This is post specially requested by a girlfriend of mine over in Aussie. She Facebook-ed me the other day, asking WHAT on earth does the “lounge suit” dress code for a wedding mean? I thought it was also quite timely, considering my OWN wedding is coming up in a little over 6 months, and our dress code is also along these lines (although we’ve spelt it out a little more to make it easier – more on that later) So Amanda, gorgeous girl, here is how I would recommend you dress when the dress code is lounge suit – xx

What does ‘Lounge Suit’ mean?

Normally Lounge Suit refers to a daytime occasion (that may lead into evening festivities). Generally it’s a semi-formal occasion that doesn’t require a black dinner suit (or tuxedo) for the men, and long dresses for women, but still required some sort of effort on your part to look half decent (so sorry AJ, tell Mick jeans are out!).

Here’s a quick breakdown for the guys and gals.

The rules for lounge suit.jpg

So guys, that’s easy, a well-fitting, preferably, lighter coloured suit. Now girls! Let’s look at a few options in both long and short for you.

Long dresses_loungesuitSHOP THE LOOK: Forever New embellished wrap dress $189.99 | Asos petites print maxi dress $156.07 | Sacha Drake reversible ‘Ola’ dress $229 | Portmans wideleg jumpsuit $129.95

keep it short

SHOP THE LOOK. Forever New lace dress $149.99 | Ladakh lace dress from Birdsnest.com.au $69.95 | Portmans floral dress $119.95 | Asos midi dress $84.72

Normally the dress code, for a wedding in particular, is a reflection of the occasion. To use my wedding as an example, we want a fun, relaxed environment for our friends and family, my girls are wearing shorter dresses and the guys are not wearing black (although they are wearing suits).

What our guests wear, should mirror what we, as a bridal party, are wearing (and NO, I’m not giving away what my wedding dress looks like! You’ll have to wait until the wedding day!). It seems a bit unfair to ask our guests to put in more effort in their dress that we are!

Here is the dress code on our wedding website for our guests to see:

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So if you are not sure, ask the bride or groom for some hints about the ‘feel’ of their wedding or even what they are wearing!

A note on shoes

Think about where the wedding is! if there is copious amounts of sand and/or grass, wedges or even some cute flats under a maxi will be totally fine, and save you sinking into the group and ruining your heels.

{I’m even gonna let you in on a little wedding secret, shhhhh don’t tell anyone I told you – I’m wearing flats under my dress most of the day! We’re getting married on grass and the last thing I want to do is stack it up the aisle because my heel got stuck – awkward!}

Here are just a few pairs that could work with the frocks above, but will also save your feet from that end-of-night-ache we all know too well!

shoesSHOP THE LOOK. Witchery sandals on sale $59.90 | Spurr wedges from theiconic.co.nz on sale $24.97 | RMK silver sandals from styletread.com.au on sale $64.98

As a guideline for a wedding, I would say, go flats with the longer maxi dresses, and aim for a wedge or heel with the shorter dresses – flats and a short dress just seems a little too casual for a wedding.

If you DO want to rock a heel, check out these little heel guards from Wittner in Aus, or from Allure Bridal in NZ.

heel stoppers.jpgThey are NO WHERE NEAR as ugly as they used to be (remember when they looked like the bottom of a wine glass?), and they will give you that teeny bit more support you need on grass.

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So Amanda my love, I hope that helps a little? And the rest of you out there, wedding season will be here in NO time at all so if you panic when you see that pretty envelope in the mail because you don’t know what to wear? At least we’ve sorted one dress code out for now!

Stay tuned, in the lead up to my wedding next January, there will be more wedding-related posts on everything from de-coding other dress codes, to finding bridesmaids dresses that suit everyone, if you are, in fact the bride (or a long-suffering bridesmaid) yourself, to what the MOB (Mother of the Bride) and MOG (Mother of the Groom) should be looking for.

Until next time
In Love & Style Always
Cait xoxo