Choosing an evening bag for a wedding comes down to three questions: what time of day, with which outfit, and what your role is on the day. The material comes next: beads, embroidered velvet, brocade or satin. This guide goes through each case, with handmade bags from our atelier, so that the bag finishes the outfit rather than competing with it.<\/p>\n
A wedding often runs from the civil ceremony to the evening dancing. By day, natural light favours pale, matt materials: white beads, light-ground brocade, ivory satin. In the evening, under the chandeliers, whatever sparkles takes over: black beads, crystals, embroidered velvet, metallic fabric. If you are taking only one bag for the whole day, choose a shade that works for both: black and gold, pearly white or silver.<\/p>\n
The simplest rule: the bag answers your jewellery set or a colour in the embroidery, never the exact colour of the dress. With a coloured dress, a neutral bag that catches the light; with a black or plain dress, a bag that brings texture or colour. Metal matters too: a gold-tone frame with gold jewellery, a silver-tone frame with silver, beads or crystal. We go into this in gold or silver: choosing an evening bag<\/a>.<\/p>\n Covered in beads row after row and mounted on a gold-tone or silver-tone frame, it is held like a piece of jewellery. Sizes range from the 10 \u00d7 8 cm minaudi\u00e8re, which takes only a lipstick and a key, to the 20 \u00d7 25 cm bag that takes a phone. It is the most versatile wedding bag. All our beaded bags<\/a>.<\/p>\n Deep velvet, embroidered with beads, crystals or gold thread: this is the bag for evenings and winter, and for North African ceremony outfits. It needs a plain dress so the embroidery can be read.<\/p>\n A length of fabric knotted through a gold-tone ring and worn on the wrist: your hands stay free for a glass of champagne and the photos. Floral brocade or marbled fabric brings the pattern; a fringe follows every step. See our Japanese knot bag guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n A pouch bag gathered with a drawstring, embroidered or trimmed with beads: romantic in ivory, chic in black. It is light and sits on the shoulder on its chain.<\/p>\n A phone, a card, keys, a lipstick, tissues: those are the essentials, and they fit into 20 \u00d7 12 cm. Anything more calls for a day bag. A minaudi\u00e8re makes you choose; if you would rather not, aim for at least 20 cm wide. Our detailed list: what to put in your wedding clutch<\/a>.<\/p>\n Winter calls for velvet, black satin, black and amber beads; summer for white beads, light brocade, colourful fringe. The season-by-season details are in evening bags for a winter or summer wedding<\/a>.<\/p>\n Pack it the night before: charged phone, tissues, a lipstick, a card and a little cash. At dinner, put it on the table or beside you, not on the floor. For dancing, hand it to someone or keep it on your shoulder if it has a chain. After the party, store it flat in its dust bag: beads and velvet dislike both damp and crushing (see how to care for a beaded bag<\/a>).<\/p>\n3. Your role<\/h2>\n
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4. The four kinds of evening bag<\/h2>\n
The beaded bag<\/h3>\n
Embroidered velvet<\/h3>\n
The brocade Japanese knot bag<\/h3>\n
Beaded satin<\/h3>\n
5. Size: what you really need to take<\/h2>\n
6. The season<\/h2>\n
7. The bag on the day<\/h2>\n