Wedding Guest Dresses for Women Over 50

To me, wedding guest dresses for women over 50 is overlooked by popular fashion brands. At least that’s how I feel when I look at campaign ads on TV and in magazines. It goes without saying that fashion marketing targets people in their 20s and 30s.

Thus, many women feel that finding a dress that has the modern elegance and perfect fit is a real challenge. If this is your case, you’re far from being alone in this situation.

The following designs are perfectly suited for wedding celebrations and other formal events.

They are fashionable as they are made with haute couture designers preferred fabrics and textures. Also, these outfits have a classic timeless charm.

Before going deep into the subject, here’s another interesting aspect to take into account when choosing what to wear: the wedding theme.

How To Dress For A Wedding Party

1. Country wedding: casual (read cowboy boots and hat) to semi-casual
2. Vintage wedding: formal (read glamorous)
3. Vineyard wedding: semi-casual (dressy but no gown) to formal (ballroom dress style)
4. Beach wedding: casual to formal (e.g. maxi dress)

Each of these will be detailed at the end of this article.

But for now, let’s look at some pretty dresses and outfits.

Jacket Dresses

If like me you always get cold because of the air conditioning working full throttle, the jacket dress is the answer to your prayers.

No need to bring a scarf or your old fleece vest anymore. The following outfits include a dress and a jacket so that you are ready to face any climate change.

The bolero is another variation of the jacket dress that puts the emphasis on the bodice. It falls just below the ribs for a beautiful and athletic silhouette with a modern-looking style.

Sparkling Sequins

This Art Deco or Gatsby inspired dress is just stunning! This is partly because of the refined sequin pattern.

Also, the scalloped hemline is an uncommon element that gives the dress lots of character.

Sophisticated and Lovely Tea-Length

Lace has a long time history as a symbol of elegance and feminity, Nowadays it’s blended with contemporary man-made fibers that make it flexible and therefore enjoyable to wear.

This fitted dress is made with particularly delicate lace embroidery. I really like the beautifully detailed scalloped V neckline which lengthens the neck.

Aerial and Neutral

Here’s one knee-length sheath silhouette dress that won’t go unnoticed! Moreover, this column dress can easily be combined with multicolored accessories.

The chiffon layering reveals the arms in a sober and yet sensuous way while the cascading design gives the outfit a vaporous and light look.

This dress features an elegant boat neckline full-length beaded exterior layer and a stretchy fabric lining to allow ease of movement and ensure better comfort.

Don’t you love the flutter sleeves?!

Charming Lace Bodice

Here’s another dress style that doesn’t go out of fashion. In fact, it’s also a silhouette-flattering dress because of its narrow waist design.

In addition, the floral lace design creates a focal element while the solid black color gives a flattering silhouette.

Chic Solid Colors

Tired of all the glitters and sequin that are usually associated with formal evening dresses?

Then wearing a solid color outfit is for you. It’s also the most versatile choice as you can decide to pair it with a necklace, bracelet, and earrings of your liking.

This dress is fitted through the waist and flaring out below the hips thereby smoothing the natural curves of the body.

Satin Fabric, Formal and Festive

This dress features a high waistline and a nice off the shoulder neckline. The A-line silhouette of this dress is flattering for all body shapes and the pleated front provides a timeless refinement to this pretty outfit.

Shimmering and Refined

This champagne dress has a unique jewel incrusted overlay that is sure to turn heads at any formal event. This dress can be wear as is without the need of adding a necklace.

The beautiful scintillating look of this unique garment will capture the light, especially on the dance floor making it a perfect party dress.

Sumptuous Beaded Pattern

This glamorous and well-made dress is one of my favorites. It features a portrait neckline and has a stunning flowing and light feel.

The dense beaded pattern of the bodice and the champagne-pink tone of the dress make it a beautiful formal wedding guest dress.

Best of Both Worlds

Finally, you can wear this short sleeve dress for both a cocktail and a more formal type of weddings. The chiffon and tulle skirt adds a sober feel while the lace bodice provides sophistication to the overall look of the dress.

The pleated waistline is partially covered with the lace applique giving the dress a gracious and unique charm.

It’s a gorgeous dress that conveys both a vintage classic feel and modern elegance.

How To Dress For A Summer Wedding

Finding a dress that you like become easier once you’ve seen enough of them.

That’s why I featured many dress styles to start with. In fact, we naturally tend to prefer certain color tones, skirt length, or patterns.

Therefore I think it’s important to follow our gut feeling more than new trends or fashion gurus to ensure you feel good in a specific outfit.

Moreover, there is another important dimension when looking for a guest dress when attending a wedding or any special event.

The environment where the wedding is held should also guide your clothing choice.

This may be hard to guess unless the future Mr. & Mrs. mentioned it clearly on the wedding invitation. Also, you should always ask if the wedding is held outdoor or indoor.

While it’s obvious when the invite says “You are invited to our backyard wedding party” it may not be so clear when the invite mentions a country wedding.

Finding The Best Compromise

Knowing the celebration is held outdoor will probably make you choose your clothing differently.

Just think about how uncomfortable it is to walk with high heels on grass! Therefore asking the following questions is beneficial:

• Where is the majority of the event held? For example, the cocktail is outdoor but dinner is indoor. Knowing if there is air conditioning is also a must.
• Is there a wedding party tent with hard flooring? Any type of flooring or paving stone, concrete slabs or asphalt ground is better than grass when wearing heels.

On the other hand, the grass is more comfortable than any previously mentioned surfaces if your shoes have a heel with a larger surface.

• Are there indoor bathrooms or only outdoor temporary restrooms? No matter how well equipped and luxurious these are, portable exterior toilets tend to be too small and have poor lighting. I personally wouldn’t want to find myself using one of these with a long dress.

In fact, I avoid them whenever possible. I would walk half a mile to find a regular bathroom rather than locking myself in that dark, smelly, and suffocating box.

Is There A Wedding Theme Dress Code?

Some people assume that an outdoor wedding is a casual event where you can wear pretty much anything you’d wear on a neighbor’s BBQ party. This is not necessarily the case.

After all, a wedding is by definition a formal event. Whenever possible ask the bride and groom or the person organizing the wedding for them to tell you what is the official dress code.

If it’s a “come as you are” event than you can assume you have carte blanche.

If not, there are basic notions to look at. For example, a casual outfit which equals to come as you are. Moreover, a cocktail dress code is referring to a semi-casual dress code. At this point, you can interpret what it means in many ways and it can get confusing.

That being said, the following wedding themes have some interesting fashion ideas you can incorporate to create a fabulous outfit.

The best part is that any of the following ideas can be adapted to look formal or casual depending on how you accessorize it.

1. Country Style Wedding

One of my favorite country style wedding guests outfit is the hi-lo dress.

Basically, it’s a dress that features a longer back skirt which gradually becomes shorter in the front. The back and front can have a dramatic length difference or only a few inches to create a subtle balanced effect.

Dresses with overlapping asymmetric hems are another boho-chic inspired look that can be really nice on both rustic wedding celebration and beach wedding themes.

2. Vintage Wedding

Dresses with a vintage feel never go out of style. It’s glamour and chic design that is fully reflected with A-line, fit and flare and empire waist dress styles.

Other elements that can give a vintage character to a dress are ruffle hemmed skirt, scalloped neckline and embroideries.

We see more dresses that incorporate sequins in a specific pattern as seen in the movie The Great Gatsby. These dresses are flamboyant and festive.

For a more sober outfit, a dress featuring a lace overlay is a classic that looks graceful and sensuous when used with a similar skin color tone lining.

3. Vineyard Wedding

The breathtaking wine country landscape is surely a perfect place to celebrate a wedding. Since today’s vineyard are the result of both traditional savoir-faire and modern techniques, I think it makes sense to wear a dress that combines both of these concepts.

Wear a faux-wrap dress that has a linear pattern to create a look that mixes a timeless dress design with a modern print.

A watercolor floral pattern adds a lot of personality to a maxi dress.

4. Beach Wedding

More than anything, going to a beach wedding means you are going to be exposed to the sun, and walk on sandy uneven soil. It’s important to keep that in mind especially if you’ll be required to stand under the sun for a long period during the ceremony for example.

Wearing a sleeveless dress with a light fabric skirt will greatly improve your comfort. Also choosing the right fabric blends it key to avoid excess moist building up on your skin and excessive sweating.

I’ve written a post that you can read to find out what blends are best for summer weddings.

Wedding Guest Dresses for Women Over 50

It wraps this list of some of the most beautiful wedding guest dresses for women over 50.

Or should I say: “dresses that look amazing on women of all ages”

In my opinion, a well designed and professionally tailored dress should look good regardless of age. Then, it’s a matter of finding the style we like best when looking at our reflection in the mirror.

Hope you enjoyed this post. If you have any questions or want to share some inspiring ideas please leave a comment in the section below.