My wife and I have been invited to the wedding of our Swiss friends tomorrow (I know, it is a bit late to ask). My wife is not keen on wearing a dress like in the UK weddings. Is it acceptable if she turns up in a smart office attire, (say, a skirt and a matching jacket). Or will the fellow Swiss guests look as though we are completely out of minds.

Any quick help is much appreciated.

Jeans. You'll end up in a field afterwards

Ha!!! What a great reply!!!! That actually happened to us once. I wore a gorgeous elegant white skirt/top outfit with (very) high heels & off we went to the wedding. We followed directions, to what I expected to be a 'country residence', only to arrive at a paddock with horses & the whole bit!!!

My advise would be to wear something smart that you're both comfortable in. Not necessarily jeans, but not a glam dress for your wife....unless of course it's a promi Wedding!

Have fun & let us know if it was in a paddock after all!!

Thanks Lob. I was looking for ideas to help us stay in the Church, not in a field nearby

Having been to Swiss weddings and known people who have drove my answer. Looks like JAPP has had the experience too.

Looking forwards to your report on Monday

It's kinda hard to tell without any background information, but at a typical swiss wedding she should be fine with a skirt, matching jacket and a nice blouse.

Wear whatever makes you feel comfortable and prepare to have a great time. I've been to many Swiss weddings and immensely enjoyed all of them. On the whole there's very little pomp or bling, a distinct difference to the UK/Irish ones I was used to, where everyone spends thousands and only has fun once they're drunk. Wear shoes you can dance in

My wife ended up with a smart office attire, but the crowd was quite mixed - few in dresses, some in suits, some in jeans and some in shorts so short that I thought they turned up in their underpants for the wedding.

I turned up in a suit with a matching carnation (although funnily enough, no one else apart from the groom had a carnation)

The weather was fantastic and we had a great time.

Many thanks for all your suggestions!!

Im bumping this as i dont want to create a new topic (and being told later that i dont use the search function:P)

So im going in a wedding next week and i have no idea what to wear. I guess jeans are out of the question and also black dresses are out. A suit (if i can find anything that is!) is appropriate? I live in Geneva by the way so dont recommend me stores somewhere else :P

Also, the only person i will know there is the friend i will be going with. Is there any etiquette i need to follow or my job is to stand next to him and look cute?

Thanks

Swiss weddings really do seem to be mixed affairs when it comes to dress. You will see some people really dressed up like they do in the UK with suits and dresses on but most people will go for an in between smart outfit, top and skirt or more casual suit if they are a man. You will most likely see people in jeans and T-shirt too. You hardly ever see ladies in a hat here. So probably just go in what you feel most comfortable in and remember you will probably end up in some photos!

Be prepared to wear a name badge. And there will probably be some sort of organised games either just for fun or designed so that people can get to know one another.

Hope that helps.

Mairi

formal suits and fancy dresses are fine for that.


Now if it's a themed ceremony.......

@ gata : just stay with your friend if you know nobody else.

Hi All! Reviving this thread...
Hubby & I were invited to his officemate's afternoon wedding (4pm) this sat. and I'm at a loss for what the proper attire is. Ceremony is at a city hall and something called a "vin d'honneur" (cocktails?) in the town restaurant thereafter.

From what I've read in the previous posts here I should expect these ceremonies to be less formal than I'm used to and I would ordinarly tend towards a cocktail dress, BUT given that I freeze quite easily , I'm wondering if it's not too much to wear a long heavy silk dress (length until the ankles).

Otherwise, is it fine for women to wear black to a swiss wedding? I have a dressy short dress, but in a wool-like material so it's warmer. Sorry for the excruciating detail on this, but would really appreciate your advice! Thanks

i have worn black to two swiss weddings so far. in greece this is really not usual, so the second time i asked the bride before if wearing black was alright with her and it was, as even her bridemaids were wearing black!

Thanks for the quick reply Crimson!
And in the weddings did you also notice guests (ones not part of the entourage) in long gowns or were majority of the ladies in skirts+blouse or cocktail dresses?

there were some ladies in long gowns but -as far as i can recall- they were not the majority. as others said previously, it seems to be quite mixed!
was there a dresscode in the invitation?

Yea, unfortunately no dress code was mentioned in the invite

well, then wear whatever you feel comfortable (and warm!) in! although i agree that if you are not invited to the dinner afterwards (and only the apero after the ceremony) the long dress might be too formal. i would wear the black warm dress if i was you...with a pair of nice high heels!

To my utter surprise I found out that in Swiss, unlike all other european countries, they have no protocol. I have been to one Swiss wedding and turned out in a normal three quarters dress only to find out that all the other girls were in JEANS!

Now I myself am marrying a Swiss and it's terrible... no one has an idea of basic wedding attire. They have no idea that a bridal car is required, nor that bridesmaids dress the same and that the colour and style is chosen BY the bride and chosen from a bridal shop (even though bridesmaid dresses are inexistent in Switzerland cos they usually just tell the bridesmaid to turn up in anything as long as its in the same general colour), AND not even the father of the groom thought it was obvious to turn up in a suit, not the mention having a sense of uniformity in the dress code of close family members!

So dress down as much as you can and maybe you can fit in the crowd! Frankly Swiss weddings are unamusing and the only focus is on drinking and playing games!

What is a wedding about?

Like the average 15000 squids in debt because of wedding day? Must say all the pomp and circumstance is a bit overrated imho.
Perhaps there is a good balance to be found somewhere? But you need to explain to your OH's family that it is important to you, because of your traditions, to make an effort for the occasion. Bet you can beat wearing a bloody theatre gown and drip- as I did, 2 days after a serious car accident.
Hope you enjoy the day.