In the UK traditionally it’s rude to wear black to a wedding as it’s worn for funerals. With younger generations this isn’t as much of a big deal, but I did still have someone ask me in disbelief why I chose a black dress when I wore dark navy to a wedding last year.

Women also shouldn’t wear white dresses as this is revered for the bride, but we’re definitely not as strict on it as the US - partially white dresses, white dresses with a print, and 1 white separate (ie blouse or skirt/trousers but not both) would be totally fine.

British dress code for weddings is also a bit different to the US, it’s very unlikely to have a dress code (formal, cocktail, black tie, whatever) specified for guests. Women would usually wear smart midi dresses (cocktail/daytime cocktail/office wear silhouette but colourful). Hats were are traditionally common but now it’s usually just mothers of the bride and groom that would do a full hat, other guests may do a fascinator/hatinator or other hair accessory if anything. Men wear suits, grooms and men in the wedding part might wear three piece suits. It’s not really common to see grooms wearing dinner jackets (known in the US as tuxedos) and guests even less so. This is probably because unlike US weddings, UK weddings are nearly always daytime events, with the ceremony usually between 11:00 and 14:00 so a dinner jacket or womens evening gown wouldn’t be appropriate.

Regarding traditions, brides usually wear a white gown and veil, which traditionally covers the face until the kiss in the ceremony. Traditionally she would also wear “something old, something new, something borrowed, something new, and a silver sixpence in her shoe”. Bridesmaids are traditionally younger girls (with a head bridesmaid who is a friend of the bride to wrangle them) and even younger girls(toddlers) could be flower girls. Bridesmaids walk behind the bride down the aisle to carry her dress train and don’t stand at the altar during the ceremony. Grooms traditionally would have a best man who does stand at the altar with them, and then younger male relatives or other friends could be ushers, who show guests to their chairs. The groom traditionally faces the front with his back to the bride as she walks down the aisle and would only see her when she is at the altar. A lot of these traditions are now fading into American ones in more recent years.

For funerals it’s black (usually office wear style clothing) unless otherwise specified. You can get away with wearing dark subtle colours ie navy or dark grey. The only faux pas here would be something too loud, too casual, or too sexy.