Enforcing a dress code for your wedding is such an interesting topic because it all just comes down to psychology and the different ways we let others know what we want – both directly and indirectly!

At the beginning of your wedding planning process, you should figure out what kind of event you want to host. Do you want to go black tie? Do you want your wedding to be a springy brunch wedding with lots of bright colors? Figuring out what kind of event you want to host will help you determine what you want your guests to wear. 

From there, you then have to match your venue to the event. For example, it wouldn't make sense to have a barn wedding and ask your guests to wear black-tie attire. That just doesn't compute because the two don’t match. So your venue should be a sort-of testimony to what your intended dress code is.

Then, just get super, super direct about it with your guests. For example, on your wedding website, you can list your dress code right on there, usually somewhere in the FAQ section. For our wedding, we are having a semi-formal event so we stated that explicitly and then also listed suits, cocktail dresses, and nice jumpsuits as options. 

In a more indirect sense, we matched the semi-formal vibe with our save-the-dates. For one of our engagement sessions, we chose to wear really nice black attire – John wore a black suit, and I wore a floor length black dress. We put a photo from that session on the front of our save-the-date so that you kind of get this vibe that it's going to be a more elevated event. I mean, my father-in-law is probably going to show up wearing jeans, but he’s a farmer, so he’s the one exception.

So in summation, you really just have to make it an omnipresent element throughout your whole wedding planning process so that your guests understand the kind of event you’re hosting. If they don't abide by your dress code and they show up wearing attire that doesn’t fit with that dress code, sadly there's not a whole lot you can do at that point other than turning them away or giving them new clothes to wear. Those options will either cause drama or cost you a lot of money, so you just kind-of have to hope that they respect your wishes! Ultimately, just envision what you want your day to look like, and then take all those little steps necessary to make it happen.

Need some extra tips on the planning process? Get in touch and let’s get started!