DS is going to a summer wedding–college friends being married in the chapel at their alma mater. (They have been out of school 4 years.) He plans to wear a flax-colored linen jacket with navy pants, an appropriate shirt and a nice bow tie. He asked me if this would be appropriate and I gave it my ‘stamp of approval’. However, I was just perusing their wedding web page and saw this statement: “cocktail attire, please”. This, for an outdoor reception in the summer? I don’t believe the wedding invitation specified attire. Is his planned ensemble going to be inappropriate? Would his classic navy suit be a better option? What’s the general CC consensus?
In my humble opinion (imho), what he plans to wear sounds fine. Cocktail attire means: No blue jeans, no shorts, no casual work clothes.
Suits, jackets & bow ties are all fine, again imho. Women: dressier clothes than for work, usually fancier dresses, skirts, jumpsuits, even maxi’s. For men a little tougher, but I think you can’t go wrong with a jacket & tie ( or bow tie).
Tell him to relax & enjoy!
I agree with cccookie. Jacket and tie is perfect, and being outdoors in the summer, the lighter jacket seems appropriate.
DS is getting married this weekend :x Its an outdoor wedding/ceremony/reception and is “cocktail attire.” I’ll report back.
What he plans to wear is fine.
He’s good! I’m a fan of bow ties.
Agreed; it’s fine.
Another yes vote.
What time of day is it?
Another YES vote. ‘Cocktail attire’ can make people a little nervous. I recently found this out when MOG put this in print on the rehearsal dinner invitations. I told my family/friends to wear what they wanted, but no blue jeans. Some women wore pants with nice jackets, some wore dresses. The men all wore dress slacks and dress shirts. Some wore jackets, some wore ties, and some wore both. People were more formal the next day, without any suggestions about attire.
“Cocktail attire” sounds a lot more dressy to me.
When in doubt, your S could call the bride or groom, whichever he’s closer to and just ask. That might help him feel more comfortable at the event, so he’s not under or over dressed.
I agree. When the MOG was asked, she said she just didn’t want the groomsmen/bridesmaids to be too casual. They all looked great, as did all the other guests. The women who chose to wear pants chose very dressy pants with jackets. Most women wore dresses. H and S wore suits. D and I wore dressy dresses.
I’m no Miss Manners, but outside, seems to neutralize the cocktail.
I wonder if they just want to insure guests don’t expect red Solo cups.
I think what he plans to wear sounds fine, & very stylish.
I’m used to H, who will wear clothes, but that’s as far as his interest seems to go.
So I’m pretty impressed he came up with that on his own, although the sons in law always look good.
I didn’t suggest anything on my invitations, I guessed that everyone could figure it out from the venue & time of day.
D lives at a place where they host weddings quite often,( outside) I wonder what they look like?
I never ask.
But I suggested to H, that we renew our vows there. We were talking about it anyway, but actually, not till next year, which would be our 35th anniversary.
Agree with EK! Outside + cocktail attire => his choice seems appropriate, unless the venue is a super formal place, like a posh country club somewhere in New England or near NYC where folks tend to be very dressy.
I think it wouldn’t hurt to call the bride or groom and just ask if in doubt. However, I think his choice sound fine.
I think it sounds appropriate.
“Cocktail attire” might sound more fancy to the 40, 50 and 60 something crowd, but what this young man is planning to wear will be fine…as he is younger.
I agree with the poster upstream…“cocktail attire” means no jeans, shorts or rubber flip flops or sneakers. It doesn’t mean a suit.
His attire sounds fine for an outdoor wedding. He could check with the bride or groom, but maybe they just wanted to insure that nobody showed up in jeans. Older guests may show up wearing fancier clothes, but for his age that seems appropriate.