Coordinating Groomswear
The biggest talking point with the weddings that I look after is how to distinguish a groom from his best man, his best man from the ushers, or his wedding party from any guests that may dress up.
As with most wedding issues, opinions, what the etiquette books say, what your sister did at her wedding and so on can all play a part in your decision making. Having helped many a wedding through the quagmire or myriad of colours, styles and aunt Flo’s opinion, I say just choose what you are comfortable with, take the professionals advice as to the combinations available and don’t complicate your look. In fact, if you break it down it really isn’t that complicated.
The Bride and Groom
To start, the groom is usually accessorised to match his bride, often with white or ivory. This is not only traditional guys (and gets you mega brownie points), it ensures that ANY suit colour can be chosen to suit you. Ok, so it may sound a bit twee, but if you are fair haired or dark skinned, tall or short, these all play a part in what suit is best for you, so choosing neutral accessories really is a help.
The Groom and Best Man
What about the best man is the next question? Not being ones to dictate to you, my staff have their own opinion and I like that because they are not reading from a book or suggesting the same old thing to every wedding. For instance I am a fan of the best man looking exactly like the groom. This way the best man stands apart from the other members of your party and will be respected by the guests as someone who has an important role to play. My assistant manager however doesn’t agree with this and feels the groom should stand out in a subtle way, with all of the other groomsmen dressed the same as each other. Both these scenarios and others can look very effective. There is no particular right or wrong so do what you feel is correct, but there is no need to over complicate the look.
The Groomsmen
Ok, so what to do about the ushers, father of the bride and even page boys? Some wedding parties think that the father of the bride should stand out in some way, but don’t want him to look like the groom. The same idea can be applied for page boys. This can add a third or even a fourth look into the men’s group look, and this is when things start to look busy, disjointed, or even like that the shop ran out of a particular colour. Even if the bridesmaid’s colours are multiple, we suggest picking one colour that will suit the guys best, with of course the preferred suit colour and style.
To summarise - the typical (but by no means every) wedding that I look after consists of:
The groom or groom and best man in ivory / white accessories. The other groomsmen are typically in the same outfit but with a different neckwear colour and possibly waistcoat colour; simple but effective and relevant. The picture accompanying this article shows the groom and best man in a different suit style to the ushers. As you can see, done well, changes can be big or small but very effective.
Article by Groomswear Specialist Steve Bishop
Image Courtesy of Hugh Harris
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