When did it become common to wear evening dress for weddings?

[CoastalGrey]

Looking at the pics of Gordon Ramsay’s daughter’s wedding and there seems to be much less traditional wedding wear and more evening dress/black tie. I didn’t think that was usually a thing for daytime weddings - is it common among real people or just celebs?

I’ve got 2 weddings next year and while I’m not a pastel coat dress/pashmina/fasinator type of person I wouldn’t pull off a slinky satin number either!

Q. When did it become common to wear evening dress for weddings?

A. When they became American!
They regret that because of the laws they cannot have the ceremony in the garden or the house.

That's a fairly recent thing in Ireland (last 30 years). I like it - it makes sense to have everyone standing up and paying attention when the bride makes her entrance, as opposed to people in the pews still cracking jokes and getting elbowed in the ribs by more alert guests when the bride is half way to where the groom is standing.

I have mostly been to Jewish weddings but went to a C of E one this summer. It wasn't floral tea dresses but most women were in knee length or midi dresses. Not evening wear and thank heavens no morning suits for men. Men in just regular two piece suits for the most part with a tie, at least until the reception. It felt a little less formal than other weddings I've been to but then the venue for the reception was less formal (not a hotel or a country house) so it would have felt odd in a long silky frock.

All have been fun. I usually get a dress on eBay or vinted and then sell it on again after the wedding.

It never ceases to amaze me that British people know so little of the cultures of the UK, and ascribe everything unfamiliar to 'American' influence. Proms, Hallowe'en, 'Santa Claus' - all are sniffed at and deemed 'American'.

Dressing up in something other than a pastel summer frock and a hat for weddings is done - with no thought or nod whatsoever to America - in Scotland and NI (and the rest of Ireland too, though not part of the UK).

Sadly it’s the creep of American influence….

I don't care what anyone else wears to a wedding, but I would advise that British churches and stately homes are often very chilly in January, and this should be taken into account when planning an outfit.

Black tie denotes evening-wear. I’ve never been to a black tie wedding, but I gather they are popular in America. Must have been morning suit or smart casual. One was white tie.

Luckily both of the weddings I’m attending next year are in the summer and as far as I know not especially formal so I think it will be easier to find something suitable. What do people think about nice posh jumpsuits?

One of my colleagues got married a few weeks ago and he was in evening dress. I wondered if it was a winter thing when I saw people commenting on Adam Peaty's wedding - it didn't actually register when I saw my colleague's photos, I just thought he and his wife looked nice!

I wore a trouser suit to a friend's wedding 20 years ago, and a friend wore a trouser suit to my wedding.

Ok if you won't need the loo all day.

I was at a wedding yesterday. The dress code on the invite was “black tie”. Lots of evening dresses. Lots of cocktail dresses. All looked great to me.

Why can’t tug go to the loo wearing a jumpsuit? I never understand this. I wear them a lot. I manage perfectly fine thanks.

Jumpsuits are fine for a wedding. Lovely in fact @CoastalGrey

Most weddings I’ve been to are a range of dresses, men mainly in normal suits, some with ties, some not. I hope people do say on invites if it’s black tie as I would not assume that and don’t own any - and neither does my boyfriend!

Historically posh weddings were a late morning event followed by a meal and the dress code was morning tails. (Obviously non posh weddings were not as morning suits were expensive so it would be Sunday best instead.) Women's dress code would follow so Ascot/races/formal garden party to match the morning suit or Sunday best. Hats would have been normal as hats were worn on an everyday basis and certainly to church. Bride would normally then change to leave into a going away outfit.

Weddings are now so much more diverse with the widening of licenced venues - so you get late afternoon weddings in stately homes with formal evening meals/dances where the dress code is for the evening party rather than the late afternoon ceremony. You also get weddings in glamping sites and barns where the vibe might be long floaty dress aka Little house on the Prairie where the dress code is to match the venue.

In the 1970s and 80s when I was growing up most wedding ceremonies were over and done by 2pm and then there was a formal sit down dinner and most were tails. That was a pain as it did mean you ended up buying a lot of garden party type outfits that you didn't wear that much. I've not been to so mainly tails weddings since other than cathedrals. I have been to a number of late afternoon weddings with Scottish dancing in the evening and those have been black tie (and a couple white). I prefer those as the dress code is much easier to deal with. I do like a woodland wedding but it makes the footwear tricky

But of a sweeping statement to say it's an American thing. I live in the states, been to 4 weddings this yr not one was black tie. My cousins daughters wedding in England was however black tie.

There’s been a lot of Americanisation of weddings: black tie instead of morning suits, bridesmaids preceding the bride down the aisle doing that weird stepping that American bridesmaids do, people writing their own vows. I think people just copy what they see in films.

Genuine question, what is the difference between a morning/afternoon outfit and evening wear? A smart/formal/fancy dress is a smart/formal/fancy dress to me. What attributes make it one or the other? I own one suit that I roll out for weddings. The last one I went to was in a stately home and was a real mix of women in suits, some in knee-length dresses with sleeves, some in maxi silk/satin slip dresses with spaghetti straps and one person in a jersey skater dress and hello kitty converse (an adult). So clearly these people also like me can’t tell the difference between morning or evening wear!

I wouldn’t wear a long dress to an afternoon or morning wedding. And my husband wouldn’t wear black tie until evening—unless we were told this was the code.

A morning suit for men’s is comprised of a tailed coat, a waistcoat, a shirt, patterned or striped trousers (usually a lighter grey) and a tie.

Black tie (aka semi-formal evening wear) is a usually-black suit including a jacket with satin lapels and trousers with a satin seam down the sides, a shirt with a pleated front, a cummerbund and a bow-tie.

They’re totally different.

I meant womenswear but I don’t think I’ve seen either of these types of suits at any of the weddings I’ve been to in my life. Just bog standard off the shelf grey, black or navy suits, or chinos and a blazer

@Stompingupthemountain - here you go - the whole lot explained.

https://debretts.com/etiquette-category/events-and-dress-codes/

Morning dress - men in tailcoats, a contrasting waistcoat, top hat and striped trousers. Women day dresses (think Ascot or garden party) or skirt suit and hat.

Black tie - glamorous, full length dresses in brighter or darker colours, men in a tuxedo and bow tie. Hats not required.

I wore a spectacular, even if I do say so myself, full length black dress to my son's wedding. It was black tie and the ceremony was outside as the sun went down over the mountains. I did have a bit of angst about the black dress part but my DIL was fully on board so it was ok. It felt, weirdly, so much more the part than if I'd gone for a dress and a hat.

What's sad here is the assumption that something you don't like is American, and the boldness in typing it and posting it.

Most English weddings I’ve been to have a break between the daytime and evening reception, with an outfit change into evening wear in between. In Scotland they tend to go straight through with no break, so one outfit only. Admittedly I haven’t been to one for a while so maybe things are changing. I quite like the more glamorous look.