Winter wedding guest dresses for the church, the hall and the photographs outside

01

Dresses to wear to a winter wedding as a guest: sleeves first, then length

Start with the sleeves. A winter ceremony is often the coldest hour of the day, in a church or a register office where the coats come off, and a bare arm shows in every photograph taken afterwards. Five of the designs here are drawn with long sleeves, and the other four have short, elbow or cap sleeves that can be cut to the wrist instead. Because every dress is made to order, the sleeve you want is simply written into your quote.

Then the length. A hem at the calf or the ankle covers tights or boots, and a gown to the floor looks right at an evening reception in December. This is how the nine divide:

• Long sleeves as drawn: the Black Red Roses Frock, with roses down both sleeves to the cuff; the maroon frock, with long sheer sleeves trailed in gold; the emerald frock, with gold work from the shoulder to the wrist; the Emerald Rose Anarkali, with embroidered cuffs; and the long sleeve seamed maxi, slim to the wrist
• Sleeves to lengthen: the wine frock and the navy frock are drawn with short sleeves, the bottle green frock with elbow sleeves and the burgundy gown with cap sleeves of black lace. Each lists a different sleeve length among its own options, so ask for the wrist and it is confirmed in your quote
• To the floor or the ankle: the burgundy gown, the Emerald Rose Anarkali, the seamed maxi, which ends at the ankle as drawn
• At the calf: the wine, maroon, emerald, bottle green and black rose frocks are drawn to mid-calf, and the navy frock has a long, easy skirt; any frock can be cut longer, right down to the floor

02

Winter wedding guest dress colours: wine, burgundy, emerald, navy and black

Deep colours suit the season for a practical reason. Winter weddings happen under electric light, candles and camera flash far more than under the sun, and a saturated colour keeps its depth there where a pale one can wash out. A dark shade also forgives a splash of gravy or a damp hem at the end of a long evening. Which colours photograph well covers the camera side. On this page the colours are the ones each design is drawn in:

• Burgundy and wine: the burgundy gown, the darkest red here, and the wine frock with a large gold paisley panel across the chest and gold borders on the sleeves. Maroon, burgundy or wine tells the three apart, and the seamed maxi also comes in Burgundy
• Maroon: the maroon frock, with gold at the neck and in a trail down the bodice
• Emerald, forest and bottle green: the emerald frock with gold work, the Emerald Rose Anarkali, the seamed maxi in Forest green, and the bottle green frock with red thread embroidery across the yoke and the sleeves. Bottle green, emerald or forest green sets them side by side
• Navy: the navy frock with silver work all over, and the seamed maxi in Navy. What colours go with navy helps with the shoes and the bag
• Black with colour in it: the black frock with red roses, or the seamed maxi in plain Black

03

A kimono or open abaya over the dress, for the church and the photographs

The neatest way to be covered for the ceremony and free of layers by the first dance is an open layer made in the same deep colour as the dress, or in black. An open abaya or a kimono abaya worn unfastened over a dress covers the shoulders and arms in a church, a mosque or a register office, stays on for the photographs outside the door, and goes to the cloakroom with the coats, with no shawl to keep hitching up. Any of our abaya designs can be made in the colour you ask for and to your measurements, agreed in your quote, and the embroidery thread can be changed to suit the dress.

Plain goes over embroidered, and embroidered over plain. Picture a black kimono abaya over the black frock with roses, a navy open abaya over the navy frock, or a burgundy one over the seamed maxi in Burgundy. Abaya or kimono explains the difference between the two shapes, and wedding guest abayas has the dressier designs.

04

Christmas weddings, New Year’s Eve weddings and ordering in time

December weddings come with their own decorations, and the trick is to sit beside them rather than vanish into them. At a Christmas wedding a room full of red and green swallows a plain bright red or a plain bright green, so go deeper or mix the two: the bottle green frock with its red thread embroidery, the wine frock with its gold panel, the black frock with red roses, or the Emerald Rose Anarkali in a green closer to a jewel than to holly. Our Christmas dresses page has more for the parties either side of the wedding.

A New Year’s Eve wedding is usually an evening affair, often black tie, and it is the one night of the year when a little shine is expected of a guest. The burgundy gown under black lace is the dressiest piece here, the navy frock already glints with silver, and a little beadwork or a few sequins can be asked for at the neckline or the cuffs of the plain dresses on the order form, confirmed in your quote. Day or evening: colour and shine explains how much is too much before dark.