Wedding wear...

[Applesauce]

My wife and I - married in a registrar's office in the Bahamas to solve what we thought would be a pending visa issue - are having a proper family wedding in a few weeks. I've yet to figure out what to wear, though I was sure putting it off would usher in some kind of powerful inspiration.

It's an August wedding in the foothills outside Calgary: it may be hot-ish (30°C), it may be thunderstorming, it may be snowing. I'm not a tux guy, I don't think, though at some point I was headed down that path... I used to be so well put together. Then I moved to Calgary (from London, Paris, etc.), and it quit mattering entirely, and I quit caring, mostly.

Now I'm getting all anxious. I'm WIDE open to suggestion. If you were planning a southern-family-moved-north-style pigroast-family-drunkening wedding for yourself, what do you think you'd wear?

[dave1215]

White linen suit

Bright solid dress shirt
Bow tie and suspenders
Cognac colored shoes
Boutonnière

[RickM]

You know what? yeah...go with that dave1215 said. It'll work. I though about what my suggestions would be for far too long. Just go with the above. And...Congratulations.

[robin3mj]

Gray suit, brown shoes/belt. Lighter gray is more informal.
Don't take your jacket off, or, if you're gonna take your jacket off, wear a vest.

[Britishbane]

One take: Put This On • What should I wear for my wedding? For men who...

I went with robin3mj's above advice and wore a mid grey with brown shoes. The ceremony was outside a barn at 5pm, a tux would have been weird.

[ABiCi]

I got married in Rome in summer, it was hot. I went with a light grey suit, brown belt and shoes, white shirt with a pop of colour from my tie and a pocket square.

suit.jpg

[deepsix]

Wear a tux. Have it tailored properly. You won't regret it.
Ask your bride though- its all about her. The tux is for celebration and respect. It's cool they exist. Make one yours.

[TomW]

Handmade 3 piece unlined summer suit made specially to deal with the heat in Italy. If there might be sun avoid black like the plague. Get summer style lining if heat is your enemy.

Black tie (English phrase for tux) is slightly strange choice for wedding as that is not what they are for. If you want to go traditional get a morning suit (but be prepared to be hot).


Wedding walk by TomEats, on Flickr

[alexstar]

I got married in 90+ degree heat. I wore a white seersucker suit and was as comfortable as I think was possible. Seersucker gets my vote. Oh, and congratulations!

[TomW]

Oh, and congratulations!

Yes - this most importantly ;). Well apart from don't get too drunk and make sure people are regularly giving you glasses of water

[maunahaole]

I got married on the beach on Kauai. Nice aloha shirt, shorts, sandals. No suits and ties permitted.

You and your wife know what suits you best. Do what meets the intersection of what suits your personal style while paying the proper respect to the day. It is your celebration, so you get to make the call.

[Britishbane]

Black tie (English phrase for tux) is slightly strange choice for wedding as that is not what they are for. If you want to go traditional get a morning suit (but be prepared to be hot).

[

This. Morning Suit, not tux. Unless your ceremony is at 9pm...

[echelon_john]

I don't think morning suit and pigroast go together. If you're generally a casual guy and it's a casual wedding by all accounts, then the white linen or seersucker recommendations above are right on. I would add that a dark navy blue suit that fits well, with a nice shirt and a bright tie and nice brown shoes/belt is almost never a bad idea.

My rule of thumb for casual weddings is that the groom should still be among the best dressed guys there, so if you have guests who will be wearing a suit no matter what, you need to at least be wearing a suit, whether it's linen, seersucker, cotton, whatever. True, it's your day. But you should still step it up a notch.

[TomW]

I wore a white seersucker suit and was as comfortable as I think was possible. Seersucker gets my vote.

I've always wanted to try seersucker. I think I need to visit a tailor when next in the US.

[Shinomaster]

Chewbacca costume.

[Chad]

deepsix with the perfect response. Our opinions are useless. Please your bride, then yourself. I'd have tied the knot at the courthouse, reception was at the country club.

Congrats and good luck!!!

[davids]

First, congratulations!

I'm a big fan of a lightweight/summer weight wool suit. Light grey. What ABiCi did.

Second choice would be an off-white linen suit (white can be a bit much, especially given the connotations of the color in a nuptial situation.) That will be less versatile in the future though.

[BShow]

I think you need to discuss it with your wife to be. Probe to find out what she wants. Even if she "doesn't care or have an opinion," she does. Not only do you need to find out what it is, you need to procure the attire that she wants you to wear. Act quickly, because the longer you wait, the less options you have.

For what it's worth, I was married outdoors in a very rustic location in some ruins of an old barn. This was on the MTB trails where we had our first date. I wore a tux, and while I may be biased, I don't think it was out of place at all.

[Wisco]

I got married in Rome in summer, it was hot. I went with a light grey suit, brown belt and shoes, white shirt with a pop of colour from my tie and a pocket square.

suit.jpg

AbiCi went in the right direction with a mid-grey suit. He looks great with a bit of color, but I would respectfully suggest that you you want the focus to be on your lovely bride; Stick to a solid or very subtle design tie and plain white pocket square if you choose to wear one. A tuxedo is one of the most perfect expressions of male tailored clothing and it consists entirely of black and white.

Think Sean Connery as James Bond

A Suitable Wardrobe: The Basic Summer Suit

The biggest issue IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE is to have your clothes tailored. Don't be the schlub with the off the rack suit with too long arms, too much room in the torso and puddles of trouser legs on top of your shoes. Find a good alterations tailor and look like the suit was made for you regardless of how much it cost or where you got it. Having your tailored clothes fit is the ultimate sign of respect for the event, for your guests and for your bride.

[ABiCi]

AbiCi went in the right direction with a mid-grey suit. He looks great with a bit of color, but I would respectfully suggest that you you want the focus to be on your lovely bride; Stick to a solid or very subtle design tie and plain white pocket square if you choose to wear one. A tuxedo is one of the most perfect expressions of male tailored clothing and it consists entirely of black and white.

Agree, colour is a very personal thing, and in this situation you definitely aren't the only one whose personal tastes matter. My wife stole the show with a red cloche, my tie and pocket square were chosen specifically to work with that and she was very active in my decisions. The whole process is good practice for being married ;)

4699367984_e57d88c834.jpg

The biggest issue IF YOU DO NOTHING ELSE is to have your clothes tailored. Don't be the schlub with the off the rack suit with too long arms, too much room in the torso and puddles of trouser legs on top of your shoes. Find a good alterations tailor and look like the suit was made for you regardless of how much it cost or where you got it. Having your tailored clothes fit is the ultimate sign of respect for the event, for your guests and for your bride.

I also very much agree with this. Better to split your clothing budget 50/50 between buying the suit and having alterations made than just getting a more expensive suit off the rack and not touching it. I'm pretty small which makes finding a suit my size pretty difficult, in the end I went made for measure (with these guys, who are very affordable: Thick As Thieves - Los Angeles) and it was a fraction of some of the ill-fitting suits I had tried on in stores and the fit was just right. As someone that otherwise never wears a suit I have to say there is nothing worse than an ill fitting suit.