Help me dress for posh Denmark summer wedding

[RubyFatball]

I’m lucky to have been invited to the summer wedding of an old friend. Without giving too many outing details, she’s Danish, a top professional in her field, no kids, and is marrying into aristocracy (the wedding is at their family house in the Danish countryside, which resembles a stately home). She’s always been incredibly elegant, wafer thin with a capsule of beautifully chosen clothes in quality fabrics. Amazing hair, teeth, skin, very very little makeup.

Im usually found in jeans and boots but like to think I scrub up well. Stumped as to what to wear though. Don’t want to feel like a dumpy English broad among tall willowy athletic Danes. I definitely don’t want to look like I’ve tried too hard - ideally want to look like I dress up and go to insanely posh weddings all the time!

I also have no idea about what’s customary to wear for a wedding there, does anyone know?

Can anyone recommend where to start with an appropriate outfit for the event?

Do you have a budget? What kind of size/shape are you?

This sounds so much fun to dress for.

You could do worse than begin by looking at Danish designers:

https://www.russh.com/danish-fashion-brands/

(If it were me I would beg, borrow or steal something from Cecilie Bahnsen, as I’ve adored her clothes for years.)

Similar to the UK.

Long dresses are ‘in’.

Rixo is a good place to start. eg this is nice https://rixolondon.com/products/kaila-dress-layla-mix-navy

Or this is fabulous if you have the budget for it: rixolondon.com/products/meera-dress-ibiza-night-sunset

I used to live in Denmark and went to a few weddings there, including a ‘posh’ one - what I noticed is that Dane’s don’t dress up as much as brits do at weddings, so I’d be careful not to go too OTT

This is lovely https://www.theoutnet.com/en-gb/shop/product/cecilie-bahnsen/dresses/midi-dresses/giovanna-ruffled-cotton-poplin-midi-dress/46376663162961253

I'd do something put together like this:
www.mytheresa.com/gb/en/women/rotate-floral-embroidered-midi-dress-blue-p01133446

I like this. But you'd have to be the right sort of shape to pull it off.
Tell us more about your hight/shape/size/budget/colour and pattern preferences!
www.monsoon.co.uk/clemence-amelie-tie-front-floral-midi-dress-cream-1000515146.html?utm_content=nonbrand&nbt=nb%3Aadwords%3Ax%3A22973855187%3A%3A&nb_adtype=pla&nb_kwd=&nb_ti=&nb_mi=12198991&nb_pc=online&nb_pi=1000515146&nb_ppi=&nb_placement=&nb_li_ms=&nb_lp_ms=&nb_fii=&nb_ap=&nb_mt=&gad_source=1&gad_campaignid=22980094244&gclid=CjwKCAjw1N7NBhAoEiwAcPchp5MPEx9I7xWf8uqH7RTsHWR_k5R7QydoVT-l57y6O4dbAcCVN2jHpBoCZRUQAvD_BwE

What about this? Other silk dresses if the colour doesn't work for you? Will be cool and floaty in summer! https://www.wyselondon.com/products/lyra-silk-dress-berry-crush?_gl=1119axd2_upMQ.._gs*MQ..&gclid=CjwKCAjw1N7NBhAoEiwAcPchpzt0Syktyxc5yIqI8HAI6tedUrtkuhpAQ8cmrMyGHpXgDRIZmCtd_RoCe-gQAvD_BwE&gbraid=0AAAAACqaK2K1znZ89jVXY_O4C3ybdBh4L

Ask her. A Danish aristocracy wedding will be more posh than most Danish weddings.
Remember an umbrella.

Thanks for suggestions so far! I’m a UK 10-12 (hope closer to 10 by summer), all my weight is on my tummy, slim elsewhere. Medium length brown hair, brown eyes, medium tan (pending weather!)

@TemporarilyCantDoMyself thats lovely - I actually have a Marchesa Notte halter neck long gown, black tulle with appliqué flowers in spring colours - it’s beautiful, but I thought a bit OTT? This is simpler in shape and would probably work better.

@faithfultoGeorgeMichael lovely dress but not formal enough for a wedding I think.

I do love me a good Rixo dress as well! Will look up Celia Bahnsen…

Cecilie Bahnsen. (Though spellcheck regularly objects to her name!)

https://ceciliebahnsen.com/?srsltid=AfmBOooTvSnXoASEKvPXG-y00Xxdwi2sr0EcEBkD7rFyCTnOrWetrZDY

NB - the clothes are intended to be worn by all ages and shapes of women.

I would absolutely avoid any Danish designers - or any other Scandi brands! The possibility of someone wearing the same dress - or already owning it - is greatly multiplied surely?

It would be like a Danish woman deciding to wear a British designer to a UK wedding, & turning up in a Hobbs or LK Bennett dress ...

I'd probably wear something sleek and simple, like a satin midi dress

https://www.phase-eight.com/product/hallie-green-midi-dress-100127769316.html

www.stories.com/en-gb/product/cowl-neck-satin-midi-dress-dark-brown-1315870001/

I went to a Danish wedding several years ago, it was brilliant but also quite an experience!

The invite said “black tie” so my DH and his friends wore a tux to the ceremony (in a church). When we got there we realised that Danish people don’t dress up for the ceremony bit, so the British blokes looked like they were part of the wedding party…! There were even a few people in the church in jeans.

Everyone then went home / to their hotel and got dolled up for the reception. There was a real mix of outfits there but more akin to a relatively posh British wedding. I wore yellow nail polish and had quite a few people, who when introduced to me, saying “oh so you’re the girl with the yellow nails?”!!!

And this isn’t related to clothes but it’s good to know in advance: at a Danish wedding there are speeches between each course at the reception. Often more than one speech for each course, and there are many courses. It felt like everyone made a speech. Family, parents, friends, bride, groom. DH did one because it felt like there needed to be one from the British contingent (not planned, we had no idea about the speech thing till someone told us as we headed in to sit down).

Back to clothes, wear something British, stylish, classy and understated. You’ll have a great time.

I'm danish and would echo what a fee people have said that Danes do not dress up in the way brits do. I've seen wedding guests in Britain dressed up more than the bride in Denmark.

However for aristocracy this may be slightly different (would still expect less dressy than here though)

I'd keep it classic and simple maybe silk.
I'd maybe as your friend though

This season weddings have been so tough to buy for as everything seems to be white, black, brown, and navy in the shops.

But I recently went perusing and found a lot I liked at Alemais, Staud, Stine Goya, Desigual, and Realisation Par.

I love Wolf and Badger and they literally cover ALL bases in terms of different ages, sizes, styles, price brackets...

Something like this would look gorgeous for a summer wedding...

https://www.wolfandbadger.com/uk/viola-nude-embroidered-maxi-dress/

Or

https://www.wolfandbadger.com/uk/jade-maxi-dress/

Tbh it’s her wedding so you should be asking her what she wants you to be wearing

You think the bride should be personally responsible for every guest’s outfit? 😲

Surely unless there is a specific dress code included in the invitation, the wedding couple assume their friends and relatives will behave like grown ups and simply choose a nice outfit suitable for the time, season, and environment?

I have had a lot of help on this forum over the last 6 months pulling my style out of the 'leggings/ over size hoody' rut I was in.

But I had to click on that a few times, I genuienly thought she was in a dressing gown. Is this something you'd wear to a wedding? I would think you'd woken late and were looking for breakfast

What an exciting event to dress up for! I agree that Scandinavians tend not to be as dressy in general. We have Swedish family and the last wedding I went to there was very smart but also pretty heavy on the unstructured linen, with the bride in a beautiful, ethereal ivory lace gown. Of course everyone looked gorgeous on account of being Swedish.

However, maybe it will be different if it’s high society? If so, I think I’d lean into the British theme and go for Erdem. It’s an investment but you can’t go wrong with the dresses, they are amazing. I’ve got two and they’ve seen me through loads of smart weddings and posh summer events.

I like this https://erdem.com/products/floral-textured-satin-draped-midi-dress-aw26_d100_52699014

That's beautiful