From a beach ceremony to a cocktail affair, how to be the best-dressed guest at this spring’s nuptials.

A card slips through the mail slot and lands with a slap on the door mat. Oh, God, you think, picking it up and turning it over in your hands. Not another wedding invitation. But wait. There’s something different about this one. In the space where you’d expect to see the address of the local church or register office, it says... Tanzania. Or the Maldives.

Does this experience sound familiar to you? If so, you’ll recognise the chain of emotions that follows. Firstly, excitement: at least this won’t be another tedious country church affair. Secondly, resentment: do they really expect us all to trek halfway around the world? And finally apprehension: what on earth am I going to wear?

Reader, you are not alone. Over the years, we’ve received countless requests for wedding-related style advice – a good proportion of them unusual or exotic in nature. Safari weddings, weddings on mountain peaks… we’ve had it all. It’s such a regular request, in fact, that we’ve decided to tackle a few of the more common gripes head-on. Take heed – and the next time an unconventional wedding invitation drops through the door, consider yourself well-prepared.

Before deciding to do something intimate on a beach, such as getting married or having sex, you should take a moment to consider why the majority of people choose to do these things elsewhere. In the case of getting married, it’s less about sand getting in awkward places – it happens, but it’s not a dealbreaker – and more about your guests having no idea what to wear. Suit and tie? Swimwear? It doesn’t help that there’s no Debrett’s Guide for this kind of thing.

It falls to us, then, to lay down a few guidelines. “Beach wedding” implies informal, unless explicitly stated. That means no need to wear a tie – again, unless explicitly stated – and leave the lace-up shoes to the groom’s party. Remember, though, that an informal dress code does not absolve you from the responsibility to make an effort. As a wedding guest, you’re part of the tapestry; it behoves you to look your best.

The look we’ve assembled here for your consideration is relaxed, while still retaining a sense of occasion. This boxy floral shirt from Jacquemus is eye-catching but won’t upstage the groom, the white trousers from Polo Ralph Lauren are a timeless summer staple, and the accessories – a woven suede belt, suede sandals, and tortoiseshell sunglasses – tie the whole thing together neatly.

And so to the most exotic wedding of all: the safari wedding. When planning your outfit, it’s absolutely critical that you steer clear of anything that might be construed as representative of some kind of white colonialist fantasy. That means no white linen shirts, braces and plus-fours, no Sir Roger Moore-era James Bond safari suits, and certainly no pith helmet and elephant gun. You can’t be too careful these days.

The outfit we’ve suggested here deftly avoids any such accusations while staying true to the theme of the day. YMC’s short-sleeved shirt comes in an ikat-style print that channels traditional African fabrics, and its sandy colour palette blends well with the shorts, which are taken from Loewe’s outdoorsy Eye/LOEWE/Nature collection. Yuketen’s woven leather sandals – inspired by traditional Mexican “huarache” styles – round out this casual-yet-stylish look, along with a few additional accessories in the shape of a bohemian bracelet and a cotton-corduroy bucket hat, the latter from Sacai’s collaboration with the American heritage brand Pendleton.

A more elegant proposition than our beach wedding look but still by no means formal – note again the absence of any neckwear – this ensemble is well suited for tropical city weddings. We had a colonial mansion in Cartagena in mind, but we can imagine it going down just as well anywhere from Singapore to Hawaii. That’s assuming, of course, that it’s not in contravention of any stated dress code.

But who wants to wear a tie in tropical humidity anyway? Not us, that’s for sure. This beautiful ivory cotton suit from Dries Van Noten is more than enough of a nod to the celebratory nature of the occasion, and paired with a breezy linen grandad shirt from Brunello Cucinelli and a pair of hand-burnished leather loafers from Berluti, it makes for a wedding outfit that’s both refined and relaxed.

Shop what to wear for a wedding here

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