Dress code on invitations

I had no clue that it was frowned upon to request certain attire for your wedding. I am doing it for mine and I said if I’m my Save the Date I sent. The majority of my guests have already RSVPd and no one has had an issue with me telling everyone what to wear.

View Quoted Comment

If you look at the etiquette it's a faux pas to dictate what people wear to your wedding. The only exception is black tie, which actually isn't about dress code at all.

Sounds like your social group took it well, which is good. Not all social circles would be ok with that, but to each their own.

Also for others reading the thread, it's best to put any kind of dress code or preferences on the wedding website but not on the invitation suite or the inclusions inside.

View Quoted Comment

I mean, it's not polite to bother the bride with complaints. Plus, people don't think of what they'll wear and what actually fits until closer to date.

I do not know your budget, but you can have a back up suit just in case someone does wear all black suit. I say a light grey. Or you can have them take off there jacket part while at the wedding. You have to come up with it. Putting attire on the invites is up to you.

I wouldn't try to dictate the color of suit your guests wear. There's no appropriate way to do it on an invite, and even if you decide to throw etiquette to the wind, people will invariably show up in black suits (in large part because that might be the only suit the guy owns!).

Instead, I'd worry more about things you can control and that your guests will appreciate and remember. Guests won't remember that only the groom and the FOTB wore black -- they will remember, though, that the bride made an odd request on her invites.

A dress code is casual, semi formal/cocktail, formal, or black tie. When no dress code is listed, and it’s very common for it to be blank, the dress code is semi formal/cocktail by default. Some social circles continue to follow the etiquette of not listing a dress code unless it is black tie that the venue requires before anyone can be allowed inside.


Colors are not a dress code. They are props for pictures and your guests are not props. You can tell your bridesmaids and groomsmen what colors to wear but it is a faux pas to tell guests what colors they can and cannot wear. The internet will tell you the opposite because they don’t care about making people comfortable and avoiding awkward situations.