Beach Weddings: What to Wear If You're the Guest

published 9 March 2020

A destination wedding at the beach straddles the line between vacation attire and free-spirited elegance. You don't want to show up in Bermuda shorts and a Hawaiian shirt (unless that's the couple's theme), but a thick chiffon gown doesn't feel appropriate either. What to do? When shopping for your next beach wedding guest look, make sure your pieces can pull double-duty as both festive party outfits and no-fuss vacation wear. Opt for breezy linen and cotton dresses that can be worn over a swimsuit at the pool or dressed up with kitten heels to the reception. Step it up with seaside-inspired accessories like shell earrings or a handbag. (The bag can hold sunblock and your sunglasses when you lounge by the pool post-wedding festivities.)

To show you what I mean, I've come up with five foolproof outfits that prove dressing for a beach wedding isn't hard, especially when you have the right pieces. Even better, you can stuff the looks into a carry-on for an arsenal of winning wedding guest ensembles. (After all, everyone knows packing for a warm-weather vacation/wedding offers more suitcase space when you don't have to include heavy wintery items.) The ensembles below pull double-duty in every sense of the word and will keep the compliments rolling in. You can now sit back and relax while daydreaming about sipping on that delicious mai tai. See? Dressing for beach weddings can be effortless.

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Sara Holzman is the Style Director for Marie Claire, where she's worked alongside the publication for eight years in various roles, ensuring the brand's fashion content continues to inform, inspire, and shape the conversation about fashion's ever-evolving landscape. With a degree from the Missouri School of Journalism, Sara is responsible for overseeing a diverse fashion content mix, from emerging and legacy designer profiles to reported features on the influence of social media on style and seasonal and micro trends across the world's fashion epicenters in New York, Milan, and Paris. Before joining Marie Claire, Sara held fashion roles at Conde Nast's Lucky Magazine and Self Magazine and was a style and travel contributor to Equinox's Furthermore website. Over her decade of experience in the fashion industry, Sara has helped guide each brand's style point of view, working alongside veteran photographers and stylists to bring editorial and celebrity photo shoots to fruition from start to finish. Sara currently lives in New York City. When she's not penning about fashion or travel, she’s at the farmer’s market, on a run, working to perfect her roasted chicken recipe, or spending time with her husband, dog, and cat. Follow her along at @sarajonewyork

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