Your Wedding Style

Ultimately the most important choice you have to make in deciding the style of your wedding is how formal or informal you wish it to be. There are three categories of weddings -- formal, semiformal, and informal. The formality is related to the location of the ceremony and reception, the size of the wedding party, the number of guests, and the time of day. While the style of a wedding in a church or synagogue may be formal or informal, a home wedding generally lends itself to informality, unless, of course, the home happens to be a mansion. In that case drag out the white gloves and candelabra! The variations on each style are endless, but there are a few basic differences in the three categories.

The Formal Wedding

• Where is the ceremony held? The formal wedding ceremony usually takes place in a house of worship or in a large home or garden.
• How many attendants? The bride and groom each usually have from four to ten attendants.
• What is the typical attire? The bride and her attendants wear long gowns in formal fabrics, and the groom and his attendants wear cutaways or tailcoats. Women guests wear street-length dressy clothing for a daytime wedding and usually floor-length gowns or cocktail dresses for an evening wedding. Men guests wear dark suits and ties for a daytime wedding and tuxedos for an evening wedding. An evening formal wedding that requires white tie is the most formal of all.
• What type of reception is held? The formal reception is usually a sit-down or semibuffet meal. Invitations are engraved, decorations can be elaborate, transportation for the wedding party is usually provided by limousines, and music, if the reception includes dancing, is often provided by an orchestra or full band.

The Semiformal Wedding

• Where is the ceremony held? The ceremony can take place in a house of worship, a chapel, a hotel, club, home, or garden.
• How many attendants? The bride and groom each usually have from two to six attendants.
• What is the typical attire? For a semiformal wedding, the bride and her attendants may wear long, ballerina, or tea-length gowns, usually made of simpler fabrics than those for a formal wedding. The groom and his attendants wear gray or black strollers with striped trousers or a formal suit for a daytime semiformal wedding and a dinner jacket with black trousers or a formal suit for an evening wedding. Women guests wear street-length tailored or semidressy dresses for a daytime wedding and cocktail dresses for an evening wedding. Men guests wear dark suits for both.
• What type of reception is held? The reception is generally a buffet or a cocktail buffet later in the afternoon with a small band or orchestra or a DJ.

The Informal Wedding

• Where is the ceremony held? The ceremony can take place in a house of worship, a chapel, or a rectory or in a home or garden presided over by a justice of the peace.
• How many attendants? The bride and groom each usually have from one to three attendants.
• What is the typical attire? At an informal wedding, the bride and her attendants wear simple white or pastel floor-length gowns or ballerina, tea-length, or street-length dresses. The groom and his attendants wear suits or sport jackets and slacks. Women guests wear what is appropriate to the location, usually street-length dresses. Men guests wear sports jackets and slacks.
• What type of reception is held? The reception can take place in a restaurant or at a home with a caterer and/or friends providing refreshments, usually a breakfast, brunch, or lunch in the morning or early afternoon and an informal buffet or simple hors d'oeuvres and wedding cake for an afternoon reception. Music may come from a single musician or background CDs or tapes.

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