The Big Ol' Wedding Guest Dressing Guide
from a solid sleeve, corkers under £100, Mamma Mia! themed weddings and the jackets to go on top- it's all here!
*affiliate links included
God I love a wedding. There is truly nothing better than a) celebrating and seeing other people in love (and those that love them talk about their love too), b) having an excuse to flail around passionately to Diana Ross and sing in the faces of equally excited strangers that is (largely) socially acceptable, c) get dressed up to the nines for 11am on a Saturday, d) cry publicly and collectively at first dances/speeches/PDA’s and e) dance to Whigfield (weirdly this doesn’t seem to be done at many other places, which I fundamentally believe should change) - it’s all the dream- from the small village churches, vicars in dog collars and even the slightly awkward ‘bride or groom?’ small talk, I truly can’t get enough!
And that all happens after you’re ready!! There’s more! In my opinion, a successful stint at getting ready for a wedding should be a bit like getting ready for a great girlie night out. There should be a great wedding style playlist (ideally I need to be powdering with Kevin Rowland belting ‘Too-ra-loo-ra, too-ra-loo-RAAAAYY YAAAY’ during Come on Eileen), a selection of make up laid out like you’re about to get ready for the Oscars and at least one last-minute dress panic (even though it’s obviously been tried on and vetoed over Whatsapp by at least two other grown women). But that’s all part of the fun, right?
But before alllllll of that fun begins- we’ve got to work out what to wear! I’d say it’s easy to overthink things, but with a good handful of variables at play from the word go; destination (is it black tie? white tie- hang on, what’s white tie?), weather, time of the year and personal style permitting- it can feel tricky to know where to begin. So! Having asked some of you lovely lot for your most pressing wedding guest dressing dilemmas and questions, I like to think I’ve pulled out a bit of a starters guide to working out what to wear come the big day- from dressing categories (including two pieces, breastfeeding friendly options, flats and some delightful under £100 options) to locations- whether that’s a family garden, beachside resort or Grecian island. I feel like I could have gone on and on (and if there *is* something specific, I’m more than happy to help if you fancy slide into the ol’ DMs or commenting below) - but hopefully this gives some useful pointers and some clear direction to get you started- see ya on the dance floor!
P.S If this email gets truncated and you can’t see it all, it’s because it’s a biggun’- you can read it in full in your browser or on the Substack app- it just doesn’t do well with a *tonne* of pretty dress pictures, sorry!