Weddingbee boards

Hi ladies! I need some advice from you Americans out there... I'll be travelling to the US next month for my fiance's best friend's wedding to a lovely lady in her hometown of Birmingham AL. I've never been to an American wedding before and this one is going to be a huge formal affair at a country club.  Also, my fiance is the best man so I'd like to look the part at all the wedding-related events!

We don't really have rehearsal dinners over here, nor do we have evening weddings which this is - so I'm pretty clueless as to what to wear!  Normally I'd just wear a knee-length flowery dress (like this one which I wore to a friend's wedding in Spain this summer), but do I need to glam it up a little? Is the rehearsal dinner normally more casual?

Thanks in advance!

Kate 

Thanks amysue! No, we don't know any of the bridesmaids or even any of her family/friends, in fact I have only met the bride a handful of times.. hmmm maybe I'll ask the groom although he's pretty useless at these kind of things

Rehearsal dinners are often held at restaurants. You could try calling the restaurant and ask what their dress code is.

 For the wedding itself, the invitation should give you some clue about the dress code for the event. (I'm presuming it doesn't already say that it is black-tie or anything like that?) The later in the evening that the wedding/reception are taking place, the more fancy you should dress.

As an example, I am in a similar situation to you: I am the long-time girlfriend of the bride's brother. My boyfriend is "giving away" his sister in the ceremony, so he will be in a tuxedo. Therefore, in family photos, I wanted to match his level of dress. But also, the ceremony is an outdoor ceremony in a garden in late afternoon in coastal Florida. In otherwords, we'll be outdoors and it will be warm. Therefore, I've chosen to wear this dress in teal: http://www.forever21.com/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=FOREVER21&category%5Fname=dresses&product%5Fid=2040631011&Page=all#

 Also, try searching for the couple's names on theknot.com. Lots of American couples set up a page on The Knot for the guests with information about the wedding, including suggestions about the level of dress required for the reception.

 Hope this helps! Good luck & have fun!

Since the groom and your fiance are best friends, there is a good chance that you and the bride will become friends also. Take this time to ask her. Tell her that you don't want to overwhelm her with one more thing to do, but would like some advice. Suggest even that her MOH contact you to help you out.