Guest attire for courthouse wedding.

salinaj2008 · March 2012

Hi,

My little sister is getting married for the 2nd time this coming Saturday at 845 am at the courthouse. It's like 20 people total that are going. I am my sister's witness, strictly for a signature. They told us that the entire thing will last no longer than 5 minutes.

My question is, am I required to dress up? She's been hinting to me about getting my kids nice dresses and shoes and such. I really dont want to dress up to go thru a metal detector and carry an infant seat in heels. I want to wear jeans and a nice shirt. I also offered to take all of her pictures so I'll be all over the place and want to be comfortable.

She is wearing a dress, simple with flats. He is wearing a tie. They are coming back to my house for a simple pasta lunch, that I am cleaning up, preparing for and keeping her 6 kids so they can go on a honeymoon for 2 days. I got all the tables for her, chairs and anything else I could do to help. I didn't think I was going to have to buy new clothes too.

My whole family was going to wear nice jeans and nice shirts. I asked her at least 5 times if she expected us to dress up and she said no but, when my hubby told her we all were wearing jeans, she was apalled. (sp?)

Thanks for your help...

Thoughts?

Avion22 · March 2012

Jeans aren't appropriate for a courthouse wedding. Remember that people work at the courthouse, and it is their place of business, even on the weekend. I would recommend that you dress like you are going to church. If you don't want to wear a dress, then slacks or skirt with a nice blouse or sweater would be fine. Flats are perfectly okay. For gentlemen I would think that nice trousers or even chinos and a button-down shirt and tie would be nice. Kids are harder because they might not have "dressy" clothes in a size that fits, but again I would think non-denim pants or a skirt with some kind of sweater should be fine.

firsttimersluck · March 2012

I agree. I would never enter a courthouse to do business in anything less than business attire. It sounds like your sister wants you to look nice as well.. I understand that to some people it's "just a JOP" but for people that are nonreligious or just don't care for the big white gown weddings, that JOP is their WEDDING.

I would be shocked to hear that my whole family was going to the courthouse in jeans as well. That's just not appropriate for that place.

I don't think you need to buy anything new, but you must have a ncie pair of slacks/button down, a dress, or skirt for you and your kids to wear. You might want to run that by your family members as well.. as your sister is probably embarassed to ASK people to dress APPROPRIATELY FOR A COURTHOUSE, but it seems that she wants to..

Cortney1982 · March 2012

It is never appropriate to go to a courthouse in jeans, it's dissrespectful. I too would be appalled. You don't have to wear a fancy dress or heels there are plenty of other options and you and your family probably already own them in your closet.

ElisabethJoanne · March 2012

Like others, I think you should dress at least as well as those there to conduct more public court business. I'm a litigator, so I'm in courthouses regularly. Court staff usually wear blouses and slacks. Lawyers usually wear suits, usually pant suits here in California.

Litigants and jurors often wear jeans here in California. They give me the impression of being too poor to afford what the middle and higher classes consider business clothes, or of being too low-class to buy them. But these are all men. Women, even jurors, usually wear blouses and slacks.

As the courthouses I visit are like hospitals with their long, hard hallways, I find heels not always professional. They make lots of noise, attracting attention.

Guest attire for courthouse wedding.

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