Black tie wedding reception?

Question

I have received a wedding invite for the service followed by a black tie reception. What kind of dress should I buy? Does it have to be black?

Answer 1

At a black tie reception, Women should dress in formal dresses, usually floor length.

It is always best to err on the side of caution and over dress rather than over dress.

There is a long standing tradition of not wearing black at a wedding, as you don't want to look like you are attending a funeral. You should also avoid white or cream.

Answer 2

A Black Tie invitation calls for formal attire. Men wear tuxedos, women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
Formal usually means the same as Black Tie, but in some trendier cities like New York or Los Angeles, it could mean a black shirt, no tie with a tux. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.
A Black Tie Optional or Black Tie Invited gives you the option of wearing a tuxedo or formal dress, but it should clue you into the formality of the event, meaning a dark suit and tie would be your other option. Women wear cocktail, long dresses or dressy evening separates.

Answer 3

A nice dress, long and not too bright. A neutral colour but make sure that its a formal dress. Only men have to wear the black suit with the tie.

Answer 4

NO black dresses. That's the utimate etiquette faux pas at weddings.

A Black tie dressing code requires you to wear a gown or a dress.

A long or mid-calft lenght formal dress would do. No white, no black, no suits or pant suits.


For the ceremony you may want to wear something to cover your shoulders in the church or wear a suit and then change for the reception.

Good luck

Answer 5

Black tie means that its formal. Ideally you want a cocktail dress or similar. There are loads of prom dresses around at the moment that would be perfect. Try Debenhams, they always have a good selection.

Alternatively, get a little black dress and dress it up with some metallic accessories.

Whatever you get, don't get white or cream!

Answer 6

It of course hasn't got to be black but pretty formal, cocktail dress minimum, probably majority will be long dresses. Unsure if it is different in US but it's nonsense you shouldn't wear a black, white, cream dress. With the latter you will never take away from a bride on her weddng day and at present black is very much the 'in' colour at wedding, saw lots of black bridesmaids dresses when shopping recently.

Answer 7

black tie means, men must be in black tie, and females need to be dressed in formal attire. So as a female you would need to purchase a gown, formal attire. Good luck and have a great time at the wedding reception. God bless****

Answer 8

Your dress does not have to be black, in fact, it can be any color of the rainbow you wish it to be (obviously except white or ivory). It must be a nice Formal dress, nothing too low cut or trashy. You could wear either heels or flats (depending on how tall you are) But make them classy. Depending on your style, you could dress this up by having a french twist for your hairstyle, and wearing pearls (earrings, necklace and bracelet). If you cannot afford to buy expensive jewelry after investing in such a lovely gown, you can make them. Look on ebay for akoya pearls and buy a strand of 60.. Use your imagination. Hope I helped!

Answer 9

I had a black tie wedding. The female guests wore cocktail dresses, in the main, in an array of colours. Just think eveningwear - it certainly doesn't have to be black, in fact, it'll look nicer if it's not (our photos are fantastic - there's not a man alive who looks bad in tuxedo, and all the women went to lots of effort too)

Answer 10

For women black tie translates to black garter. You are taking the term to literally. Just dress nice and wear stiletto shoes.