Weekend Warrior: Five Tips for What to Wear to a Summer Wedding

Weekends are for expressing ourselves! Get casual, but stay stylish with Saturday's post for the weekend warrior in us all.

"Duh-duh-duh-daaaa" wedding season is is full force and effect.  It is likely that you will attend at least one, or perhaps more, this summer.  You receive that fancy invitation in the mail, and naturally, you start contemplating what to wear.  You are not the bride this time, phew, but you still want to look amazing!  Will you sport a dress that you already have? Something new?  What is appropriate?  There is a lot to consider, so The Online Shopper has some recommendations for finding your perfect look.

1. The Invitation: The first indicator of what you should wear comes from the invitation itself.  Is it a double envelope, thick stalk, formal invitation, or a handmade print out from the maid of honor's computer?  Although not entirely determinitive of what you should wear, the style of the invitation provides the first indicia of the wedding's tone and style.  Keep this in mind as you choose your look.

2.  Where is the Wedding Reception?  Is the reception in a backyard, at a city hotel, or somewhere stylistically inbetween.  Where the wedding is, is the single most important factor for choosing your look.  In the Online Shopper's opinion, a city hotel wedding warrants the fanciest wedding guest look.  Think of the fancy lobby and the stylish travelers that come through.  By selecting a city hotel for their special day, the couple sets a certain tone and expectation for what they want you to wear. 



The Most Casual:
Try a Short Chiffon Dress



Wedges for Outdoors

Conversely, a backyard shindig trends towards the casual. For a backyard wedding, The Online Shopper likes this Tahari by Arthur S. Levine Ruffle Trim One Shoulder Chiffon Dress pictured, left.  The Online Shopper likes this pick because of the light weight, but fancy fabric and the pretty print.  This dress would also work for a beach wedding.  Lovely!  If you are outside, also keep in mind your footwear selection.  You either need to wear flats, or better yet, a wedge like the Ivanka Trump Bindy Wedges, pictured right, so that your heels do not sink into the earth.  This would not only seriouly impede your dancing skills, but it would ruin your shoes.

3. What time of day is the Wedding?  The later in the day the wedding, the fancier it is.  Likewise, the earlier in the day, the more casual the wedding is.  Traditionally weddings starting at 5:00 p.m. and later are the fanciest, and may even be black tie. The invitation should designate if the wedding is black tie and requires that the men wear tuxes and the women wear evening gowns.  What fun? 

The Fanciest:
For Black Tie Go Long

When shopping online for a black tie wedding, you should focus your search on "evening" attire, or narrow the produce search to "long" dresses.  For a fancy evening wedding, The Online Shopper likes something like this Nicole Miller Cobalt Stretch Silk Ruffle Detail Strapless Gown available at http://www.bluefly.com/ for $329.00.  This dress is great because it has a classic silhouette, a vibrant color for summer, and is stylish enough that you will not look like a bridesmaid.  

    

Depending on the location, a 2:00 p.m. wedding can still be pretty fancy, but is probably something short of black tie.  In this case, you can pretty much count on wearing a basic cocktail dress.  Your online search should focus on "short" or "cocktail" dresses.  Something like this, Adriana Papell Shirred Bandage Dress available at http://www.lordandtaylor.com/ for $140.00 is perfect.  This beautiful color and body hugging look is sure to look great on you regardless of your shape.  In fact, this type of dress should be your go-to look when you are uncertain about what to wear.  Additionally, you can count on wearing this more than once and you will be able to "dress it up" or "dress it down" with your accessories (shoes, clutch and jewelry).   

 

Inbetween:
Cocktail is the
Go-To Wedding Look



Cover your Shoulders
In a Church or Synagogue

4.  Consider the Location of the Ceremony When Accessorizing:  Now your shoe, clutch and jewerly will be dependent upon your dress selection.  The Online Shopper tends to select nude and muted metalic accessories so that they can be worn over and over again.  Yet, when accessorizing, your first questions should be where is the wedding ceremony?  If the ceremony is in a church or synagogue, you need to dress somewhat conservatively, in that your shoulders should be covered.  Of course this does not mean that you need to wear a dress with long sleaves, but it does mean that you should wear a capilet, shrug, or shawl over your shoulders.  The Online Shopper suggests a lovely, lightweight cashmere wrap like the one pictured to the right from http://www.nordstrom.com/ for $98.00.  Depending on the accompanying dress, The Online Shopper would tie this shawl over her shoulders and likely pin this shawl with a vintage costume jewelry brooch to add some style and finish off the look.  It would come off for the reception, but you can always wear a shawl like this again (even as a scarf for the winter if you are so inclined). 

5. Don't Wear White. Or Beige. Or Tan.  Ladies, it is the bride's day.  If something could be construed as white (light grey, beige, tan, etc.) pick something else.  No matter how lovely the dress is, if it is white, or a shade of white, you will be entirely inappropriately dressed.  This is a traditional rule that you must stick to!

Hopefully you will have fun at the wedding, but more fun Online Shopping for what to wear to the wedding!