What Wedding Singers Wear

Hello Readers!

As many of you know, I recently had the honor of singing at my cousin's wedding earlier this month.  When Liz asked me to sing, my decision was instant and easy: I said "of course!"  Choosing a song was a bit more difficult but choosing an outfit (dress, shoes, and jewelry) was by far the most difficult part.

The view from the balcony of the Gateway Center in downtown Peoria, where the reception was held

I am a planner, those of you who know me know this statement to be true.  Soon after I found out that I was singing, before I even picked out a song, I began to scheme and plan what to wear.  Usually, I know what to wear to special occasions but this time I was at a loss.

As I browsed a variety of dresses online I wondered: what do wedding singers wear?  My frame of reference, as far as wedding singers go, extends mainly to a movie set in the 80s (The Wedding Singer) and. . .  well, that's mostly it.  Online retailers have "guests of the wedding" sections, but no one ever said how wedding singers are supposed to dress.  I couldn't find any specific etiquette (Emily Post wrote nothing of this matter), which normally would bother me, but here it gave me a lot of freedom in finding a dress that I ultimately fell in love with.

I was worried about finding a dress that was comfortable to perform in, that would allow me to play the guitar and sing with ease but a lot of the dresses I tried on at the beginning of my search made these criteria a challenge.  With a strapless dress I ran the risk of the bust of the dress getting dragged down by the guitar and having guitar strap marks on my back and right shoulder for the rest of the ceremony, and with short dresses I ran the risk of an "I see London, I see France" moments if for some reason I needed to bend down to pick up anything from the ground like sheet music, water, or a fallen guitar pick.  Most of the dresses in my closet were either short or strapless (or both), so it became clear that I needed something new and I needed something different.

What I found was this:

I like dressing like wedding singer!

Irresistible Maxi Dress- Plenty by Tracy Reese

The soft jersey fabric, the draped straps, the maxi style.  I didn't know this was what I was looking for until I tried it on.  It was perfect.  As the name would imply, it was irresistible. At the ceremony, the dress allowed me to sing and play freely, and I was able to tear it up on the dance floor to my heart's content.

My Uncle Mike, me, and my tallest little brother, Chris

I paired the dress with a pair of metallic silver sandals, a cotton wrap belt (almost an obi style), and a heart pendant necklace that my cousin gave to me as a gift for singing in her wedding. Overall, I loved wearing this dress and I look forward to wearing and restyling the dress in the future!

Me hanging out with the Groom, the Bride, and my cousin Bonnie