A Gingham Wedding Guest Outfit

It’s wedding seasonnn!! While I’m not quite at the age where my own friends are getting married (thank goodness), I am able to enjoy weddings a lot more now that I’m older. Before a few weeks ago, the last, and only, nuptials I’d attended was my aunt’s way back in 2008! So you could say I was more than a little excited to find out that three of my cousins are getting married this summer… I mean, an excuse to dress up AND dance the night away? What more do you need?!

For this first wedding, I decided to wear this super cute navy gingham dress from Banana Republic. Can you get more summery than gingham? It’s just such a fun pattern! I paired it with the comfiest white DSW heels and an orange beaded purse ’cause ya’ know, complementary colors are a nice way to spice up an outfit. If you follow me on Instagram, you may recognize this outfit from my Stories – I wore it back in April for Easter and never shared it on Graceful Rags. But hey until it’s photographed for a blog post, the outfit doesn’t *really* exist. That’s how I think of it anyway.

The wedding took place at a very pretty, intimate outdoor venue right before the sun started to set. Didn’t the couple absolutely luck out on this gorgeous sunset? It was so pretty and romantic, and they could not have asked for better weather! (Especially since the wedding was in Las Vegas – we could have all been melting in the heat, but thankfully there was just enough overcast that day to create the perfect comfortable temperature.)

I was so lucky to be able to help out during the days prior to the wedding! I just did some small last-minute crafty details, like creating the flower girl basket and wrapping presents, but my absolute favorite project was making these flower crowns (seen above). There were three junior bridesmaids, a young violist, and the flower girl who all received one of these handmade (live!) flower crowns that my brother’s girlfriend and I made. That’s right y’all, those are real roses, greenery, and (you can’t really see it) Baby’s Breath. I had so much fun making these and they turned out so cute that I low-key want to become a florist now. Thoughts? If anybody needs a flower crown for any occasion ever, you know where to find me…

Also while making these I met another cousin of the bride (on the other side of her family, obviously) who was only seven. She was a sassy little one but I loved her – she kept trying to barter Swedish Fish with me so that I’d make her a flower crown also. Spoiler alert: I did it… I mean hey, she gave me TEN Swedish Fish as payment, and even fed me them herself sometimes, so I’d say it was quite the deal.

As a thank you for the few things I did, my other cousin (the bride’s sister) made me this corsage! I was so surprised and excited to receive it. The colors worked great with my dress and my purse, almost as if it was planned… I’m definitely adding this corsage to my collection of flowers from high school dances, which are all dried out and pinned to the cork board in my room. Do you keep your old corsages?

Yes, I realize these photos are a little blurry, but I thought the late sunset glow and the colors were too pretty to resist posting them! All in all, the wedding was an absolute BLAST and you can bet your bottom dollar I danced my butt off at the reception (which was inside a building at the same venue). In fact, I danced so hard that there wasn’t a single curl left in my hair by the end of the night, and I stayed until the DJ said those dreadful words, “This is the last dance.” Now THAT’S how you do a wedding. Can’t wait to go to two more!!

So yah in case there was any confusion, here are a few takeaways from this post: I love weddings; if you ever need a flower crown I’m your gal; I can be bribed with Swedish Fish; and PLEASE invite me to your wedding. Pretty please?

So what’s your favorite wedding story? Do you enjoy weddings and dressing up as much as I do? Let me know in the comments! And be sure to swing back to the blog on Wednesday instead of Thursday this week for a special collaboration blog post. Happy Monday!

Miles of smiles,

Grace

Navy Gingham Dress: Banana Republic, $80 // White Heels: DSW, $50