What to Wear to a Wedding in a Stylish Town Hall (Midi Dress & Faux Fur)

My third wedding guest outfit for Wedding Week is… What to Wear to a Stylish Town Hall Wedding – my favourite type to dress for! Quite often town weddings are held in a swanky town hall, hotel or register office, so I think it gives you free reign to go uber-sophisticated. I love seeing wedding guests strolling through a city centre just before or after a wedding, if only really to see what they’re wearing.

The brides I’ve seen in large cities like London and Bath most typically wear jackets, beaded dresses, sequins, etc., and the guests often have a cool, artistic or slightly retro feel to their outfits… I decided to go with that feel for this look. The animal print midi dress I wore in this post worked beautifully with the faux fur shrug; I love this 1940s inspired look!

Here’s my best tips for what to wear to a town wedding:

1. Think chic sophistication. A town wedding often involves being dressed up and walking through crowds of shoppers, so you’ll most probably be stared at – make it worth their while!
2. A midi length is a good skirt length to go for as you can add patterned tights
3. Faux fur shrugs or bolero jackets add a little retro touch and are practical if the weather isn’t especially warm (great for the UK)
4. Consider a small pillbox hat or veiled fascinator rather than a huge hat – how about making your own like I did?

It’s my DIY fascinator that really makes this outfit I think – I wanted to prove that you don’t have to spend a fortune on a hat or fascinator. (Many of the ones in the shops are way over-priced for a few feathers on an Alice band – not exactly value-for-money…!) This is what I used to make mine, with costings:

• A length of birdcage veiling (I got mine from eBay) £4.20
• A wool felt base especially for fascinators (eBay) £2.49
• A plain spring hairclip (I had plenty of spare ones) £0.00
• A flower corsage pin (I already owned one) £0.00
• Needle and thread or glue gun

Total cost of my fascinator: £6.69 (a total bargain)! Assembling it is easy – simply glue or stitch the hairclip to the underside of the base, then gather the veiling along one of the long edges with a running stitch through the holes. Arrange it on top of the base so that it covers your face at the length you’d like it to sit, then stitch into place. Cover the stitching with the flower pinned on top – that’s it! The hairclip will hold it in place to your hair, and a few kirby grips [bobby pins] are handy to keep the veiling down and in place as well.

There’ll be two more posts for Wedding Week; on Sunday I’ll suggest What to Wear to a Wedding Evening Reception – forget having to dress for church, that calls for a party outfit!

Got any great tips for outfits to wear to town weddings? How dressed up did you get for ones you’ve attended – let me know!

Shop my look!

Dress: Asos, Faux fur shrug: Debenhams, Heels: Aldo, Fascinator: DIY, Clutch: Unknown, Tights: Unknown, Oui/Non Bracelets: Asos, Watch: Debenhams, Rings: New Look / Asos / Debenhams, Nails: Barry M Berry Ice Cream


Linking up to: Share Your Style Saturdays, Monday Bloom, Monday Mingle, Creative Mondays, Yolo Mondays, Wardrobe Wednesdays, What I Wore Wednesday