This is my first post to this forum but I have been having a hard time finding something appropriate to wear to this wedding. It is my brother in law’s wedding. (let me tell you, I am his only sister). He has 3 brothers, his oldest brother is my husband (which he will be in the wedding with all his family). This means I am the only one in the family who won’t be in the wedding and I will be sitting by myself or people I don’t know (not too thrilled about this).

Anyway, the colors the bridesmaids are wearing is apple red, full length, quite formal dresses. The time for the wedding is 1 or 3 pm on May 29th. Since my husband and everyone in the family is in the wedding, I wanted to wear a full length dark red to burgandy dress. I know that a lot of times this color is not acceptable, but I don’t want to look like I don’t belong in the family. Please help!

Rebecca Black, Etiquette By Rebecca

Dear Sister,

You are not in the wedding party or a mother, so you would be expected to dress as a guest. It would not be appropriate for you to dress as one of the bridesmaids. Red or any color close to this would not be polite to wear.

If this is a Catholic wedding, it may be formal for the guests. This means suits or very nice short dresses for the ladies. If this is not a Catholic wedding, it may not be considered as formal. So, you could wear what you would to a nice restaurant.

Talk to the people sitting around you at the wedding and they won’t be strangers for long.

Best wishes,