Si­mone Sant-Ghu­ran

Whether you con­scious­ly think about it or not, there's no doubt that your wed­ding re­flects your style.It's an in­ti­mate look in­to your taste, your lev­el of ro­man­ti­cism and the things and peo­ple you love. It's much more than the d�cor. In fact, your at­tire, menu, in­vi­ta­tions, trans­porta­tion, guests' dress code, favours and flow­ers all dic­tate the style of your wed­ding.

Even in­tan­gi­bles, such as the venue and time of day, play a sig­nif­i­cant role in de­ter­min­ing the wed­ding's style. I think event man­age­ment au­thor, Judy Allen, in her book, "Event Plan­ning: the ul­ti­mate guide to suc­cess­ful meet­ings, cor­po­rate events, fund-rais­ing galas, con­fer­ences and con­ven­tions and oth­er spe­cial events," says it best. She wrote: "Your event style is the at­mos­phere or over­all ef­fect you are try­ing to achieve. Styles can be mixed and matched to cre­ate some­thing new. "Style is per­son­alised. There are no 'shoulds' in style, and style is nev­er about mon­ey." Wed­dings, in gen­er­al, can be for­mal, se­mi-for­mal or in­for­mal.

Here are some gen­er­al guide­lines for each type:

The for­mal wed­ding

Usu­al­ly, a cer­e­mo­ny of this type will be held in a place of wor­ship, fol­lowed by a re­cep­tion in a ho­tel ball­room or a spa­cious home or gar­den.

The groom and his grooms­men should, tra­di­tion­al­ly, wear tail­coats or tuxe­does, and the women should be dressed in el­e­gant, floor-length gowns.

For­mal bridal par­ties usu­al­ly have at least four or more at­ten­dants.

In the event that a for­mal wed­ding is held ear­li­er in the day, ladies can wear cock­tail-length dress­es and the men can wear dark suits.

At for­mal wed­dings, there is of­ten pomp and cer­e­mo­ny at the ar­rival of the bride and groom, so it's not un­usu­al for them to ar­rive in a lim­ou­sine, vin­tage car, or some oth­er type of elab­o­rate trans­porta­tion.

A for­mal, sit-down meal is al­so typ­i­cal at these types of re­cep­tions.

The se­mi-for­mal wed­ding

Nat­u­ral­ly, this style can be thought of as mid­dle ground be­tween the for­mal and the in­for­mal wed­ding types. It may be a good op­tion for cou­ples who can­not agree on a spe­cif­ic style.

Un­like the for­mal wed­ding, grooms can choose to wear a grey suit or a for­mal suit, as op­posed to hav­ing to wear a black tuxe­do.

Brides' gowns are usu­al­ly al­so less for­mal, and there are few­er at­ten­dants.

Gen­er­al­ly, fe­male guests can wear cock­tail dress­es and their male coun­ter­parts can wear dark suits.

Meals at this type of wed­ding are usu­al­ly buf­fet-style.

The in­for­mal wed­ding

This wed­ding is ca­su­al, with one to three at­ten­dants, with fe­male at­ten­dants wear­ing cock­tail-length dress­es. Fe­male guests can opt for cock­tail-length dress­es or a dressy pant or skirt suit.

In­vi­ta­tions can be hand-writ­ten or even sent via e-mail.

At this type of wed­ding, some brides choose to wear cock­tail-length dress­es, sim­ple floor-length dress­es, or even skirt suits.