At first glance, the concept of farm formal wedding attire may seem like a strange and confusing one.
What about farm life suggests that formal wear would be appropriate for such an environment?
Are you going to go horse riding or harvest crops while wearing a tuxedo or a flowing gown?
That would just be silly (and probably dangerous).
But it’s actually not what you’re thinking at all.
After all, you’re attending a wedding, not going to work in the field.
And it’s not like living in the countryside means that farmers never dress up for everything.
Farmers have lives and special occasions, too.
It’s just that the word “formal” means something different at farm weddings than it does in the big city.
“Formal Clothing” = “New Clothing”
The first rule we’ll go over here is the simplest one.
Essentially, when the bride and groom say that they want everyone wearing “farm formal wedding attire,” what they’re really saying is that they don’t want you wearing your normal clothes or the work clothes you’d wear if you work on a farm.
To put it more bluntly, they want you to wear clothes that you haven’t worn before.
Or at least they want you to wear clothes that look like they haven’t been worn before.
This means that flannels, jeans, boots, and all those other things that typify farm/country style are totally fine… as long as they don’t look old, used, and worn down.
Importantly, it’s also worth noting that “quality” can also be included with “new” as a descriptor of the sorts of clothing we’re talking about here.
From Top To Bottom
For this section, we’ll go over the types of clothing that are suitable for each part of your body.
And to make it easy to digest, we’ll go in descending order, starting at the head.
Hats & Headgear
For both men and women, cowboy hats are entirely acceptable as long as they’re new and clean.
Likewise, fedoras, newsboy caps, and other styles of dress hats are fine for men.
If you’re a woman, you can get away with pretty much anything from berets to cloche hats.
What you’ll want to avoid, regardless of your gender, is any kind of baseball cap, beanie, or other similar style of hat because they appear too casual.
A good rule of thumb is that it’s probably the wrong kind of hat if you can easily imagine it being worn by someone as they’re being arrested by the police in the parking lot of a Waffle House.
Now, we’re not saying that everyone who gets arrested at Waffle House will be wearing a baseball cap displaying the logo of a major city’s baseball or football team…
But we all know they probably won’t be wearing a Homburg or Boater.
Torso & Arms
If you’re a man, go for buttons.
You want buttons.
Flannels, button-downs, etc.
Buttons are better than no buttons.
However, be sure to wear long sleeves.
You can roll up your sleeves if you want, but don’t wear short sleeves.
Also, feel free to throw on a leather vest or sport coat over your flannel or button-down.
As for you ladies out there, you’re going to want to lean toward fitted tops (if pairing with a skirt or jeans) or dresses.
That one’s up to you, but dresses make things simpler, and a wedding is a great excuse to wear one.
So, why not?
Waist & Legs
Jeans with holes or tears in them are a no-no, but new jeans without holes are acceptable.
Khakis, slacks, and chinos are perfectly ok for men as well.
The key thing, as we mentioned earlier, is that they’re new and not damaged or worn out in any way.
For women, it might be better to forego jeans and pants altogether in favor of a skirt or dress.
As for what types of those are appropriate, you should be ok as long as you stick to the basic rules of modesty.
So, nothing that’s excessively revealing or high above the knees.
Like with everything else on this list, remember that you’re going to a farm wedding.
That means you should ideally choose clothing that is comfortable and relatively loose so you can move around relatively easily.
Feet
For both men and women, boots are normal and appropriate, so long as they look new and are not dirty.
You can also wear other forms of formal footwear.
It’s just that boots tend to be pretty popular and easy fits as farm formal wedding attire for any wedding with a rural theme.
However, it’s advisable to stay away from tennis shoes, sandals, flip flops, and other more casual styles of footwear.
And, depending on what kind of ground and terrain you’ll be dealing with, boots may be a wiser and more functional choice than Oxfords or high heels.
If the wedding is on a farm, don’t expect all the ground to be paved and even.
Clean Cut
Well, there you have it.
It’s really not all that complicated.
And yes, we understand that “farm formal wedding attire” could probably be called something else.
But that’s just the name that’s caught on to describe this particular style of dress.
Fortunately, the sorts of couples who choose to host their wedding at a farm, barn, or other agriculturally adjacent venue are probably going to be relatively laid-back and not too stuck-up.
So, you aren’t likely to have your outfit picked apart too harshly as long as you look clean and presentable.
Just keep in mind that it’s a wedding, and it’s not your job to be the star or steal the show.
You’re there to enjoy it.
So, just don’t draw too much attention to yourself by being the only person wearing a basketball jersey or something.
