When Lauren and Jackson England tied the knot with a safari wedding in Ranthambore, India, in January, they wanted the dress code to reflect the surroundings. The mood they communicated to their guests was “classic heritage Ralph Lauren.”
“I am an aesthetic person, and we had a clear vision for the hero image we wanted to create on the safari Jeep,” Mr. England, 37, said, referring to their primary wedding portrait. (He and Ms. England are founders of a content and production company in Sydney, Australia.) “It was important to me that guests followed our color palette.”
In the end, “our creative friends had fun with it, but our mothers were a bit overwhelmed.”
Ms. England, 40, said that they didn’t want anyone to feel pressure, so they “informed everyone three months in advance, and had discussions with them on what could work,” adding that they also chose the dress code of “colors of India” for a pre-wedding event in Jaipur that doubled as her 40th birthday party. They used campaign imagery from the designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee to illustrate this theme.
The Englands aren’t the only ones directing the aesthetic of their wedding. Earlier this year, nine pages of wardrobe guidance were given to guests for a multiday pre-wedding celebration in Jamnagar, India, for Radhika Merchant and Anant Ambani, the youngest son of one of the world’s richest men. “Jungle fever,” “dazzling Desi romance” and “heritage Indian” were among the themes, and the document, which included runway photos and designer campaign images for inspiration, listed the expected weather conditions for the event.
Dress codes for their more recent pre-wedding celebration, a multiday cruise in Europe from May 29 to June 1, included “classic cruise,” “tourist chic” and “Italian summer.”
“Weddings today are designed within an inch of their life,” said Sarah Haywood, a wedding planner in London. “These mood boards help communicate the destination, venue and event design so that guests can be dressed appropriately.”
