Love the yellow dress AnnieD posted!

Re dress #3, I know the cape sleeves seem to be making a comeback, but they always make me think of Eunice, especially in a print. I also think the sheer longer than the lining hem is a more youthful look.

Annie, thanks for that laugh. I could see Eunice immediately.

I had a dress very similar to the royal blue and black floral number Annie posted. It went with any number of looks, a royal blue shrug, a black sweater or jacket in fall, and in spring, a white linen or silk jacket. Even gray worked.

If you don't wear "fiesta" looks normally, I wouldn't go out of my way to buy something. Fiesta just means party anyway. You'll be far happier if you buy a dress that looks fun and smashing on you. That was my big nightmare for my wedding dress, finding a dress that said "wedding" but was not some silly waste of money and fabric and casual enough for my weddings.

If a v-neck is too low, one can always wear a camisole under the dress.

The only other takeaway I would give re: the weather is that polyester does not breathe and sleeves just get uncomfortable if there is any kind of warmth in the air. That was the big negative about my wedding dress, it was polyester and that's probably why I didn't put the light sweater on, it was already warm enough just in the dress. I would have preferred a natural fabric dress, and lord knows I tried to find one, but at some point I just had to say, "good enough is good enough." It seemed like with ordering, the nice natural fabric stuff that I liked was always "out of stock" in my size . . . or way too expensive.

I was looking for this photo and finally found it. Here's the way my wedding attire was supposed to look, before I found the pink shoes. I got to worrying that the rayon shrug wouldn't be warm enough and went looking for a warmer jacket, and ended up with bright pink shoes. Ironically, it was hot on Sept. 30th in Philly so my whole "look" was far less than I had planned, my hair fell too, but I still managed to somehow enjoy the heck out of the day. Posting to illustrate how you can tone down a floral look. Last photo is of hubs and I on our engagement day (just the day we picked up the ring), we got engaged when I turned to him one night and said, "That's it, we're getting married." I wear that dress to bits, I really like the look of a floral underneath and a solid shrug or jacket over. Tones down the look of being a walking flower garden . . .

There is a 85% probability that I won't like any of them once I try them on. I really don't want to spend too much because it's pretty likely that I won't be attending any other dressy events in the near future.

Yellow is my favorite color but I am not sure I can pull off a solid yellow with my pale complexion and ash hair color.

I probably tried on 30 dressed looking to find one for my wedding. And now, ironically I've gained so much weight I can't even fit into my wedding dress or most of my other dresses. Here's another picture I found, of my cream colored silk jacket. I also had a similar jacket in yellow. Had to give that one up too, became too small . . . It worked great when I had it though, over a floral print . . .

You could always get either a yellow dress and pair it with another colored silk scarf around the neck, or a scarf with yellow accents and some other flattering colors. Yellow is not a good color for me either, so that's how I end up wearing it, bright yellow as an accent.

If you like Boho sort of prints, look at Johnny Was. There is a Johnny Was website, plus it is carried by Neiman Marcus.

I’d check Nordstromrack.

now I’m not quite sure what formal Fiesta is. Maybe the last one?

What time of day is the wedding? That’ll help decide.

Wow, I love that last one! But you do need decent arms, maybe not fabulous but decent

I really like #3 in your original post.

If yellow isn't your thing, then go with another solid color dress...the royal blue is pretty, a coral would be great or even green. Scarves/shawls come in a thousand colors so you can always find one that works with whatever color dress you end up with.

Here's a pretty brightly colored dress and affordable in a flattering...Nordstrom $64

The magenta one is pretty and flattering but it seems a bit office-like to me. The price is great so I may go in that direction.

I think the magenta one can go either direction depending on accessories.

The magenta is pretty. I'm not seeing a sleeveless dress in PA, even in May. Also, as Bumble mentioned, several of these dresses need nicely toned arms to carry it off. Not saying yours aren't Rory, it's something I think of and look at when trying on clothing.

Well, I ordered the magenta one too. They only had a size 2 left so not likely that it will fit but I can at least get a feel if it's a style that works for me and is comfortable. What the material feels like will have a huge impact on if it's doable for me.

This dress would fit all the requirements. 😂

Aw, I had beauty and the beast on in the background earlier, the one with Hermione

I don't know about color and pattern, but I find the style of the magenta dress a very flattering one. Cinched around the bust, not waist. A waist cinch can make you look too cut in half sometimes. I just got a summer dress last summer with that cut, it is a joy to wear too, very comfortable. Also looks good with a sweater over it, which I would tend to put on in the evenings here even in the summer unless it was super hot. It gets windy at the beach even when warm. That whole "Diane VonFurstenburg" look can't be beat . . .

The yellow taco dress is hideous but funny!

You could always dress up the magenta with a fancy belt...

I think it’s very cheeky to try to dictate your guest’s clothing as though they are movie extras for your wedding pictures.

Well put.

This dress arrived today. It's very pretty and well-made but it's very sparkly and heavily beaded. It's much more of an evening cocktail dress. It would be a lovely New Year's party dress. It's definitely a "Selina Meyer" dress so you would need to be in Julia Louis-Dreyfus shape to pull this off.

This is a small and I am not sure I will even try to squeeze into it to try it on because I know I am not keeping it. It's on sale now at Nordstrom if anyone is looking for a cocktail dress (size up).

It's pretty up close!

I'm assuming the wedding is afternoon (since you said indoor/outdoor and it is May). I think heavily beaded, cocktail dresses may be a bit too much. Weird because that first dress, JLD does not seem to be in a "dressy" situation! But the style of the second dress reads too formal to me. I may be wrong about the time. Is the reception at the church also or elsewhere? Still hard to wrap my mind around "formal" with fiesta/tacos LOL!

Oh yes, it's way too formal for this wedding. The JLD dress is to show the cut of the dress and how awesome her figure is in a similar cut.

And yes, the formal/fiesta/taco thing is confusing. As someone posted above I think the "formal" wording is so someone doesn't show up in jeans and to encourage the men to wear a jacket and tie (or maybe a Bolero).

The bride's mother died a few years ago and she has no sisters so I think she and her 20-something girlfriends are doing all the planning, hence the mixed message to my 50 plus ears.

ETA: There is a church wedding and the reception is in a different location.

That is a pretty dress, I do agree with you though.

I was just watching the trial and was inspired by Degette's pretty embroidered jacket. If you have a dress you already like that's in a solid color, maybe look for a print or embroidered jacket that can be added to look more festive. Not necessarily this one, but to give you an idea...don't know anything about this particular vendor.

http://www.gifttolive.com/shop/jackets-womens-kasper-mod-floral-print-jacket-wild-aster-multi/

The sequined dress is pretty, but I agree it's not right for the occasion.

Throwing this out there because I like it and wish I had a place to wear it. It go casual or dressy depending on bag and sandals .dress I like

I received 4 of the dresses so far and I learned that I am no longer a small unless the material has stretch.

Dress #1 has not been received yet.

Dress #2 (black & cream) is a bit small and is not working style-wise.

Dress #3 (flutter sleeve) is way too small. I can't get it zipped and I don't like the bottom hem.

Dress #4 fits and is a nice soft and stretchy material. This one is still a maybe.

Dress #5 is very pretty but too formal for this event. It's also too small.

I am still waiting to receive the magenta dress but I don't think it will fit because the only size that was left was a 2. If the 4s that tried on don't fit I am sure a 2 won't fit.

I am still waiting to receive the $20.00 dress from Rotita.

Maybe I should order the taco dress??

Here's her embroidered jacket...

Well, that's a bummer. At least you have a maybe. Did neither of the Milly dresses JT posted spark joy?

The dresses that JT posted are very pretty but I don't want to spend that much $. I rarely get dressed. I am a very casual dresser.

ETA: I rarely get dressed-up...I do get dressed.

I’m not sure how you feel about Poshmark but I’ve had good experiences. Others here have as well.

For $30 this Cashe dress is worth a try. If it doesn’t fit you don’t pay and can send back.

https://poshmark.com/listing/Cache-wrap-bodice-multicolor-dress-medium-6011f86581a36cf5bf6f8730

Rory, because you don’t want to waste money on a dress you may never wear again, have you looked some place like Poshmark or maybe Mercari? IdaClaire seems to pick up some good looking stuff there at reasonable prices. You can filter so that only things that are New With Tags show up, I think.

Here’s another. Maybe too office like? Don’t know but I like it and it still has the tags.

https://poshmark.com/listing/Badgley-Mischa-Day-Vneck-810-5f97474affba947833de437f

Sooo many and so many different styles. Anyway, I feel your pain and hate dress shopping for myself. I almost never wear them.

Houzz drives me nuts! I wasn’t trying to steal Terri’s thunder about Poshmark. Her posts just now showed up on my feed! But obviously she is an extremely smart woman to suggest Poshmark also! 😉

While looking around Poshmark, I looked to see what they had in Lily Pulitzer NWT. I don’t know how you feel about Lily, but they had a few things at good prices.

I will enter the posh-mark rabbit hole. At least this wedding isn't until May. With my luck I will find the perfect dress and Covid will get worse and they will elope. I truly don't understand big involved weddings. I am such a curmudgeon!!

Ohhhh this is so cute! Never worn and still with tags! I’d contact the seller on the length as it’s hard to tell.

https://poshmark.com/listing/Intropia-Magenta-Puff-Sleeve-Dress-Size-6-601982ef1629585e6d2bee96

Bbstx, I’m having trouble as well, took three tries to post this.

Maybe because I don’t generally wear print dresses, but have you thought about looking for a solid dress, like many have suggested, from Poshmark or Mercado in a pretty solid spring color you like. Then I would accent with a printed sheer shawl and nice statement necklace. I guess I am one who believes the bride is the star and everyone else should just blend in the background, especially in photos.

Oh I don't want to be the star but I also want to look good. I was very fashion oriented in my 20s & 30s and wore some pretty uncomfortable outfits and shoes for the sake of fashion. I still love fashion but I have zero tolerance for uncomfortable anything now.

I love this dress and may order it.

3 of the dresses fit (meaning I could actually get them zipped) but only 1 fit well and is comfortable. The dress that fits is the $18.00 dress from Rotita. I am still undecided if I will wear it to the wedding. I am not going to return it but if I decide it's not my style I can give it to my DIL.

I am kinda amazed at the quality of this dress. I really expected it to have loose threads or scratchy material but it seems just fine. DH likes it too. I told him I ordered it from China and that's why it was so cheap. He said all the other dressed are from China too but they just have a known label. He's right; which is sad. I wonder if there is such a thing as a dress made in America with American produced fabric?

Wow that's amazing that the Rotita dress came already and fits nicely- quality and DH likes it too?! That sounds like a real win win to me.

I also really like that black and white one you just posted. It looks like it would be a comfortable and easy to wear. I can definitely relate to the requirement that something be comfortable.

I’m just sitting here wondering why so many NWT things are available on resale sites. I suppose people change sizes, buy too many things they don’t need, or can buy cheap and resell. Then I see a NYT headline “90,000 packages are stolen in NYC every day.” Wow, that’s incredible. I wonder how many of those stolen items get resold.

Frequently, the things I sell are NWT, but often several years old. Here is an extreme example from several years ago. I purchased an indoor jacket that just didn’t fit quite right. I was going to a meeting in Chicago and needed the weight of the jacket so I kept it. On the way to the airport, we had a car wreck. I never made it to the meeting and never got the jacket altered. After pushing it around in my closet for several years, I sold it.

Another example is I bought a cute pair of light blue suede flats. The blue just didn’t go with anything I had. I kept thinking I would get something that would work with them. Never did. Finally sold the shoes.

My NWT sales are usually the result of poor judgment on my part coupled with unrealistic optimism that the item will have a metamorphosis and look better in the future. By the time reality sets in, it is too late to return it.

I ordered two more dresses from Rotita.

This one is more my style so hopefully it will fit and I can wear it to the wedding and give the first one to DIL.

Black & White

This one is more casual but I really like how it looks.

Yellow Dress

The 3 dressed combined are less than the cheapest one from Nordstrom.

“I’m just sitting here wondering why so many NWT things are available on resale sites.”

I think I have a phobia. I really, truly don’t return many things. I’ll get something home and decide aganist it and it will sit until I donate it.

That blue stripe/yellow skirt dress would be a fabulous way to wear yellow if it's not a great color for you. When I wore yellow I used to match it with cornflower blue or hot pink.