Formal Attire Requested?

We are getting married in St. Louis (my hometown) and are having our wedding at a very nice location. This is probably going to be the nicest wedding some of my extended family has ever been to. With that said, I don't want some people arriving in Kahkis and a button up or something!

We don't want black tie, but to get the point across that they need to be dressed up we put
'Formal Attire Requested' on the reception card.

Do you think people will take that as black tie and gowns (not nessasary) or just formal dresses, not business casual?

How about putting the dress code down on the direction cards to the reception site?

You could say 'formal' attire on them (but some might interpret that as tuxedos being required), or 'semi-formal.'

I'm a little confused. Are you worried your guests will see the dress code and automatically dress a step down (they read semi-formal and interpret it as business casual)? Or will they read the dress code and interpret it correctly?

I think what I'm worried about is that we didn't want to put 'black tie' on the card but we did want to let them know they should look nice, not business casual. Know what I mean?

If people do come in gowns that will be fine, they will not look out of place, but I'm just didn't want the others to show up and feel uncomfortable b/c they were not dressed up enough. Make sense?

I know it won't really matter b/c there will be a thousand things going on I just don't want them to be too underdressed.

I totally know what you mean...we want nice coctail dresses and suits for our guests. We wrote 'black tie optional' on the invites to let people know it was formal.

HTH

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Posted by tiggsnme

I totally know what you mean...we want nice coctail dresses and suits for our guests. We wrote 'black tie optional' on the invites to let people know it was formal.

HTH

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agreed - I'd go with black tie optional.

we didn't put the dress code on the invitation, but that's what we're telling people, and had we, that's what I would have put - and I have basically the same thing as what you're describing.

This may seem a bit weird... BUT I would put the correct wording, but then in parenthesis put examples... This will get the point across I dont care how it looks... I'd def put it down if I was concerned

I would stay away from black tie or black tie optional. if you're getting married at a church or somewhere else and then moving on to a reception location, on the reception card i would put 'Formal reception to follow at XXXXXXX.' this implies that you need to be dressed up but tuxes and gowns are not necessary.

If you're getitng married at the same place as the reception, dress code shoudl be put in the lower right hand corner of the invite. you could say Formal attire requested or black tie optional (but i am not a fan of that as you'll have some people in tuxes and i think it makes everyone else feel under dressed. JMO.

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Posted by donegal419

I would stay away from black tie or black tie optional. if you're getting married at a church or somewhere else and then moving on to a reception location, on the reception card i would put 'Formal reception to follow at XXXXXXX.' this implies that you need to be dressed up but tuxes and gowns are not necessary.

If you're getitng married at the same place as the reception, dress code shoudl be put in the lower right hand corner of the invite. you could say Formal attire requested or black tie optional (but i am not a fan of that as you'll have some people in tuxes and i think it makes everyone else feel under dressed. JMO.

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Agreed. Though if you are having your ceremony at a church before the reception elsewhere, I would be worried about people showing up to the church very dressed down and then having that show up in pictures. I would be horrified if in the pictures that I got back if people were dressed in shorts or sweatshirts. So you may want to put the attire on the invitation in addition to saying 'Formal reception to follow.' JMHO.

We would go with 'Formal Reception To Follow'. I think that the guests would the idea from that.

~dancer and chef~
charlotte and michael

My FH's family is from Ohio and Tennesse and we had the same concerns (like his consin wearing an informercial sweater and jeans and feeling out of place). We wrote 'Formal Attire' and just told our parents and friends that it meant suits and dresses, not tuxes.

If someone has any question about what to wear I am sure they will contact your friends or family members and they can pass on the specifics... that way you dont have to write it on the invite or anything.

Rather than 'formal attire', what about using 'cocktail attire' ?
Would your guests understand that this means suits and dresses, but not tuxes and gowns ?

I wouldn't put examples of dress on the invites.