European wedding conundrum... what to wear?

July 9, 2018 9:58 AM

I'm going to a wedding in the Black Forest region of Germany this weekend, what should I wear? The wedding's at a church, reception at an historic brewery. No dress code mentioned anywhere that I can find. Its supposed to be in the low 80s F (29 C) and I'm guessing not air conditioned. I need to wear a maxi dress due to mountain-biking bruises on my legs. I've got this black and white print (pros: cool, cons: too casual? will wrinkle when packed, need special bra) or this printed high neck number (pros: won't wrinkle, regular bra, more formal, cons: hot) Are either of these likely to be appropriate??
posted by genmonster to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (13 answers total)

I think either one would be fine for what you described as long as you wore a shawl, shrug or bolero to cover your shoulders. Will you be able to borrow an iron when you're there? If so, I'd bring the black and white one with an appropriate shoulder covering--if the other dress is hot, it'll be uncomfortable to wear something over it.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:11 AM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Also, I'm assuming by special bra you mean strapless--if you're wearing something that covers the spaghetti straps, you may not need the special bra.
posted by hurdy gurdy girl at 10:13 AM on July 9, 2018

The church will not be airconditioned, but it won't be hot. I've never been in any European church that got hot. The walls are too thick and the roof is too high.
posted by Too-Ticky at 10:17 AM on July 9, 2018 [7 favorites]

Second one for sure. If the wedding/reception is in the evening, will it still be 80/29 degrees?You will want a pashmina or wrap; it should be easy enough to find in a solid color that picks up one of the colors from the dress.
posted by Liesl at 10:17 AM on July 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

My wife and I attended a wedding in Austria a few years ago, right around this time of year. Despite the heat, she was made to know that she would need something covering her shoulders in the (Catholic) church. (Other than that, things were very relaxed.) Both of the dresses you linked to would be great.
posted by notsnot at 10:31 AM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

The second one. And yes do bring something to cover your shoulders in church. Assuming the building is old, it may even be cold.
The b/w is too casual imo ( 53 yr old Austrian).
I also would wear “proper“ sandals, not the kind worn in the photo.
posted by 15L06 at 10:43 AM on July 9, 2018 [3 favorites]

Will the other guests be wearing tracht? Maybe ask because then you might choose something Tracht like?
posted by catspajammies at 11:14 AM on July 9, 2018 [1 favorite]

Nthing covering your shoulders in the church, so: pashmina or cotton wrap scarf. I'd wear the floral dress. It's much nicer (like, dressier while still being casual) and you are not going to be hot at an evening reception.
posted by DarlingBri at 11:27 AM on July 9, 2018

A bunch of my friends are going to a wedding in Munich this weekend. Those that aren’t in the bridal party (who have to wear lemon-yellow dirndls - challenging) are wearing dresses more similar in style and formality to the second dress. But you could probably get away with either as long as you style it out with pretty, formal sandals and a light (silk?) shawl. Maybe dangly earrings. Have a great time!
posted by Concordia at 12:19 PM on July 9, 2018

Yeah, definitely the second one. Germans tend to dress up for weddings; depending on the quality of your fabric you may still come across as very casual. To fancy it up, you can supplement with classy shoes, jewelry and a chique jacket for when it cools down in the evening (which it probably will).

As mentioned, if it‘s in the Schwarzwald region, a lot of people may default to wearing Tracht (Dirndl).
posted by Omnomnom at 12:21 PM on July 9, 2018 [2 favorites]

Oof that's warm! I LOVE the second dress, take along an elegant (faux) pashmina shawl (churches tend to get chilly) and you are good to go! Have fun!
posted by dostoevskygirl at 12:34 PM on July 9, 2018

I was at a wedding in Wales a fortnight ago with some German guests and one of the German women (professional, 30ish) wore an empire line maxi dress, with wrap at the church, without at the reception. Looked very smart, seemed acceptable.
posted by biffa at 1:24 PM on July 9, 2018

Response by poster: Thanks for the input guys! While I suspect I would look awesome in a Dirndl, I decided to go with a different, shorter dress that covers my shoulders.
posted by genmonster at 5:14 PM on July 9, 2018