Style tips from a professional wedding guest

My husband and I have been to 5 weddings in the last 6 months. Yes FIVE in the last SIX months. We have officially become professional wedding guests. With this experience I've honed some fun skills. One skill is that I can now tell you with certainty what the reception will look like just from the invite.

We are over-joyed that our friends found love and we consider ourselves blessed to share in their special day. Having gone to so many weddings in one year (not to mention the other 4 we went to the year before) my close friends thought I should share my style tips... so here it goes.

TIP 1: The first thing I do when I receive an invite is I mark the date in my calendar. Knowing how long you have to prep for the wedding will help keep it stress free. I then take into account the Season the wedding will take place in. This year I had weddings in all of the seasons. Two in Winter, a couple in Spring, one in Summer and I am currently prepping for one more that will take place in the Fall.

The first wedding we attended was in the beginning of January. Our friends had their ceremony in Hawaii by themselves so this was going to be a reception-only type of deal. From the invite I knew it was going to be a luau themed reception. I took all of those details into consideration when putting my look together. AND I can't stress enough how much comfort plays a part in my selection process.

Winter Wedding #1

TIP 2: Take into account the time of year - what will the weather be like?

The first was in the beginning of January which can get cold, yes, even in Los Angeles. I wanted to create an easy, festive cocktail-party look. What's better than an LBD? I found a simple black cocktail dress (with pockets - extra score) and a floor length Charles Gray London for Savvy Top Coat.

I added "the festive" to my look with accessories that had a little bling: