Wedding Reception???

[PiobBear]

I'm surprised nobody else has said this. What will everyone else be wearing?

"The attire for the stake house is dress slacks and dress short sleeve shirt and tie."

And we've all got to remember the general attitude here in the States now: Formal means you wear a jacket and tie.

Not where I live. 'Formal' still means a tux or PC, 'Semi-Formal' a business suit or black Argyll, 'Informal' a blazer or tweed. We don't loose the ties until we get to 'Casual' (or Flanagan's Pub after the event's over). We go formal several times a year for Burns Night, St Andrew's Dinner, whisky tastings, etc., and formal weddings are quite common. If the invitation states "black tie" or "formal wear requested", a gentleman is expected to comply to the best of his ability. If you'd prefer to be interpreted as being something else entirely, by all means do as you please.
(A pet peeve of mine; people who show up to visitations, funerals, weddings, receptions, and other social events in all manner of shorts, T-shirts, jeans, etc. Second only to those who can't bear to turn their damn cell phones off for 30 minutes. It's not only inconsiderate, it's disrespectful to the point of being overtly insulting. Small wonder Western civilization's circling the bloody drain.)

...when he first heard about the stakehouse he thought they meant a restaurant.

OK; I'll bite..."Stake house" isn't a typo for "steak house"; a restaurant?