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View Full Version : What is appropriate for a black tie wedding?

ctd1103
06-12-2007, 06:06 PM
My husband and I are attending a cousins black tie wedding in July at one of the more swanky locations in Boston. The grooms family has $$$ and it's going to be one heck of an event.....here's the question, the bride didn't include "black tie" on her invitations, but did put "formal dress requested" - many of the men are wearing tuxes, and all the men in the wedding party have a "ceremony tux" and an "evening tux" - so do I wear a gown of some type, floor-length, or, I happen to have a gorgeous cocktail type dress that is black and cream, knee length, cuts low in the front with to-die-for black and cream patent leather strappy heals - all in all, very elegant, but I don't know if this style dress will be too underdressed.....any comments, suggestions????
stefania4
06-12-2007, 06:12 PM
What time of day is the wedding?
ctd1103
06-12-2007, 06:42 PM
it's a 1:30pm ceremony, reception following into the evening....
avariell
06-12-2007, 06:59 PM
what is your dress made of? and what type of jewelry do you have that goes with it? i think accessories could make this dress fancy...
stefania4
06-12-2007, 07:28 PM
If the ceremony is at 1:30, then the reception would be starting no later than 3.

I think your dress with a smashing, sparkly pair of earrings would be appropriate. If you decide to go shopping, I'd go tea length.
PAMMELA
06-13-2007, 09:32 AM
I would definitely say a fancy cocktail dress would be appropriate, NOT a floor length gown.
tippy7
06-13-2007, 09:57 AM
I think your dress would be perfect! I went to a wedding in Boston a few weeks ago that was black-tie optional. To me, that is dressier than just asking for "formal" dress. The wedding I attended was at 2:00 with the reception starting at 5:00pm and I wore a black strapless cocktail dress and fit in perfectly.
stefania4
06-13-2007, 12:26 PM
The wedding I attended was at 2:00 with the reception starting at 5:00pm

Wow! A two- or two-and-a-half hour long ceremony.... You're a really good friend!
Autumnsun
06-13-2007, 01:27 PM
They just did a segment on the Today Show the other day on this. For a black tie affair they tell the women to wear a black cocktail dress just above the knee and no shorter. Nice jewelry and shoes and you will be just fine.
ctd1103
06-14-2007, 10:13 AM
Just getting back to this thread now...where do the days go? :) Thanks everyone for your responses - feeling confident about the dress I have now and glad I don't need to go spend $$ on another. :)
erinl
06-14-2007, 11:11 AM
Wow! A two- or two-and-a-half hour long ceremony.... You're a really good friend!

I'd wager it was a roughly 1 hour mass. Catholic weddings are usually early in the day because of evening masses, so you end up with a huge gap in between ceremony and reception.
tippy7
06-14-2007, 02:26 PM
Wow! A two- or two-and-a-half hour long ceremony.... You're a really good friend!

I actually did not know the bride or groom at all--I'm just a really good plus one!

The ceremony was in the burbs outside of Boston so they needed to allot some time to get from the ceremony to the reception. There was about an hour and a half of down time in between, which worked out fine because we were able to relax at the hotel for a bit. I felt bad for the people who were not staying in Boston overnight because they had over an hour to kill before the reception began.