Cold Weather Wedding Guest Dresses: Tips to Balance Warmth & Joy

You are invited to a winter wedding, and wondering about cold weather wedding guest dresses? If that’s the case, spend some minutes reading this post, and then you will know what type of wedding attire for women you should opt for! Is it best to appear in your cold weather wedding guest dresses, jumpsuits, classic suits, or other types of outfits? Find out the answer below! 

Cold weather wedding guest attire

Cold Weather Wedding Guest Dresses

From formal to casual, simple, and short winter wedding guest dresses, the suggestions are all below here for you to see; let’s take a look.

Formal winter wedding guest dresses

For formal weddings, consider a draped style in black, burgundy, or another rich hue. A sequined style or an embellished look might also be what you want to opt for.

With the long length and heavy fabrics, these cold weather winter wedding guest outfits will also help you stay warm throughout the event.

 A beautiful dress in sequins

A long-sleeve faux wrap dress made from velvet

A black mini with a high neck, long puff sleeves & mixed lace pattern 

An elegant satin gown with flutter sleeves

Casual winter wedding guest dresses

So, what’s for a casual winter wedding? A good suggestion here is to opt for dresses, giving your outfit a smart but relaxed feel. 

A simple wrap dress or a shift dress with long sleeves can make a great option. Adding a pretty basic print, like florals can make your attire have an easygoing feel, even on a cold winter day.

Below are some fantastic winter wedding guest dresses casual:

A midi dress with a floral print

A long sleeve black flared skater dress

A long sleeve lace mini dress for daytime winter weddings

A black shirt dress with tiered ruffles for a casual winter wedding

These are some suggestions for cold weather wedding guest dresses. But wait, if you don’t like wearing dresses, what should you choose to wear to a winter wedding? The answer will be provided in the upcoming section.

What to Wear to a Winter Wedding if You Don’t Like Dresses?

Dresses aren’t the only cold weather outfits for women to a winter wedding as a guest. Instead of cold weather wedding guest dresses, consider a suit or a jumpsuit. 

Both of them can also make appropriate outfit options for weddings, especially winter weddings. 

To ensure your perfectly polished and stylish look, forget the suits that you often wear to the office and select something more daring and exciting. 

Suits are never boring if you know how to dress them perfectly. Consider pairing them with high heels and bold, stylish jewelry to complete your look. 

You can wear suits or jumpsuits to a winter wedding

What to Consider When Choosing a Cold Weather Wedding Guest Outfit?

To pick the right winter wedding guest dresses clothes, you need to consider a wide variety of factors, including the formality of the event, the location, and more. 

The formality of the event

For an upscale winter wedding or a black-tie wedding, a formal outfit such as a floor-length dress with long sleeves is what you should choose to wear. 

However, if the wedding is more of a casual atmosphere, then go for a more casual look. You would look overdressed if wearing something so formal in a wedding with a kind of laid-back atmosphere, right? 

So, a knee-length dress or other cold weather wedding guest dresses that offer a casual look are all okay. 

The best way to determine whether you should dress formally, less formally, or even casually is to take a look at the wedding invitation that you’ve received. 

There might be a dress code, such as black-tie, formal, semi-formal attire, or any other, included in the invitation. That code will give you a guideline on what to wear. 

For a black-tie wedding, a formal outfit is what you should wear 

The weather

If winter weather in your area is so cold, you will want to dress for warmth. Be sure that your wedding guest outfit keeps you warm and comfortable without sacrificing style. 

When it comes to what to wear to a winter wedding as a guest, a warm winter coat might be an indispensable item for you. 

But if you are in a warmer place or the wedding seems to be on a warm winter day, a sweater or shawl might be enough to keep you warm. So, don’t forget to check the weather forecast to have the best preparation.

The colors of your attire

The next thing to consider here is the color palette. To determine what color to wear to a wedding, be sure to carefully look at the wedding invitation since it might have clues for you.

For a winter wedding, popular colors to wear are deep or darker colors such as hunter green, navy, deep browns, blacks, maroons, and others. Good color choices for a formal wedding are often metallics like golds, silvers, or coppers.

Consider the color and fabric of your attire, too

The fabric of your attire

Your fabric choice also matters since it will not only keep you warm in cold weather but also have a bit to do with the event’s formality. Options like satin, lace, or even velvet are quite common for winter weddings, especially if the weather is cold. 

So, consider opting for cold wedding guest outfits that have these types of fabrics. 

What Not to Wear for a Winter Wedding?

When attending a wedding, no matter if it's a winter or summer wedding, a formal or casual event, there’s always a set of dress code rules generally applied to almost all celebrations. 

Below are a few common rules that you should know:

Do not wear white

How to dress for cold weather? Don't wear white or cream colors to a wedding, unless you are instructed or specifically requested by the couple. There are a lot of color choices other than white for you to choose from, so keep your options open. 

Do not wear white to a wedding

Consider cold weather wedding outfits with simple patterns and soft colors that look pretty but not over-the-top.

Note that even dresses and outfits that are white with a print overlaid are not the choice. If most of the pattern on the attire doesn’t wash the white-out, you shouldn't wear it.

Stick to the dress code

Stick with the dress code no matter whether or not it is your style because it’s the couple’s special day. So, make sure to keep the wedding invitation on hand and follow the guidelines provided when deciding what to wear to the wedding.  

If the dress code is black-tie, you will want to stick with formal outfits. But for a smart casual wedding, as the name suggests, you will want something more casual for sure. 

Stick to the dress code no matter what

Don’t be underdressing 

Even if the dress code is not black-tie, try not to underdress when you attend a wedding. Unless it was stated that jeans are okay for the wedding, you should not wear them. Also, t-shirts and sneakers are inappropriate to wear as a wedding guest.

Instead of too casual outfits, you will find casual cold weather wedding guest dresses more appropriate.

Avoid attire that’s too revealing

There will be many other guests attending the wedding, so you should always keep your attire classy. 

Don’t dress like you are heading to a nightclub. A too-revealing outfit will attract negative attention from the people around. And it also takes the attention away from the bride on her special day.

Related:

• Best time to have a winter wedding

• Best places to have a winter wedding

Wrapping up

As you can see, cold weather wedding guest dresses are only one of many options for women to wear to a wedding in the winter. Though dresses are great outfit choices, jumpsuits and suits are also good options if you don’t want to wear a dress. And that’s all for today’s post, we hope you liked it and found helpful guidelines via this article.