5pm wedding in August, have questions

gabstoomuch · ‎03-16-2010

On the invite it says "dress- cocktail". What exactly does that mean?

My two adult male children (mini-men, 20ish). Suit coat and ties?

Me: Is black ok to wear to a wedding?

I have not been to a wedding in years. Now all my nephews and nieces are getting to marrying age and I am out of practice. Sweat suit is a NO, right?

dmod nj · ‎10-04-2011

Hi gabstoomuch,

You might get a wide variety of answers depending on area of the country and people's preferences/customs.

In my experience, black seems to be the preferred color for weddings regardless of the time of year, time of the wedding or type of wedding. Most of the women seem to wear black.

Suits and ties for the men.......dressy, fancy dresses or suits for the women.

Bedazzled sweat suits are not allowed.

Enjoy the wedding with your family.

You can take the girl out of Jersey, but you can't take Jersey out of the girl. Jersey Girl living in CNY.

gabstoomuch · ‎03-16-2010

Thank you. I sort of thought dress=cocktail meant suits for my boys, but I was stuck on black for a wedding. It is in my closet, it fits me, it has sleeves (that is a plus right there, I am tired of sleeveless dresses!). I won't have to buy a new dress, and it is comfortable. Just dressy enough for a 5pm wedding too, so I am happy to hear black is good.

I suppose I will have to buy new black slippers for the occasion. Dang

muttmom · ‎11-28-2012

If I were attending I'd wear a a cocktail dress, in my case it would be black. My husband would wear a dark business suit.

20 something boys do not always have suits. At the least they should wear a coat and tie. (navy blazer and charcoal gray pants)

tansy · ‎01-02-2011

I'd be worried about wearing a long-sleeved black dress in August because I'd be sweltering, not because it's inappropriate.

kdgn · ‎03-09-2010

I attended a wedding a month ago and the mother of the bride wore a black dress for the 5 pm ceremony. I wore black slacks, a dressy blouse set and black dressy sandals. My husband wore dress pants, short sleeved shirt and a tie. It was held outside in 95 degree weather so the only male wearing a jacket was the father of the bride. He ditched it asap after the ceremony.

Baileybut · ‎09-16-2014

I live in central New Jersey. Here a woman would wear black cocktail dress and man dark suit with dress shirt and tie.

NYC Susan · ‎03-13-2010

@gabstoomuch wrote:
On the invite it says "dress- cocktail". What exactly does that mean?

My two adult male children (mini-men, 20ish). Suit coat and ties?

Me: Is black ok to wear to a wedding?

I have not been to a wedding in years. Now all my nephews and nieces are getting to marrying age and I am out of practice. Sweat suit is a NO, right?

I went to a 6 pm wedding in NYC last weekend. Ceremony outdoors, reception indoors. I wore a short dress, and my sons wore jackets & ties. I wore navy, but I have worn black to weddings recently. Lots of women do. Any color really is fine.

I wouldn't necessarily worry about being too hot. If the wedding (and/or reception) are indoors, it actually could be cold from the a/c. Lots of men take off their jackets after the ceremony is over, whether it's indoors or not. August doesn't necessarily mean it will be hot, especially if you'll be indoors most of the time.

Wear something you feel good in, that's not too uncomfortable. Most of all, just have a good time!

gabstoomuch · ‎03-16-2010

Good suggestions and throughts, ideas. Thanks!

One son is an engineer so he has suits for when big wigs are in the building. Other son does not have a suit, but I could probably just borrow one, just for the service. It is in an air conditioned building so the heat wont be an issue.

Most men ditch the coat ASAP, then after a few beers, the ties go.

My dress has short sleeves not long. I was referring to every dress I have browsed online (just in case I needed to buy one) seems the choice of dresses that have ANY kind of sleeve is limited. I thought the sleeveless look would die down by now, but geesh, in my area (Boston aea), even the women newscasters were still in sleeveless dresses in the midst of winter.

I just don't look good in sleeveless any more. After 50-60 and beyond, it is hard to pull off. My opinion anyway. Some women can do it and look fine. The skin is just not the same at that age, even if one can manage to keep arms buffed up.

Maybe that is just me. I do not like the "short dress" look either. Knee length or below. Above the knee on me looks awful. I am not 30 and don't feel like above the knee is a good look on me any more. (and I am tiny, 5'1", small boned, lightweight).

It is not body size that doesn't look right, it is the skin. Skin ages everywhere, even on legs. Saggy knees etc.

Maybe it is my own self confidence, sigh. Cover my knees, and cover my arms please