What To Wear To An Outdoor Wedding
Colin Dempsey
Table of Contents
Weddings are stressful. With all the factors that could make or break the event, planning one might feel like a trapeze circus act combined with an Olympic balance beam.
In-laws, the weather, catering, the reception, the DJ, and your disorderly friends from college can all ruin what is meant to be the most important day of your life.
That is if you’re the one getting married. If you’re part of the wedding party—or even better, an invitee—then you get to sit back and frequent the open bar as much as you please. The only thing you need to worry about is what to wear to an outdoor wedding.
You don’t want to upstage everyone who dumped thousands of dollars into looking their absolute best when all eyes are on them, but you also don’t want to look like you’ve never been to a social gathering.
So, you’ll want to keep reading to find out what you should what to an outdoor wedding. You’ll learn about some outfit ideas and styling tips for men and women, clothing for all seasons, and even a few mistakes you’ll want to avoid making.
What Is An Outdoor Wedding?
Outdoor weddings are more volatile than indoor weddings because there’s less that you can control. For one thing, you have to take the weather into consideration.
That’s easier said than done because most people book their weddings months in advance. How are you supposed to know if it’s going to rain six months from now?
Geographic location matters much more for outdoor weddings as well. That’s why so many people go to tropical islands or countries with consistent weather patterns. Nobody goes to Nunavut to tie the knot.
It’s not always bad weather either. Getting married on a beach is much different than getting married in a forest. Each occasion requires a different mindset when choosing the best outfit.
However, none of these issues means it’s impossible to choose what to wear to an outdoor wedding.
What To Wear To An Outdoor Wedding
The upcoming outfit ideas should be taken as templates instead of laws. Study the photos and learn about what makes each outfit work, then see how you can apply those concepts to your own wardrobe.
You may not even need to buy anything new if you understand what to wear to an outdoor wedding.
3 Outfit Ideas For An Outdoor Wedding Men
Many people think that the question ‘What should a man wear to an outdoor wedding?’ can be answered simply by recommending a light suit. While they’re not wrong, that’s quite a narrow view.
Below, we’ve included some inspiration for guys who want good wedding outfits for men ideas.
This outfit is good if you aren’t sure what to wear to an outdoor casual wedding. The dark blue tones of the blazer and pants are classy but less formal than a tuxedo. You don’t need to wear a light blue shirt underneath but it complements the other hues well.
If you don’t like the light blue shirt then a white one will do just as well. Since this is a full suit you might not want to wear it during the summer unless it’s made of thin and breathable material.
Next up is our ideal outfit for what to wear to an outdoor winter wedding. You’ll notice that this outfit ditches the suit entirely.
You’re likely going to be cold and wearing layers over your suit anyway, so there’s no point in making that the focal point of your attire.
Instead, consider pairing a long overcoat with a textured pair of pants. The overcoat should be relatively formal. No ski jackets or leather trench coats here, ‘90s kids. Wool is the best material and a strong collar will make it that much more formal.
Onto the pants—you should opt for a well-textured pair. They’ll provide warmth and give your outfit a subtle flair that’s often lost when we dress for winter. Think of materials like corduroy but stay away from leather. That’s a tad too casual for an outdoor wedding.
Here’s one of our bolder outfits for men who are trying to figure out what to wear to an outdoor wedding. It goes against traditional fashion advice by featuring contrasting tones, patterns, colors, and materials….and we love it.
It’s the best way to stick out without going fully avant-garde. However, there is logic to this outfit. The items each have a matching pair.
Obviously, the belt and the shoes match, which is a must for any man’s wedding attire, but the shoes also match the plaid blazer’s colors.
The brown tie works well with the earthy tones in the blazer and the blue pants tie it all together. If the pants were black then it’d come off as too dark of an outfit, but their intentional deviation from the color scheme is this outfit’s X-factor.
You’ll want to consider an outfit like this if you’re thinking about what to wear to an outdoor fall wedding. It has multiple layers that you can strip off if it gets too hot without disrupting the outfit’s harmony. Plus, nothing screams fall more than red, brown, and grey.
3 Outfit Ideas For An Outdoor Wedding Women
Now, let’s talk about what to wear to an outdoor wedding if you fall on the feminine end of the spectrum. We could spend this entire section telling you what dresses to wear to a wedding, but not everyone enjoys dresses.
On that note, have you ever worn a dress in the middle of winter? Unless you’re Olga from The Northman, we don’t recommend it.
Let’s continue on with some winter wedding outfit inspiration. We wanted to provide you with an example that showed how you can play with shapes and sizes—especially since you’ll probably spend most of a winter wedding in a jacket.
This pantsuit is an against-the-grain pick for a wedding outfit for women, but that’s why we love it. The wide legs can allow you to wear warm layers underneath if the weather is truly that brutal.
You can also toy with the pantsuit’s material. Choose a thicker fabric if you want more protection or thinner material if you want a free-flowing appearance.
What’s key to this outfit’s success is the jacket. We’re particularly fond of draping it over your shoulders and letting the sleeves run beside you. This matches the jacket’s width with that of the pants.
Your silhouette will look more relaxed, too, which is what this outfit is going for.
Cocktail dresses are the go-to choice if you’re stuck wondering what to wear to an outdoor summer wedding. They’re light and airy so you shouldn’t get too sweaty even if the wedding is atop the Marina Bay Sands in Singapore.
It’s also a one-piece wedding outfit for women. Accessories can improve it but a good cocktail dress is usually enough on its own.
That’ll be the case if you choose a dress like the one in the photo. It has a cute shape and a subtle design, negating the need for accessories to carry the outfit.
You could also choose a more vibrant dress with an ornate pattern or bright colors. It would work just as well and function even better with minimal accessories.
Our takeaway is that cocktail dresses work best as minimalist outfits for summer weddings.
You know that we had to include an entry for our readers who want to know what to wear to an outdoor wedding where The Cure’s “Disintegration” plays on loop. If black is the fashion requirement then this dress fits the bill.
We’re aware that this dress has an unconventional shape but we like how it defies tradition. It’s long, wide, and proud.
Normally, those attributes could come off as trying too hard if they were on a more colorful dress, but since this item is pitch black, they shine.
Additionally, pairing it with a black pair of heels or boots will complete the outfit. You can also wear some jewelry like a silver necklace or earrings like the one the model is wearing if you want to add depth to the ensemble.
What Type Of Outdoor Wedding Outfits Can You Get?
Wedding outfits are much less restrictive for guests than they are for the bride and groom. Guys don’t have to stick to formal suits and girls don’t have to stick to dresses.
Neither of these options are bad ideas, though. We actually recommend opting for them if you really don’t know what to wear to an outdoor wedding.
However, we want you to recognize that the outfit spectrum is much broader than wedding suits for men and gowns for women.
How To Choose The Best Outdoor Wedding Outfit
There are a few ways to limit how much thought you need to put into what to wear to an outdoor wedding. These include:
- Renting a suit from a tailor
- Purchasing one outfit you can always wear
- Paying a stylist to help you
- Skipping the wedding
We’re joking about the last entry, but many people don’t want to put much thought into what they’re going to wear. Here are some considerations to keep in mind so that you can take more control over what you wear to an outdoor wedding.
Firstly, know your budget. You can definitely purchase capsule pieces that you can fall back on in a pinch, and in those cases, we recommend spending a bit more money since you’ll be wearing them so much.
However, if you have the budget, then it might be worth it to buy a few new items and take them for a spin. This leads us to the next point to consider: the design.
You’ll want a wedding outfit that looks good as a whole. That means picking pieces that complement one another and that have a purpose on their own.
Next, think about the fabric of your outfit. There’s nothing worse than ripping your dress at a wedding with over 300 guests—except for sweating your fake tan away because you decided to wear a jacket that’s too thick to your friend’s fall wedding.
That’s why a garment’s material is so important when selecting a wedding outfit. A suit might look good, but its shoddy material could stop you from fully enjoying the wedding.
How To Style An Outdoor Wedding Outfit
We’ve given you some solid principles about how to choose what to wear to an outdoor wedding but we wanted to elaborate on those concepts. An outfit isn’t so much about the individual pieces as it is about how you use them.
So here are a few tips to help you style your fits:
- Wear accessories like jewelry, watches, handbags, or hair clips to add some intrigue to your outfit
- Choose which shoes you want to wear, then plan the rest of your apparel. Shoes can make or break an outfit so it’s easiest to consider them from the outset
- Add a neutral color layer like a white undershirt or a black jacket to balance your outfit
Fashion Tips To Avoid With Outdoor Wedding Outfits
Nobody wants to commit a fashion faux-pas at a wedding because that’s where we’re supposed to look our best. It’s important to know what to wear to an outdoor wedding but it may be even more valuable to know what not to wear.
Obviously, casual attire or athletic apparel should stay as far away from weddings as possible. This includes sneakers, yoga pants, T-shirts, and anything else you’d wear to the gym.
Here’s something else you’ll want to keep in mind: consider what the bridal party is planning on wearing. We doubt you’d show up in the wedding gown as the bride, but you don’t want to wear a similar dress to the one that the bridesmaids are wearing.
It’ll look tacky on both of your ends and destabilize the relationship between the wedding party and the bride.
Finally, even if a wedding has a relaxed dress code, that doesn’t mean ‘revealing.’ We’re all for positivity here, but there’s a time and place for everything. Tight, sleeveless muscle shirts and crop tops are great, we love them, but they’re not made for weddings.
An easy way to circumvent that is by bringing an extra layer that you can wear atop your outfit at the ceremony. Wedding receptions are always more relaxed than the ceremony itself and people tend to let loose there.
You can flaunt your goods at the reception, but a nice blazer will do wonders in terms of formality.
Best Places To Buy Outdoor Wedding Outfits
Technically, you can buy wedding outfits at any fine clothing store, but it can be hard to buy single items when you don’t have an entire outfit already envisioned.
In those cases, we recommend stores like these to help you put together a complete outfit—rather than throwing together separate pieces:
- Large department stores like Macy’s or Nordstrom
- Professional tailoring stores like Moore’s
- Wedding gown and dress stores like BHLDN
Final Thoughts
There aren’t many hard rules about what to wear to an outdoor wedding. You’ll always want to consider factors like weather and location because they’ll determine what you can and can’t wear more than any dress code.
Even within those limits, there are still plenty of ways that you can express yourself. We hope you’ve learned that, with a little patience and planning, there are so many ways you can stand out even at the most restrictive of weddings.
Looking to up your fashion game? We’ve got you covered:
What to Wear to a Formal Wedding
