But I don't know the rules at American weddings. Are black and white off limits? What sort of gift is appropriate? Argh! I don't want to ruin someone's wedding with a hideous cultural faux pas.

I would not wear black to a New England wedding. (Well, I would not wear black to any wedding, but that's because I'm from New England). If you don't have any sort of registry to work from, you can never go wrong with something from Tiffany--they have stuff at many price points, from monogrammed playing cards or two champagne flutes (both $30) on up and then you can easily send it instead of bringing it. Everything is packaged in their fancy robin's egg blue boxes and looks really nice.

Tiffany is surprisingly affordable. For my 30th, my bestie got me a silver necklace. Then when she moved to L.A. we got her one with a horseshoe for good luck. I think it was about $125, which isn't bad when split between a couple of people.

Good lord, Jars. That sounds like a hell of a lot of activity for a wedding. Bleargh.

When I was younger, I got all my wedding presents there, but that's primarily because they had a crystal salad bowl called a Georgetown bowl that I gave to all my college friends with a Shakespeare quote about our salad days. The monogrammed playing cards are also fun because its two decks and you can do one for each half of the couple. They used to have a fabulous set of 4 crystal beer steins that were relatively cheap, but I'm not seeing those on their website.

DJ, those nails are adorable (and somewhere Pete is flinching).

My office has a dress code ... kind of. It's mostly ignored. I tend to try to dress professionally, although I've declared myself a casual Friday (it's pushing 100 out there! with humidity to match!). I'm wearing black cotton pants, a linen blouse (white with black and light beige blotches in kind of an abstract animal print). Not fancy, but comfy.

Hah, yeah, I've given the Georgetown bowl a time or seven.

Jars, just make sure you don't wear hose. You do not want sand all up in your toes without any way to release it.

I think it's one of my weird old-lady opinions, so I would never try to impose it on anyone, which is why I'm secretly (not-so-secretly) glad when someone else does.

Jesse is me. See also, no sandals at work, hose preferred, wearing a coat, etc. Also, in most offices I've been in, I would be cold in sleeveless outfits.

ETA: Jars, no hose and dressy flats would be perfectly acceptable for the wedding.

Hah, yeah, I've given the Georgetown bowl a time or seven.

Wait, did you also go there?

I'm doing a casual Friday thing with a long (lower calf) black skirt with a blueberry short sleeved cowl neck top. Should I be required to be anywhere with important people, I have an emergency cardigan I can throw on.

Jars, I'm sure that you will be fine. If nothing else, your charming accent will make up for any perceived faux pas.

As a side note, I think that formal beach weddings are ridiculous. The women can't wear heels, and it's difficult for the men to wear shoes that they won't get sand in. Plus, there's the inherent casualness of the beach!

Our office's dress code is that you have to be wearing clothes.

This is my office, for the most part. Clean clothes that cover all the basics. I haven't realy seen anyone push the too much skin line, even when it is hot as Hades here. I tend to wear jeans with heels most of the time. And some sort of blouse/top.