Wedding dress codes get specific with 'guest color palettes,' a trend on the rise (2024)

Abby Bierowski remembers strolling around Brick Gables in Lititz, picturing what her wedding reception would look like there. “I just kind of envisioned this fall palette — very rich colors and amber tones,” she says. That placid image was jarringly interrupted by memories of weddings she’d previously attended.

“I had been to several where a few guests would wear a lime green dress or something like that,” she says. “While it would look great on the person, if they happened to be in a dance photo — or something like that — unless it was in black and white, it kind of ruined the aesthetic.”

So the Bierowskis — who met at Penn State University and are now both doctors and new parents living in Cherry Hill, New Jersey — requested that guests wear neutral tones to their October 2022 wedding. They joined the ranks of couples asking people to wear (or not wear) something specific.

Martha Stewart Weddings lists “guest color palettes” as one of “17 trends you’ll see everywhere in 2024.” The magazine puts it right up there with oyster bars and fancy zero-proof drink options for guests eschewing booze.

“While bridesmaids are getting more leeway with their attire, guests are being asked to consider a dress code,” notes that magazine.

Bierowski says she wanted guests to have ample attire options. Her invitations requested a “neutral palette” and directed folks to a website where 24 color blocks were offered as inspiration.

READ:New 'Bachelorette' season may feature Manheim man in dating pool

Even her bridesmaids wore fall-colored floor-length velvet dresses. Two were ones the women had worn in previous weddings. Other bridesmaids selected from dresses that Bierowski picked out on Poshmark and mailed to them to pick from. A quick scroll through the Bierowski photo gallery showed several guest ties and scarves that almost perfectly mirror the shade of at least one of those dresses.

Coordination is key

When Marietta photographer Jenna Carroll got married on New Year’s Eve several years ago, her guests wore black and white. That wasn’t a particularly common practice then, she says, but adds that it is now. She has a couple of weddings booked in November and December for which attendees are supposed to wear the same colors she requested of guests.

“They’ll usually communicate this upfront,” she says. “Whether it’s on a save-the-date or an invite, they’ll have details like, ‘Please come wearing these colors.’ ”

Carroll says attire requests are most popular during the holidays, although the spring and summer garden party trend is translating to an increasing number of people being asked to show up in florals.

“It’s very big in Philadelphia and it’s starting to get big around Lancaster County with a lot of the old estates that have more gardens,” she says. “It’s been around for maybe a year or two. But it’s really gaining momentum.”

She’s all about that kind of coordination.

“I love it. I think it’s more aesthetically pleasing,” Carroll says. “I’m a photographer so I do appreciate it from that aspect. I think for the bride and groom, they like it because they have a set standard and expectation for their guests.”

That was the case with Jessica and Alexander Hutton, a Maryland couple who Carroll photographed in November at Historic Acres of Hershey in Elizabethtown.

The invitation to their classy Christmas-themed day read: “Dress Code: Formal attire. No green velvet, deep red suits or full gold dresses please.” The bridesmaids, the groom and the moms wore those.

“I wanted my party and my people to stand out,” Jessica Hutton says. “I always hate when you go to weddings and you can’t tell who is in the wedding and who’s not.”

She says she did not want to get fancy with the invitation wording, even though she’d seen plenty of TikTok videos of couples who did.

“I didn’t want any confusion or questions,” she says. “I was direct. No this. No this. And that was that.”

READ:How to get sentimental treasures out of storage and into your decor

Keep it simple

Hailey Schaar, who grew up in Elizabethtown, also chose green dresses for her bridesmaids when she married Bradley McCauley, who grew up in Lititz. She didn’t have to worry about anyone showing up in a green dress that matched those, seeing how her guests were all asked to wear black to their October 2022 wedding.

“I think I just saw a post or a video on Instagram, most likely, saying you pay all this money for your photos and they don’t look put together because everyone’s in different colors,” Schaar says. “And it got me to thinking, that’s really not too hard of a request.”

Floor-length gowns and tuxes would have been hard for some family members, she adds.

“So I said it didn’t need to be black tie, just black,” she says. “Whatever you’re comfortable wearing.”

When people asked for more details, Schaar told them a button-down black shirt would be fine.

“Everyone wears black,” she says, adding that’s especially true for those who work, like she has, in salons. “A third of my guest count was hairstylists, so I knew that would be perfect for them.”

The results were worth it, she says.

“You didn’t have one person with a big floral thing and then a bright blue over here. … It all just kind of meshed together,” Schaar says. “Not everyone knew each other. But everyone could take a photo together.”

For anyone looking to follow suit, she recommends touching base with some guests.

“Because some of the older people … don’t look at websites. They just see the invitation and write down the date,” she says. “So I definitely followed up with a lot of people and ... any time I saw someone and they mentioned the wedding, I’d say, ‘Hey, make sure you wear black.’ ”

She says one family member opted not to dress per the memo.

“Everyone else did great,” she says. “Even the distant relatives and some people on my husband’s side who I never even knew. They all showed up in black.”

In part, that’s because she remembered her audience.

“If it seems too out of the ballpark — in my case black tie, long dresses, that kind of thing — keep it simple,” she says. “I have proof that it can turn out great in photos.”

Invite people you know will be willing to follow your requests, she suggests.

“Unless it’s like that one aunt who you just need to have there regardless,” Schaar says. “It’s your day. You do what you want. And if they have a problem with it, unfortunately they’re just not going to come.”

Bierowski says her guests were receptive. She thinks those specific color blocks on the website helped keep all but a few on the same page.

“I think someone wore a light lavender dress or something, which didn’t totally fit,” she says. “But, for the most part, everyone did it. No one came in a bright, lime green dress. And that was my goal.”