Women Wedding Suits

Wedding Jargon- How do I say 'wear a suit to the wedding' ?

Ok. Now there are all these options with writing wedding invites when it comes to dress.I know that specifying dress is considered rude,but knowing my family and friends (and partners friends) if I don't specify someone will turn up in jeans and thongs. I want guests to come in what I would call formal dress, however the emily post definition of formal suggests that 'formal' indicates black tie. I Don't want black tie,I want suits and formal dresses for the ladies. Emily Post suggests that I should write semi-formal,which indicates suits for the men and dresses for the women,but I am afraid that if I write semi-formal it means that again, someone will interpret it as jeans. On the other side of the coin hubby to be is wearing a suit not a tux so I don't want to write formal and then have embarrassed guests who turn up in a tux. What do I write on the invites???

Public Comments

1. It's rude to specify what they should wear regardless of how you word it. But if you insist, you can same something like "smart casual" maybe or "suits for me and dresses for women".
2. You would write semi-formal. If someone is so clueless that they think semi-formal includes jeans, then there really isn't anything you can do about it. And yes, it would be inappropriate to require formal dress if the groom is wearing semi-formal. Keep in mind that if one person comes to your wedding wearing jeans, you aren't going to notice and it is hardly the end of the world.
3. I don't think guests will show up in tuxes if you write formal!! Write formal. Semi-formal can be interpreted as nice shirt but no jacket, or even, rarely, jeans...
4. You could write, "Semi-formal attire is requested (no jeans or T-shirts permitted)." That would make your point without allowing anyone to misinterpret your intentions. Happy Wedding Day and may God bless you.
5. It is your wedding. You have more to worry about than peoples attire. Plus you want to be the most beautiful one in the room. Forget what everyone else will be wearing. If you want to specify say Semi-formal most people who dont know will ask someone and if they do show up in jeans. Dont sweat the small things. It is your day and you want to be upset over what someone else is wearing?
6. This is one of the most common problems you see. Originally, "formal" meant white tie, "semi-formal" meant black tie, and "informal" meant business suits. Now, the definitions are hopelessly muddled. That said, "business attire" is quick, polite, and hard to misinterpret.