Groomsmen
“Individual men are smart. Groups men are not.”
We get asked questions all the time about what to wear for weddings. Inevitably, the easiest part is deciding what a groom (or bride) should wear during their wedding day. After that, the questions usually asked are “what should I wear to the rehearsal dinner?” and “what should my groomsmen wear?” We’ll cover the former in another post.
The latter is a bigger decision that often induces stress. Mainly surrounding whether or not to ask your party to purchase or rent an outfit for the wedding.
Our stance? Firstly, groomsmen (and/or groomsmaids et al) should wear a white shirt same as the groom. Secondly, they should wear the same color shoes as the groom. Thirdly, the easiest ways to coordinate them with the groom’s outfit are as follows:
The groom wears a bow tie and the party wears the same color but in a long tie.
The groom wears a three piece suit and the party wears a two piece (the same can be said that the groom wears a two piece and the party wears waistcoats and matching pants).
The groom wears a certain boutonniere and the party wears a different color (or nothing). The same can be said for long/bow ties.
The groom wears a certain color suit and the groomsmen are in another (groom - blue, party - grey for example). In this instance, everything else should likely match (tie, boutonniere etc).
Additionally, the groom can wear a tuxedo while the groomsmen are in suits.
Lastly, you could simply match from head to toe. Everyone attending the wedding knows the groom. So differentiating needn’t be a must.
We encourage grooms not to overthink this process. How many groomsmen should you have? 5 or less is great. More than that and your options start to become limited. Meaning, one of the party will prefer not to buy an outfit if that’s the route you’d prefer to go. Or rent. As someone whose been wearing custom clothing for over a decade, I’d prefer not to rent something if necessary.
If you think back to the last time you were at a wedding (where you were not standing up), can you remember what the groomsmen wore? Chances are that you can’t. So, why are you stressing about something so inconsequential? Groomsmen, as a group, aren’t smart. Tell them (individually and not in a group email or text) what you’d like them to wear. Get a feeling for their level of taste and if they can purchase something or if they’d prefer to rent. From there, explain politely, as far in advance, what you’d like them to do. Once expectations are set, ride the roller coaster. It’ll be more fun. And you should be having fun with it. If it’s not fun, you’re doing it wrong. Wedding planning is expensive and stressful, so if you make it more expensive and more stressful, you’re doing it wrong. Do it right. Ask questions. Be communicative. Trust people who are more knowledgeable and then, when the time comes, get married.
