long evening gowns since they were part of the processional. However, we asked our guests to wear cocktail attire. We didn't want to make any rent tuxes or buy long evening gowns.

I always appreciate it when attire is mentioned. It takes the guess work out of choosing an outfit. I think the website is the perfect place to mention it. You can also spread by word of mouth and tell key people(parents, bridal party, etc) incase anyone asks.


I put it on our website and on the details card of our invitations. We got married In a church so it was worded as such, the ceremony will be in a house of worship please wear appropriate attire (nothing revealing, short skirts, etc). I also wanted to be sure to list is because there have been no “formal” weddings in either family so the chance of people showing up in jeans or leggings and t-shirt were likely.