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What to Wear to a Spring Wedding

Jo-Lynne Shane wearing floral wrap dress for spring weddings, graduations, and more.

Tommy Bahama faux wrap dress (S) // Open Edit sandals (8)

Ah, spring—the season of love, flowers, and wedding invitations with cryptic dress codes flooding your mailbox. This time of year, not a day goes by that I don’t get a request for wedding guest dress suggestions, so today I’ve rounded up a bunch of options at varying levels of formality for all of the upcoming nuptials.

Dressy-Casual Wedding Guest Dresses

Typcially a daytime wedding or an event in a more casual location is a dressy casual affair. You still want to dress up, but you don’t need a cocktail dress. It’s more like something you would wear out to a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant.

It could even be a dress you would wear to work or church, but in that case, add accessories that are more festive than something you would wear to the office. Prints are fine in this category, but I usually stick with solids for formal and semi-formal events.

The dress I’m wearing here is what I would consider dressy-casual wedding guest attire.

When picking accessories for a dressy-casual wedding, you don’t want anything too glitzy, but you definitely don’t want to overlook this part of your outfit either. While you don’t need a fancy clutch for a daytime event, you also don’t want to carry your everyday shoulder bag. A small crossbody bag that has some shiny hardware is a nice choice.

I wore strappy sandals in a matte silver, since metallics are trending this season, and these are fairly comfortable for what they are. They’re a great price too.

Accessories should be intentional, although mine are pretty understated here. I just wore silver hoops and a diamond pendant and a pair of Lagos station bracelets. Since the dress is so busy, I think it works.

Shop Dressy-Casual Wedding Guest Dresses:

Semi-Formal/Cocktail Dresses for a Spring Wedding

Cocktail attire indicates a semi-formal event, so you’re looking for dresses in knee or midi lengths that are dressier than what you might wear to work or church or out to dinner with friends. Usually it will have a dramatic detail or some sparkle and shine.

semi-formal spring wedding guest dress outfit

For a daytime semi-formal wedding, you can go a little less glam, but feel free to wear more embellishments and dramatic details if the wedding is in the evening.

You’ll want to make sure your accessories match the formality of the event, and try to incorporate a mix of textures. For example, if the dress is sparkly or has sequins, go with a suede or satin shoe. Or vice versa.

Shop semi-formal/cocktail dresses for spring:

Formal/Black Tie Wedding Guest Dresses for Spring

For most of us, black tie is as dressy as it gets, although white tie is technically dressier than black tie. White tie definitely dictates a ball gown for the ladies, but black tie gives you a little more leeway. If in doubt, wear a floor-length gown when the invitation says black tie. Black tie optional is a little more permissive.

formal spring wedding guest look

You can certainly wear a floor-length gown to a black tie optional wedding, but it isn’t necessarily required. If you do opt for a dress that is not floor-length, it should be a dressy cocktail dress. If in doubt, ask around to see what others are wearing.

Once again, your shoes, accessories, and especially your handbag should match your dress in style and formality. And since spring can be chilly in a lot of areas, you also want to remember an appropriate wrap.

If you don’t have all of the necessary accoutrements, ask around. Oftentimes you can find a friend who is happy to lend you a beaded clutch or a silky wrap for the evening.

Shop Formal Wedding Guest Dresses:

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14 Responses

  1. Love this post! My stepdaughter is getting married and it is a very big event! It’s been hard to figure out everything I need to get for all the different events (shower, welcome party, black tie wedding, breakfast)! Thank you for the ideas. I am going to order a few of these!

  2. Fun fact: I have been to fewer than 15 weddings in my entire lifetime, and several of those were coworkers! It seems that no one I know gets married!

    1. Same here, Sandie! Two of my three daughters are married but neither of them had a wedding! They both went to the courthouse…such a bummer. I have once chance left to be the MOB and have fun shopping for a spectacular dress. I love weddings and dressing up for fancy events. 🙂

  3. I have my niece’s wedding April 20th and need your advise. It’s an evening affair and semi-formal. I’m wearing a black knee length, one shoulder dress and wondering what type of shoe/sandal to wear. I’m in the Midwest where the weather could go either way. I’m short-5 ft and can wear 2 1/2”-2 3/4” heel max (much older than you, but still want to be stylish). What color and style would you suggest?

    Take care of your ankle and don’t rush it.

    I’m typing on my iPad and there seems to be a delay with the words showing up on the screen or when I need to backspace to delete. I don’t know if it’s related to your new site but just wanted to let you know,

    1. Hi Rose, thing seem a bit slow to me too. They are still working on things on the backend, so maybe that’s why?

      I would wear a metallic shoe – silver or gold, depending on the rest of your accessories. A low heel slingback pumps is popular right now, and might be better for April weather than an open sandal. Something embellished might be nice, like this. Or even just a textured gold, like this.

  4. Love your informative posts. Got a question? I can’t tell from your photos but do you go with nylons or not nowadays? Like a spring dressy casual event… do you go with stockings with a knee-length dress?

  5. Great roundup Jolynne! And great points on styling and accessorizing. I think at these dress code levels it’s even more crucial to get accessories correct to look put together.

  6. Our son is getting married the end of May so I’m looking for a MOG dress! Our daughter was married 5 years ago in May and I loved my dress for that( which I bought a month before ) I found it at a local boutique and it was just above my ankle which was perfect as I’m 5’2 and didn’t want long! I haven’t really been looking for our sons wedding except for some ideas on line. I need to get busy! I’m definitely not last minute except for these weddings lol! I don’t like the typical mother dresses as they look to Matronly and seem so heavy! 😉

  7. Thank you for these great tips!
    My event is just daytime spring shower…
    Most of dresses I tried so far too long, sweet or flowy . I did purchase the pink loft shirt you recommended a few days ago .. really lovely and could go with white pants:)
    Please take care and stay off ankle …
    Been there done that.

  8. Such a pretty dress on you. I don’t have any weddings this year.
    Just wanted you to know that when I’m on my Apple iPhone I can barely comment as the delay is so bad and even when I try to back space. I’m on my laptop now and its better but still some delay. I know you are still working things out and maybe comments still help?

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