What to Wear to a Wedding Reception as an Evening Guest

The best excuse for getting dressed up is always a wedding. If you can’t get dressed up for a wedding, when can you…?!

This was the second wedding we’ve been to this year and although we went as evening guests only this time, it’s no less an opportunity to put your glad rags on and dress up. In fact, I sometimes think it’s easier to dress for an evening-only wedding reception – no dilemmas over wearing a hat (you don’t) and no wondering whether your feet will last all day in those heels (they’ve only got to survive a few hours in them).

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I didn’t want to go and buy something new as I have so many lovely dresses in my wardrobe that don’t get worn enough, so I shopped my closet for the perfect dress for an evening out. And I found the perfect option: worn just once before (but not yet on the blog), my from-the-high-street mixed pattern floral and leopard print dress which is undoubtedly the Asos version of a Rixo London dress.

Very similar in style, but definitely not in price…!

Dress: Asos / Clutch: Jaeger* / Heels: Madeleine* / Earrings: Asos / Custom enamel pins (sponsored link) / Custom patches (sponsored link)

I do love Rixo London, but their prices are just a little too eye-watering for me. These sorts of dresses do make a huge statement, and apart from your shoes, bag and jewellery there aren’t many different ways to style them differently. So as much as I’ve always loved their dresses – especially their signature style of mixed pattern floral and leopard print – I’ve not ventured as far as buying one.

(I tend to be the sort of girl who waits till the sales are on, and then I’m chancing whether something’s in my size. But rarely do I pay full price for anything.)

So up pops this blue floral and orange leopard print beauty of a wrap dress (complete with frilled cuffs) in my Asos emails back in the spring, and it was mine for the taking. I wore it first to an event in May; despite the gloriously and almost consistently hot summer we’ve had since the end of April it was one of the few chillier days we had. So my black leather jacket was hiding it for much of the time, and I seem to remember wearing cropped leggings underneath to keep me warm.

There was no need for thermals this weekend as the reception was all inside (thank goodness)! All the dress needed was a clutch bag – I went for a different shade of leopard – and comfy heels. These crossover mules were gifted to me at the beginning of last year and they are one of THE comfiest pairs of heels I own. I wore them all day on a boiling hot Chelsea Flower Show day back in May 2017, and feet were fine. Memory serves that they were about £150: pricey, but the quality and the soft leather means you certainly get what you pay for in the way of comfort.

Lastly, with regards to the post title, “What to Wear to a Wedding Reception as an Evening Guest”, I have a few tips. It’s certainly easier to dress for the evening do only, but as someone who believes in occasion-appropriate dressing (and is against age-appropriate dressing, grrrrr), I can suggest:

 

5 tips for what to wear to a wedding evening reception

• Avoid the floor-sweeping maxis and wear a dress you can dance in (so shorter is okay)
• With that in mind, keep it classy – this is someone’s wedding, not nighttime Ibiza!
• Think dressy: wear a fabulous piece of statement jewellery if your dress is plain, or let a pattern do the talking
• If you’re one for hitting the dancefloor, wear your hair up or off your face so it doesn’t bother you when dancing (you’ll be cooler that way too)
• Wear heels of course but try to wear comfortable ones – taking your shoes off isn’t a great look…!

Of course let me know if you have any other tips!

 

WHAT HAVE YOU WORN TO WEDDINGS THIS YEAR (ALL DAY OR EVENING ONLY)? COMMENT BELOW…!

Like this post? You might also like…

– All my wedding guest outfit posts

 

How to mix leopard and floral patterns

Of course what you can do is to mix them up whichever way you like – a leopard top with a floral skirt and vice versa, or even mix leopard with leopard and floral with floral. My best tip for mixing patterns so heavily like this is to always choose a floral that doesn’t have a white background – it needs to be either one all-over colour or have a dark background.

Leopard (nearly) always has black in it, so you need the black or something dark in the floral to tie them together. Too much white will look a bit odd..!