How To Dress For A Christian Wedding

How should guests of a Christian wedding dress?

Ask the Couple

If you know the bride or groom, it certainly doesn’t hurt to ask them. If you’re a man, ask the groom or one of his groomsmen or their friends, but if you’re a woman, then ask the bride or the bridesmaids or one of their friends to see what they should wear. The last thing you want is to underdress or overdress and either overshadow the bride and groom or be less than appealing in their wedding party. You wouldn’t want to wear something that would detract from the bride or groom by upstaging them or dressing so causally that you obviously stand out. There’s nothing wrong with asking.

Consider the Theme

Some wedding invitations come with the theme in them. In other words, if it’s a Western theme wedding, they might have that made obvious by a lariat rope, horses, or cowboy boots featured on the invitation. That doesn’t mean you have to dress formally but in a Western theme so as to blend in with the wedding ceremony, the weddings guests and the wedding party, however if you don’t like Wester apparel, then dress casually in a dress shirt (no tie) and jeans. Again, there’s nothing wrong about asking what the bride and groom are wearing and what their families are wearing, so by all means, ask them.

Ask Friends and Family

After you’ve received a wedding invitation and have tried to find out how to dress for the coming wedding from the bride and groom’s family but failed, then ask their friends and other family members what they plan on wearing or what the bride and groom will be wearing. It’s important to consider whether it’s indoors or outdoors. Where the wedding will be might give you a clue as to what to wear. Sometimes you get help from what’s on the invitation, as I wrote earlier. Do some detective work if you don’t exactly know how to dress for this specific wedding or a traditional Christian wedding in a church. At least err on the side of dressing up because you can always take off your jacket and tie. Changing from formal to informal for the ladies is not so easy.

The Marriage Feast

The possibilities are certainly endless as far as what to wear and why type of wedding theme it will be. Some may have a beach wedding, a garden wedding, a formal wedding, an informal wedding, a casual wedding, or any other number of options, however there is one wedding feast that’s coming where it’s “come as you are,” but as with other weddings, it’s by invitation only. The Apostle John wrote of it as the marriage feast of the Lamb of God where he wrote, “Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready” (Rev 19:7) but you must have the right wedding attire like the “fine linen, bright and pure”— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints” (Rev 19:8). This righteousness only comes from the imputation of Jesus’ own righteousness on our behalf (2nd Cor 5:21). No wonder it was said of those at the wedding feast, “Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb” (Rev 19:9). Tragically, some will be shut out of the marriage feast, just as Jesus spoke of some who thought they’d surely be invited but when the king asked, “‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And he was speechless” (Matt 22:12). “Then the king said to the attendants, ‘Bind him hand and foot and cast him into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth’” (Matt 22:13). Only those who have been brought to repentance and faith in Christ can be this wedding, for the have the required robes of righteousness which is the same robe of righteousness of Christ.

Conclusion

The main difference between a Christian wedding and a non-Christian wedding is Christ Himself as God is present in the wedding. He is there as He joins these two to become one flesh, just as it was when God preformed the first wedding of all time and was written that “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24).

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren Church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.