Spoiler alert: It’s not white! Nearly a year after releasing her event planning book, Celebrations, designer Lauren Conrad is now honing in on another market: party dressing. The multi-hyphenate behind Paper Crown and The Little Market opened up to Who What Wear on Thursday, February 23, about what’s appropriate to wear to weddings—and what’s not.
“I think when it comes to weddings, there’s a few things to consider,” she said. “Again, appropriateness is really important. So, if a ceremony is being held in a church. I think it’s good to find out the type of establishment where maybe shoulders need to be covered, so you need to plan for a layering piece.”
Another Conrad tip? Avoid “wearing anything loud,” she noted. “That could be anything from color to hemline—is usually not appropriate. I think anything that distracts from the bride is good to avoid.”
Of course Conrad wore white to her own wedding, but as a guest, the former Hills star suggests avoiding the opposite side of the color spectrum. “It tends to be a safe option—black looks good on everybody,” she mused. “But I think when it comes to weddings, with the exception of once when I was actually in a wedding and asked to wear black, I don’t think I’ve ever actually worn black to a wedding.”
As a guest, Conrad will opt for “softer, more washed-out colors.” She added, “I think a neutral is really nice because it’s easy to accessorize with, so if you want to stay away from black maybe look at something nude, or a nice blue, just one of those colors that look good on everybody.”
The television personality, who’s currently expecting her first child with husband William Tell, says the dress code at her own engagement party was confounding to guests. “I feel bad using them as an example because they’re so wonderful—is my parents and my in-laws, who together threw William and I an engagement party,” she recalls. “It was so sweet of them but the dress code was ‘California casual’ and we had no idea what it meant and we gave them such a hard time about it.”
The bride was able to easily narrow down the color, but the situation was tricky for others. “Fortunately for me, I already had my outfit picked out—I was wearing white,” she recalls. “But we definitely had some phone calls and we had to clarify a bit. And actually when I was writing my book, Celebrate, I included a section on that too because the whole point of a dress code is to sort of make sure that everybody is on the same page. So while it’s fun to get creative it’s good to stick with the more traditional dress code that everyone understands.”
For her actual wedding, Conrad donned a custom Badgley Mischka gown comprised of Chantilly and Alençon lace that she helped design. First of all, she’s gorgeous, which helps,” James Mischka told The Knot last fall at The Knot Gala. “And then she’s smart and sexy and funny, and she was a joy to work with. I don’t think it could have gone any better than it did.”
Mark Badgley added at the same event, “She was the ultimate model bride to dress.”
