What is the dress code for the company holiday retreat?

Dear Polite One,

For the first time in as long as I can remember our company has invited the spouses of our field team members to come in for our annual holiday party. It is listed as cocktail attire.

The company is paying for airfare and hotel and wants to make this a special event. I oversee planning 2 days of events for the wives, while their spouses are in meetings including a tea, a dinner with their spouses, a tour of our office, and then a morning of shopping.

I am including an agenda along with their travel itineraries and am stuck on how to list appropriate attire for the tea and dinner (the tour and shopping are casual of course!)

I’d like them to dress nice, but don’t want it to be too fancy. They should be able to wear the same outfit to both the tea and the dinner if they would like. We are having the tea and a tour at the historic Molly Brown House and dinner are at an Italian restaurant (chain) downtown. I was considering informal daytime or smart casual. I don’t want them to show up in jeans, but don’t want to say no jeans. That just sounds so uncouth. Please advise.

Thank you,

Distressed in Denver

Dear Distressed in Denver,

I must say, I am a bit jealous. This sounds like a great time.

I believe "Dressy Casual" or “Smart Casual” would be the best dress code. This implies dresses, skirts with nice tops, or pantsuits. More than likely once your guests read that they will be attending a tea they will realize that they need to dress up a bit.

Enjoy!

Sincerely,

The Polite One

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