wedding 2025 | Getting Dressed

Getting Dressed

date posted: February 23, 2025

Photo by Oleksii Karavan.

Wedding gowns can be gloriously dramatic creations with fabulous floods of lace and rich brocade that make you feel like genuine royalty. The drawback is—and has always been—that they require you to maintain a demure, placid demeanor that can get pretty wearing over an 8 to 10 hour stretch. Once the ceremony is done, you want to be able to table-hop, eat, drink, and dance with joy and abandon—and pounds of precisely fitted white satin and lace can become an annoyance.

Photo by Love Me Do Photography.

Photo by Teresa Horgan Photography.

You don’t want to feel that way about a dress you dearly love! Enter the reception dress, one of many wedding hacks that sane couples have embraced. Your reception dress can show your loved ones your playful side, with a shorter hemline and easier fit, while keeping you feeling fabulous. A fine reception dress can also—unlike most bridal gowns—become a centerpiece of your special-occasion or night-on-the-town wardrobe.

Love the way you look in white lace? Check out the mini wedding dresses available these days, either as a reception option or to carry you through the whole day and on through the afterparty. Bridal minis are less expensive than full-length gowns and come in an endless variety of styles and fabrics.

Minis are also very “in” right now, which might sound good or might make you want to run away screaming. Remember, Rule One is to find a dress or dresses you love; and when in doubt on any other rule, refer back to Rule One. That said, some other cool things are very in right now: glowing silver beadwork, side slits, halter necklines, drop-waist corsets, and Basque-style waists, which flatter most shapes beautifully.

The joy of the reception dress is that it frees you to go as dramatic and formal with your ceremony dress as you like—living out your wildest fashion dream—whether that’s getting married in matching muumuus or rocking a lacy veil and a flowing train alongside a partner in a tailcoat.

Photo by Christina Victoria-Craft.

Photo by Tyler Tx.

Photo by Annie Spratt.

Photo by Love Me Do Photography.

accessories

Consider a crown adorned with seashells, flowers, pearls, or an heirloom brooch. A recent trend we love is for couples to loosely match their accessories, with, say, a crown of seashells for one and a seashell lapel pin for the other. Or consider matched bracelets or neckwear. The concept nicely underlines the point of the entire day.

shopping

Take a friend, or at most two, along for your wedding day outfit shopping; it should be someone who will offer honest feedback without trying to be the Big Boss. Try on styles you’ve never considered before. Look for the little details that add character: three-dimensional touches like flowers and applique, or subtle (or bold) geometric patterns.

free your attendants

Share the joy of liberation by giving your wedding attendants a color scheme and letting them make the rest of the choices involved. They don’t all have to match exactly to create a beautiful array; the smiles of people who are comfortable and confident are an accessory that can’t be bought