What to Wear to a Courthouse Wedding

Legal room, short clock

You will go through a magnetometer. Small-buckle belt, no pocket knife, closed shoes. The ceremony is brief; the photos on the steps or in a nearby park are the event. A navy suit, a crepe midi, an oxford and chinos if the couple is that informal — still pressed.

• Guest: no white, no ballgown, no gym shorts
• Couple: wear what you want to look at in ten years, including a short dress or a suit
• Witnesses: one notch below the couple, still finished
• Shoes for marble and then pavement

Photographs are daylight and stone

Courthouse light is noon on granite. Mid colors hold: navy, forest, rust, a print. Pale nude disappears. A trailing gown on courthouse stairs is how people trip. Men: a jacket even if you take it off after. The couple in matching casual is their choice; guests in matching casual look underdressed.

If there is a party later

City hall at noon and a restaurant at 7pm can be two outfits. If you only have one, pick the dinner and add a wrap for the courthouse, or pick a midi that does both. Do not wear the evening sequin through security at 11am.