The formal wedding ceremony usually takes place in a house of worship or in a large home or garden.
The bride and groom each usually have from four to ten attendants. The bride and her attendants wear long gowns in formal fabrics, and the groom and his attendants wear cutaways or tailcoats.
Women guests wear street-length dressy clothing for a daytime wedding and usually floor-length gowns or cocktail dresses for an evening wedding. Men guests wear dark suits and ties for a daytime wedding and tuxedos for an evening wedding.
The formal reception is usually a sit-down or semi-buffet meal. Invitations are usually engraved, transportation for the wedding party is usually by limousine, and music, if the reception includes dancing, is often provided by an orchestra or full band.
The ceremony for a semiformal wedding can take place in a house of worship, a chapel, a hotel, club, home, or garden.
The bride and groom each usually have from two to six attendants. The bride and her attendants may wear long, ballerina, or tea-length gowns, usually made of simpler fabrics than those for a formal wedding. The groom and his attendants wear gray or black strollers with striped trousers, or a formal suit for a daytime semiformal wedding and a dinner jacket with black trousers or a formal suit for an evening wedding.
Women guests wear street-length tailored or semidressy dresses for a daytime wedding and cocktail dresses for an evening wedding. Men guests wear dark suits for both.
The reception is generally a buffet or a cocktail buffet later in the afternoon with a small band or orchestra, or a DJ.
The informal wedding ceremony can take place in a house of worship, a chapel, or a rectory or in a home or garden presided over by a justice of the peace.
The bride and groom each usually have one to three attendants. The bride and her attendants wear simple white or pastel floor-length gowns or ballerina, tea-length, or street-length dresses. The groom and his attendants wear suits or sport jackets and slacks.
Women guests wear what is appropriate to the location, usually street-length dresses. Men guests wear sport jackets and slacks.
The reception can take place in a restaurant or at a home with a caterer and/or friends providing refreshments, usually a breakfast, brunch, or lunch in the morning or early afternoon, and an informal buffet or simple hors d’oeuvres and wedding cake for an afternoon or evening reception. Music may come from a single musician or background CDs.