A breezy, beachy blue from Laila Azhar!

We’re almost to June, the biggest wedding month of the year, so it’s time to take another pass at wedding guest fashion.  While there are a few rules that are consistently safe for any wedding (don’t flash too much skin, don’t wear white), we all know that there are as many different kinds of wedding venues and dress codes as people can come up with.  (Star Trek wedding, anyone?)  Today we’ll tackle the beach wedding.

A beach wedding frees you up to be a little more relaxed with your fashion than a ceremony involving St. Patrick’s Cathedral, but you still want to look nice, and I mean that both in a “you look nice today” sense and in a “what a nice girl you are” sense.  If it’s a wedding, there’s a good chance someone’s grandparents will be there, so if you would hesitate to wear something in front of your own grandparents, it’s probably a good sign that you shouldn’t be wearing it to a wedding.  You may take pride in being a fashion-forward full-out vixen, but if you’re showing that off at a wedding, it had better be your own!

So, some general guidelines.  If you’re on the beach, keeping the weather in mind is key.  Yes, the beach is a good place for wearing breezy dresses, but frankly, the beach is also often quite breezy in a literal sense.  If you don’t want to spend the entire ceremony fighting with the folds of your dress, you might want to keep the amount of fabric involved under control. You may also want to give serious thought to bringing a cover up for practical reasons.  As mentioned, the beach can get breezy, and if you’re in a temperate zone, it’s possible for things to get a little chilly even in the summer.  If you’re in a tropical zone and are at all prone to burning, sitting out in the sun for the duration of the ceremony could get hazardous to your shoulders even if you’re wearing sunblock.  Bringing a light wrap never hurts.  Fresh, light colors are always a safe call — dark colors and heavy satins may look out of place at a back yard wedding, but they look flat out silly at the beach.  And shoes?  Well, we won’t cover that today, but do bear in mind that there’s likely to be a lot of sand!

So, here are some picks for beach weddings.  I’d like to note that I am generally of the opinion that if a dress doesn’t at least brush the top of the knee or come close, it’s probably too short for a wedding, regardless of the venue.  You’ll notice that some of these (like the one above) are shorter than that on the model.  I tend to assume that pretty much all of these models are taller than I am and taller in fact than most women, and that the dresses will probably be a little longer on me than they are in the picture.  (That usually works out pretty well when I order.)  If you’re especially tall, though, some of these dresses may be pushing it a little bit.

Half the fun of a summer wedding at the beach, in my opinion, is getting to wear fun, summery colors like the sky blue at top.  Here are a few with a beachy color and some cute detailing to keep things interesting.

Easy flowing ruffles with contrast piping at the neck; from Black Halo. Also available in melon/leaf at Neiman Marcus.

Love the stud detailing! The studs and the pleats at the neck keep the dress interesting and flattering. From Nanette Lepore.

A summer beach wedding can also be the perfect time for a tropical print, in a tailored silhouette to keep you from looking like you’re at a luau.  A couple of my favorites:

A beachy print from Trina Turk; also in cerulean.

Gorgeous summery colors and thin straps from Nanette Lepore.

So put on the sunblock, toss on one of these gorgeous dresses, and say hello to the waves for me!

Tags: Black Halo, Fashion, Laila Azhar, Nanette Lepore, Trina Turk, Weddings

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 11:45 am and is filed under Pint of Lagerfeld. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.