You’ve RSVP’d, booked your room in the reserved block, and purchased a perfect mid-level gift off their Target registry. All that’s left is figuring out what you’re wearing and then you’ll be set to… as Kool & The Gang so profoundly put it: “bring your good times, and your laughter too.” Cripes. Dear wedding DJs: Please delete Celebration from your playlists and replace it with Jungle Boogie. The latter is a far superior song in every way. Thanks.
Fit (as always) is key, you want to stay cool, and you’re aiming to be slightly less dressed-up than the groom. Most men show up to a summer wedding looking like they never changed out of their casual Friday khakis and sport shirt. You’ll want to take it up a notch. Here’s how to do it:
The Groom: Tux. Invite says “black tie” | You: Your own, tailored tuxedo
If it says black tie, that means black tie. If you don’t wear black tie, it’s kind of like showing up to a BYOB party and drinking another person’s beer. 99% of rentals are awful and can run triple digits. Trim fit tuxes start around $200. Strongly consider buying your own and getting it tailored. Notch lapels are safest, peak is most traditional. Avoid winged collars, pre-tied bow ties, and cummerbunds. More on black tie here.
The Groom: Tux, but no black tie on the invite | You: Light grey wool suit
If the groom is in a tux and the wedding is inside, showing up in a khaki chino might not look right. Many couples still go with tuxedos for the groom and groomsmen for late afternoon weddings, and the poor bastards just have to melt in those rentals during the ceremony. A light grey wool suit acknowledges the dressed up feel of the wedding, while the color recognizes the season. Feel free to brighten up the look with a patterned pocket square or warm weather tie.
The Groom: A non-linen suit of some sort | You: A chino or cotton/linen blend suit
Dress it up or down depending on what your date is wearing. If it’s a lighter more casual affair, maybe go with a chambray shirt. If it’s not? Know that a crisp white dress shirt and a black knit tie (yes, Khaki and black do go together) can look really, really good. Don’t go full linen here. (Use the code BRSALE25 to drop that suit you see above down to $217. Code expires today, 6/27. Pant sizes online look limited)
The Groom: A linen suit, or chinos and a dress shirt | You: A lightweight blazer & Chinos
Stay away from white up-top, but this medium grey textured cotton/linen blazer from Macy’s will pair nicely with white chinos on your lower half. A light blue shirt is the easy partner, and add a deeper blue tie and/or pocket square so you’re not completely washed out. Suede or loafers for your shoes. Leave those green pants in the closet.
The Groom: Linen Pants, a linen shirt, and flip flops | You: A Seersucker suit
If the man getting married is in flip flops, chances are there will be sand under your feat. Doesn’t mean you still can’t wear a suit. Seersucker gets the call here.
The Final Extra Points: Wear a jacket. There will be plenty of guys wearing just shirts and ties… like the waitstaff. Don’t get plastered, even if you have a designated driver already assigned. Be the first to engage those at your table during dinner whom you don’t know. Drink plenty of water. Don’t forget sunscreen. The electric slide is a perfect opportunity to get you and your date refills.
Any other summer wedding tips, attire based or otherwise, feel free to leave those in the comments…
If you’re gonna wear loafers, don’t wear socks. Completely ruined what would have been an otherwise winning ensemble of linen suit and devil-may-care-arranged bowtie at a recent event for me. Totally looked like dude had someone buy the outfit for him, but didn’t bother telling him to skip the formal dress socks with his cas loafers.
Good suggestions. It’s always better to dress yourself to the groom than to try and puzzle out what “cowboy black tie” or “summery dress casual” are actually supposed to mean.
That can get complicated, though, if you don’t know the groom well or at all. Luckily, if you don’t know the happy couple well enough to be comfortable asking them what they’re going to wear, odds are they won’t be offended if you don’t perfectly match the dress code.
Good suggestions. It’s always better to dress yourself to the groom than to try and puzzle out what “cowboy black tie” or “summery dress casual” are actually supposed to mean.
That can get complicated, though, if you don’t know the groom well or at all. Luckily, if you don’t know the happy couple well enough to be comfortable asking them what they’re going to wear, odds are they won’t be offended if you don’t perfectly match the dress code.
I think it can be worn with chinos as long as it’s tailored real well. It is a suit jacket, so it just has that suit jacket frame to it. But if you pair it with, say, a pair of white chinos or something, I think it can be done. (Key word: THINK.) But one think to note, it’s not that light-weight at all. It’s plenty breathable, but it’s not madras or linen breezy. Might want to head in a different direction for that kinda work. Incredible feel to the fabric though. Italian fabric, suit’s made in Egypt.
Supposing scenario #2: Groom/Groomsmen are black tie, the guests are not; what is the range of attire? What is the least/most dressed up you can or would want to be? Would a navy or patterned suit be a bit casual and would a black suit be a bit too close to the formal attire of the wedding party? As you can tell, etiquette baffles me.
I’d steer clear from the black. You don’t want to look like you want to look like a groomsmen (even though you’re not) or… you’re headed to a funeral. If it’s outside, (which is too bad for the guys in the tuxes) you can go pretty casual. If it’s inside, I think the navy or patterned suit is a safe play.
Speaking of lightweight blazers… the American Eagle site shows a new cotton twill blazer for $90.
We need to recruit someone to try this thing out at the brick-and-mortar and report back! I don’t normally dig AE stuff but this looks intriguingly similar to the LLBean twill suit jacket that Joe has raved about so much.
Good tips, a good rule of thumb is to always dress one step down from what the groom is wearing, unless the invite specifies a certain kind of dress.
So why is wearing a cummerbund a bad thing?
Unnecessary weight, warmth, can make your lines look a little screwy, it’s all a matter of personal preference of course. But to some, it’s kinda like an appendix. I had to wear one for years at a job and I was doing cartwheels when they started to fall out of favor.
I wish you’d had posted this a week earlier… I just go married this Saturday!
Late June in South Alabama usually means estremely hot weather. We were lucky and the temperature was hovering around 90 at the ceremony, which was in the shade, and dropped to the mid-80’s for the reception which was also outdoors.
I wore a Light Brown Linen blend suit, white shirt, and orange Vineyard Vines tie.
What does “black tie optional” mean for male wedding guests at an indoor wedding in the evening? I always heard a dark suit is the way to go – is that still just about right?
I’m going today to look at it. Initial reserves: “American Eagle” stamped all over the buttons. As long as that’s not TOO garish, It’ll be bearable. Will report back on the fit. That said, I’m a big dude (48″ jacket, 36″ waist), so you more average size types might have a harder time fitting well into what fits me well, or might fit fine into what doesn’t fit me.
Intriguing. What job had you wearing a cummerbund? And, pics or it didn’t happen.
Yeah, the thing about black tie optional weddings is that the groom and wedding party will be in black-tie, but not all of the guests will be. But the guests that do wear a tux might look like they are in the wedding party, even though they’re not. Go dark suit, dress it way up.
In another life I played the piano in a mall food court. You wouldn’t expect it, but people were strangely generous with tips after they got all greased on Sbarro washed down with Orange Julius. At one point, I went all out and actually wore tails for about a year.
not available in stores until monday/tuesday.
What says all of you to the navy (perhaps cotton) blazer up top with chinos below. It’s a classic look that can often look altogether stuffy if done wrong. A classic look like that should be able to age well, though, shouldn’t it?
–Homme shirts ties A classic look like that should be able to age well, though, shouldn’t it?
def can’t go wrong, imo, with a light blue or white oxford (or “rumpled” pinpoint, like jcrew’s secret wash ones), and a fun tie, with some appropriately colored bucks.
My sister-in-law is marrying an officer in the Air Force, so he will be in his “dress blues” military uniform. There is no wedding party. The wedding is at 11am in July and I’m stumped as to what to wear. Any suggestions?
Oops, I should have said that his dress uniform is a dark blue tuxedo.