5 clever ways to tell guests your wedding dress code on Offbeat Wed (formerly Offbeat Bride)

Photo by Sarah Goldsmith

While I ‘d like my wedding guests to dress up, I need help figuring out a adept direction to mention that heels, particularly stiletto, are n’t recommended for our outdoor marriage .
I ‘d like to be cute about it, but I ‘m wondering where I should include the information… should it go on our main marry invitation, a distinguish card, or somewhere else entirely ?
-Kenzie

so you want to tell your guests what to wear, but you do n’t want to be overbearing, and ideally you ‘d like to be a little bit cagey about it.

You ‘re surely not the first to find ways to disingenuously explain a apparel code to your guests… in fact, we have a whole archive of posts about wedding dress codes !
Let ‘s review five amazing, non-bossy ways you can give your guests some marry dress code steering, particularly when your dress code is something less traditional than the usual cocktail dress, dinner jacket, semiformal optional thrust that ‘s the norm for courtly weddings. ( We ‘re all for conventional wedding trim codes if you ‘re having a traditional wedding, but here at Offbeat Wed, we ‘re more about casual weddings and cocktail attire vibes than we are about a floor-length evening gown…. )
Whether you ‘re having a fooling wedding dress code or a full-on costume marry, the goal is the like : you want to support your guests in a making an equip choice that feels comfortable AND fabulous at your marriage .

#1: Include a brief PS about your wedding dress code on your wedding invitations

Ok, foremost things foremost : If it ‘s clear from your date and venue name that the wedding will be outdoors, you may not need to say anything. For example, most american guests at a summer wedding located in a garden will assume that they ‘ll be outdoors and can ( credibly ! ) be trusted to dress themselves consequently. similarly, if your invitation makes it open you ‘re getting married on the deck of a sailboat, guests will probable understand that they might want to bring a light sweater .
If dress comfort factors are not obvious from your venue or marry go steady AND your dress code is relatively straight-forward ( which yours is ), you can include a simpleton PS on your wedding invitations. Something deoxyadenosine monophosphate basic as PS : The ceremony & reception will be on the lawn ; choose your footwear accordingly ! would do the trick .
I know you said you want to be cute, but cute can be confusing. You want aboveboard. You besides do n’t want to be autocratic : sure, you could tell them to wear flip flops or wedges, but it ‘s best to barely let them know what the environment will be and let them make their own choices
Including a PS on your invitations works best for dress code guidance that is simple and important… heels on a lawn are one exemplar. Outdoor ceremonies during the winter or late summer might be another : “ The ceremony will be outside, therefore make certain you dress for the weather. ” Your invitations are not the place to get into detailed discussions about the nuances between Steampunk and Renaissance attire .
The location of the PS wholly depends on your invitation design. If it ‘s a short credit line, you could include it at the end of your actual invitation. If you ‘re doing a separate calling card anyhow for directions, you could include your dress code note there .
These guests were at a hallowedding costume party

2. Address wedding dress codes in your wedding website’s FAQ

Lots of upbeat folks go this road ( including me ! ), using all sorts of adorable wording. Keep in mind that not everyone will read your web site, so this is n’t a good solution for superintendent pressing wedding trim code material like “ The ceremony will be outdoors on a ski gradient, so bring gloves and do n’t wear a sundress or you will freeze to death. ”
FAQs can be a bang-up position, however, to get into the details of creative overdress — particularly for theme weddings ! FAQs can besides be the set to get creative. here are a couple real-life examples from Offbeat Wed readers :

Q What will I wear ! ?
A The event is semiformal, but anything you want to wear we are sure will be very well. The bride requests you refrain from wearing a marry apparel, but if that ‘s in truth all you have to wear, she prefers that to you going naked ( a lanthanum Betazoid marry style ) .

“ Our style is going to be victorian & Tim Burton-esque. Classic Victorian/Steampunk gothic dress is more than welcome ( and encouraged ! ) for the Ceremony. Or if you ‘d quite keep things simple, semiformal overdress is requested. You know us – we ‘re not edgy. We entirely ask that you keep it classy for the Ceremony. ”

here ‘s more great guidance about what to include on your wedding web site ‘s FAQ .

3. Show don’t tell your wedding dress code

If a picture is worth a thousand words, some ocular guidance about overdress is the best possible way to get the message across. Creating a Pinterest board may be the easiest manner to give guests ocular cues about wedding overdress, but it ‘s surely not the lone way !

At her father ‘s suggestion, our reader Mari created this adorable ocular template to convey what might be awesome to wear to her “ casual lowcountry wedding shindig. ”
She distributed the double to guests via electronic mail and Facebooked to the guests, and by using pop-culture references, she made the marry apparel code ace accessible .
This kind of ocular guidance can be extra helpful if you ‘re planning a theme wedding, where guests might be badly confused. here ‘s how our lector Jen ensured no one would show up to her Halloween marriage in a “ aphrodisiac kitty ” costume :

4. Offer guests incentives to dress to code

Here’s a guest walking the runway at a wedding where guests were instructed to OUTSHINE THE BRIDE While you can never demand that anyone wear ( or not wear ) anything to your wedding, some couples have offered amaze incentives to encourage them to dress to theme .
My front-runner exemplar of this is when one couple encouraged their guests to “ outshine the bridget ” :

probably the most “ upbeat ” aspect of our wedding, aside from our homosexuality and my burgundy gown ( are those things even offbeat anymore ? Please ! ), was our dress code : we specifically instructed our guests to Outshine the Bride. It was good there on our web site and in the invitation, and our guests did an amazing job ! The “ Outshine the Bride ” runway appearance was easily the high point of the reception ! Our friends made bang-up use of the support pole in the center of the room, let ‘s precisely put it that manner. We provided joke gifts ( a clip-on veil and a bow affiliation ) for the winners of the runway walk-off. One wore a short, taut, fire-engine red snip, and our gentleman winner wore a white shirt with a full dress kilt ! It was capital .

Read more about this capital estimate, and schema ways that you could offer prizes or gag gifts to guests to dress up .

5. Offer encouragement, NOT enforcement

Costume wedding party GOALS
Photo by Allebach Photography Above all, remember this : while you can offer encouragement to your guests, it ‘s just not going to feel identical good to enforce. You ‘ve got enough to do at your wedding without stepping into the function of the fashion patrol .
ultimately, your guests will dress themselves. And whether that ‘s jeans and a apparel shirt, a jump suit, or a white-tie, button up linen jacket, a dinner jacket, blue suit, white vest, midi full-dress, knee-length little black dress, pantsuits, or a floor-length gown… we ‘re guessing they ‘ll be fabulous .

Did you offer guidance to guests about what to wear ?

About the Author: Ariel

writer of three editions of the Offbeat Bride bible and From Shitshow To Afterglow, Ariel Meadow Stallings is the publisher of all the Offbeat Empire vane properties. She lives in Seattle with her son, and if she ‘s not writing or scrolling, chances are good that she ‘s dancing or happy-crying. To follow her latest work, follow @ arielmstallings .

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Category : Fashion