What to Wear to a Spring or Summer Wedding – Dressed Up (2023)

What are you going to wear? Sometimes it’s good to look at a few suggestions then add your own tweaks and ideas. That’s what these are for. Dressing for warmer weather weddings can be tough. We’ll cover three levels of formality (Dressed up, Smart but not Stuffy, and Casual) in the coming days. Today’s scenario is for the most common, and most dressed up of weddings. The Groom and Groomsmen will be in (rented) tuxedoes. One of them might pass out from heat stroke. But we’re not doing that. No sir, no ma’am. Here’s one way to look your best while avoiding what most other men will wear, namely a dark, sunlight absorbing suit + stuffy starched shirt/shiny tie combo. Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash

The Suit: J. Crew STRETCH Italian wool Slim Fit Suit Jacket + Trousers in Atlantic Blue = $472.50 w/ SHOPNOW ($650). What’s cooler than being cool? This shade of blue. Stretch wool fabric for the dance floor at the reception. On sale through today, Monday 4/17. The more affordable option: Spier & Mackay Light Gray Suit – $298. Switching it up here to light gray since Spier doesn’t have a steel-y blue option in stock at present… especially not in their base Red Label line. Also know that this option from Spier is/are “nested” suits, NOT suit separates. So tailoring will be a must and the trousers that come with the jacket are the ones you get. Standard “drop-6″ sizing. (trouser waist = jacket size -6) Therefor a 40R jacket comes w/ a 34″ waist trouser. A tailor should be able to adjust the pants within reason (1.5”) Full review of the new Red Label line can be found here.

The Shirt: Nordstrom Tech-Smart Dress Shirt in Extra Trim, Trim, or Traditional Fit – $79.50. Not the cheapest, but with it being a 77% cotton, 15% “CoolMax poly,” and 8% spandex blend, it should hopefully keep you cooler and more comfortable than a cheaper all cotton dress shirt.

The Tie: TheTieBar Pointed Tip Knit Tie in Eggplant – $25. Probably the perfect warm weather wedding tie. Knit gives you that texture which looks perfect in the spring and summer months, yet the pointed end keeps it from looking too casual. Sharp, but just laid-back enough.

The Optional Pocket Square: The Tie Bar Donna Leigh Floral Navy Pocket Square – $18. A splash of color and pattern. Friendly. If you want to keep things sleeker/don’t like “whimsey,” then skip it.

The Watch: Dan Henry 1937 Mecha-Quartz Chronograph – $270 + extra Coffee Brown Strap – $45. Or whatever your favorite slim dress watch happens to be. This one happens to be a chrono, which’ll help you time your cocktail consumption (water breaks… take MANY water breaks) and/or how long Aunt Helen has been chewing your ear off. Shown above on a “coffee” brown extra strap. They’ve got those quick change pins too, so swapping out straps is easy. Comes with a black and tan strap. You want to match your belt, shoes, and watch strap if possible, so a dark brown leather strap is the way to go. The More Affordable Option: Orient Bambino Automatic – $155

The Belt: Nordstrom Newman Reversible Leather Belt – $49.50. A reversible brown to black. “Two belts” for the price of one. Sleek and dressy. Ships and returns for free.

The Shoes: Allen Edmonds Mahogany Park Avenue Cap-toe Oxford Dress Shoe – $296.25 ($395). An investment, yet still getting a rare discount during the Anniversary Sale. The Park Avenue is one of their bestsellers and often excluded from other deals. Going with Mahogany here. A lighter brown (or even tan) would stand out, but this dark Mahogany brown shade is still incredibly handsome, more subtle/sexy/not shout-y, and they play nicely with the deep eggplant purple tie. The More Affordable Option: Allen Edmonds Fifth Ave – $237

The Socks: Allen Edmonds Over-the-Calf Merino Cool Dress Socks in Navy – $16.87 ($22.50). Over the calf means you won’t have to be constantly bending down and pulling up any slouching socks as the reception rolls into “electric slide” territory.

The Tip: Drink water. Lots of water. Whether it’s stashing a Nalgene at your table or in your car or wherever, just drink lots and lots of water. Being the sweaty drunk at the reception and the hungover guest the morning after just isn’t worth it. Stay hydrated, and ease off or skip the booze. It causes way too much trouble at weddings. And if you do have to stand for any long periods of time during the ceremony, don’t lock your knees. Locking your knees cuts off restricts circulation to your brain. If you’ve ever been at a wedding where one of the wedding party passes out during the ceremony (I’ve seen it happen) it’s… something.