I am to attend a wedding a week before thanksgiving in california, there will be a church service, with a reception at the newport beach yacht club. My boyfriend says it will be formal- he will be in a black suit, but his idea of formal and mine are two different ideas. What would be a an appropriate dress to take me from an afternoon church wedding to an evening formal reception. I was thinking knee length brown or green satin, but I have only attended midwest small community weddings where you were lucky the guys weren’t in jeans. I would appreciate some guidance on the subject.

Thanks

Rebecca Black, Etiquette By Rebecca

Dear Guest,

More than likely your choices will be fine, especially if your boyfriend is in a suit. Formal could be long dresses, but it probably isn’t for this event because it begins during the day. Probably many will be wearing cocktail dresses anyway.

Enjoy!

Lori of ModelBride.com

Traditionally a formal wedding would require guests to wear floor length dresses, well times have changed. Now the evening wear trend is to wear what is fashionable. This season dress trends are the 3 F’s; feminine, flirty and fun!!! Now a days you don’t have to wear a full length gown to look appropriate at a wedding. You can wear a knee length cocktail dress, and the ones that you described sound perfect. Both brown and green are popular colors this season, so you are right on target with being a trendy wedding guest.

Have fun with the dress that you pick. I suggest if you wear the brown dress to go with a gold or bronze stiletto. If you choose the green dress you can wear a stiletto that is gold or silver. If your dress has embellishments then go simple on the jewelry, but if it doesn’t your accessories can be the focus. You can wear crystal chandelier earrings with a matching bracelet. Depending on the neckline you can wear a necklace that is a Y-shape (for the plunging neckline) or a large necklace that makes a statement with smaller earrings. Hair jewelry is always a great finishing touch on an outfit.

Any way you go make sure that you have fun with it!