What to wear to a wedding… and a hen do
It’s crept up on us like it always does, but wedding season has begun and its just going to get busier and busier. I know for a fact, as a Personal Stylist that specialises in colour and colour analysis in London that every wedding guest puts off buying an outfit until it’s almost too late…
You either bury your head in the sand and when it’s too late to do an online order you panic buy in the shops and you hate every second of it and leave feeling worse than ever. Or you buy every single dress available on the internet and send them all back and probs buy the first dress you ordered and still don’t really like it but think.. sod it.
Oh… lets’ not even talk about what you’re going to wear to the hen do… oh and the night before the wedding and if you are going to a two-day wedding what are you wearing on the second day as a wedding guest… (more on this later)
My top tips for choosing the right outfit as quickly as possible
1. Understand what type of colours suit you. For example, do rich, muted and earthy toes look amazing on your bronzed skin or do cool, delicate and soft-shaded work better? What about bright, light and clear colours? or high contrast, deep and intense colours? Then there are fewer options to choose from so that you feel less overwhelmed. Find out more about colour here
2. Discover how to dress for your body shape. Do maxi dresses drown your shape? If so, do you know why? Do you need Aline or a shift? More importantly, how can you tell what you need? What if you are petite or even harder, what if you are tall? Is your shape in proportion and can you create the right balance between your top and bottom half? If you are unsure, head to my free body shape Ebook to understand more.
3. Figure out what style personality you love when you go to special events and dress up, particularly for weddings. For example, do you love a timeless ad elegant style like Kate Middleton, or more of a romantic style like Taylor Swift. There’s also creative outfits, dramatic styles, urban options, vintage vibes, and natural style personalities that can help influence your outfit. Check out my style personality blog here and also my Pinterest board that shows great examples of each style personalities inspiration with your wedding guest outfit.
4. Don’t ask more than two friends what they are wearing. The more wedding guest outfits you see that aren’t what you were planning on wearing the more ideas you get and the more frustrating you’ll find the process. You will also get their opinions on what you should wear which sometimes are great and sometimes can warp how you feel about things and how you want to look. Plus, if you ask people who aren’t trained stylists for their opinion, through no fault of their own, they usually respond to your outfits if they like them for themselves and don’t actually look at you wearing them. It sounds brutal but it’s sadly true.
5. Sidenote; If you find an outfit when you are randomly out and about and you try it and love it… BUY IT nothing haunts you like the clothes you don’t buy. Especially high-pressure wedding guest outfits
6. YOU DON’T HAVE TO WEAR SOMETHING NEW TO EVERY WEDDING. Change the accessories!
7. Find out if you need fascinator… they aren’t as popular as they used to be and only an English tradition. If you aren’t sure wear a headband as a happy medium…
How to combat hating dressing for weddings as a guest – Build a special occasion capsule wardrobe!
Get yourself a range of outfits that you can simply have on rotation between hen dos and weddings. Think of it as a special occasion capsule wardrobe. This means you can rotate between friendship groups and get maximum wear out of everything. For example, I have 3 dresses and two jumpsuits that I wear to hen dos and weddings and for special occasions. I would rotate the outfits as follows’
1. Dress 1 – Friday night of the hen
2. Jumpsuit 1 – Saturday Night of then hen
3. Dress 2 – Wedding day
4. Jumpsuit 2 – Day 2 of wedding
5. Dress 3 – spare or will be worn on night one of the next hen do or worn on the next wedding day… make sense?
I also have 2 pairs of shoes, one heel and one flat that go with all of the outfits because they are gold and gold goes with everything – they get maximum wear and work hard for what you spend on them. I also have a gold clutch bag that does the same as the shoes.
Style tip- It doesn’t have to be dresses and jumpsuits; you can get a skirt and a trouser and 2 tops and make multiple outfits tat way too! Or a suit and a co ord… or even a dress, jumpsuit, suit and skirt, then you can mix and match with endless options!
Confession – I also have some turquoise shoes but more about how to choose colour combos below.
Where to look for special occasion wear and the brands I recommend
Once you have figured out what your style and shape are you can start having a browse around. I honestly urge you to get into actual shops instead of online ordering because you can try so much more on and see what you love and swap sizes instantly if you need to rather than having to wait.
Check out my list of fave brands below and get yourself into the boutiques asap.
Queens of Archive - For you vintage and romantic fans
Rixo - For you creatives
Never Fully Dressed - For the dramatics and urban
SilkFred - for the naturals and creatives
Zadig et Voltaire - for the edgy and romantics
Reformation - for you classics and naturals
All Saints - for you edgy and romantics
Reiss - for you dramatics and classics
How to decide on the colour combinations you like
The first option is Harmonious colour dressing. This as the most logical and easiest way to start wearing colours together. Harmonious dressing is where you wear colours that sit NEXT to each other on the colour wheel. Traditionally its three colours next to each other eg, e.g. red, orange and yellow but I’ll let you use two colours next to each other also.
Harmonious dressing is an effortless way to dress and add colour in a more developed logic. Its easier on our eyes because the hues sit comfortably and naturally with each other. The warm tones, e.g. reds, oranges and yellows create an energetic style whereas the cooler tones, green, blues and purple create a calmer and balanced style. See where your eyes are drawn to on the colour wheel and follow your gut instinct with whether to choose the warmer or cooler tones together. Perhaps start with two colours and build it up to three.
Next up is Tonal or Monochromatic dressing – Style note: this isn’t black and white like so many of us confuse it with! It is a colour scheme that is made up of variations of the same colour. For example, Dark blue, mid blue and light blue. It’s the definition of a polished and pulled together look – sartorial chic or confidence dressing at its best. You can also go head to toe in the same block colour if you really want to go for it! If you are not ready for head-to-toe tonal dressing, chose tonal accessories or a print! If you want to take it to the next level though… make sure you match your accessories too!
Another way is Complimentory colour dressing is my ULTIMATE fave style! Not for the faint-hearted, roll out the extroverts who have a creative or dramatic style personality here! Complementary colours are opposite each other on the colour wheel – think clashing colours! EG Purple and yellow, orange and blue and red and green. Back to my turquoise shoes… id wear them with my orange jumpsuit/dress.
Finally, you can use what we call a Triadic colour scheme. This is pretty unheard of and the ultimate colour choice if you want to create an unusual but beautiful outfit choice. Triadic colours are 3 that are equally spaced apart on the colour wheel, and an even balance of warm and cool colours. Think the perfect hat, handbag or shoe can complete the final colour! Colour examples are; Red, Blue, Yellow together or Green, purple, Orange together.
How to choose accessories for your outfit
Decide on what your wedding style personality is and which way to use colour you are most excited by then it’s essential to finish your outfit with gorgeous accessories. It could be the third colour for tonal dressing, a tint or shade of a harmonious option or the final colour for triadic style. If you arent ready for head-to-toe colour, match your shoe/bag/earrings with the dominant colour in your outfit.
If you are anti colour - wearing the most flattering metallic for your complexion is a much softer way of adding accessories into your style, think of it as neutral and that it will work with literally anything you pair it with.
My recommendations for headpieces/fascinators
Again, be aware of the colours that suit your complexion and hair as well as the shapes that will harmonise with your body shape. Top tip; If you have lots of hair you can wear a bigger fascinator, if you have finer hair, thinner and more subtle hairpieces will be better. However, if you want to create drama with your outfit or just love wearing hats, just wear them and LOVE them.
I have thrown a lot of information at you but to keep it super simple you need to do the following;
Understand your style foundations
Decide on how you want to use colour
Find some brands you love
Be smart and create a capsule occasion-ware wardrobe
Choose accessories that work with all of your outfits
Voila, you are ready for the ball so to speak!
Any questions don’t hesitate to reach out here and let me know how you get on!
Love Sian
Personal Stylist, London, Public speaker, London, Style lecturer, London.