We decided a long time ago that we were looking for our wedding to be just a little bit different. I really didn’t want it to look like any other wedding I might’ve worked on and so we moved it out to La Palma and adopted a bright, colourful theme and chose a relaxed and informal style for the day. This left us with a slight problem though… we have a best man and 3 ushers, all of whom would normally be dressed in a formal suit designed to match the groom. With our groom dressing in something far from the normal formal suit, waistcoat and cravat and with no desire to have everyone looking so similar that they don’t stand out from the crowd, exactly how do you achieve an informal but stand-out groomsmen look? Well, we’re not ready to spill the beans on our final look just yet (though they’re going to look GREAT!) but we thought we’d share some of the ideas we discussed to help anyone in the same boat.
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Tip Number 1: Bouttoniere’s
Firstly, go with a buttonhole. It’s a simple way to identify the key players and can look great on any outfit, not just the formal shirt. If you’re trying to stick with the more unorthodox then bear in mind you don’t have to go with a classic flower… get creative! There’s all kinds of interesting designs you can go for from superheros to badges to musical instruments! Find something that fits your style and pick one up for each of the guys!
Tip Number 2: Get the right base layer
Choose a uniform style of basic clothing that everyone will wear. If you’re asking them to buy this part for themselves then you might get a much better response if it’s something they’d be able to wear again afterwards, for example “a white shirt and dark trousers” will probably get a better response than “if you could each just buy yourselves some hot pants and a pink vest…” Seriously though, If you have a consistent base layer you can create the look you want with the accessories…
Tip Number 3: The Accessories
If you’re going for something that doesn’t necessarily standout on its own like a standard business suit then alongside the bouttoniere find some other accessories…even if they’re partially hidden ones! I love the cool brightly coloured socks from this wedding, a great way to tie the groomsmen together and one that would work brilliantly for any outfit!
Tip Number 4: Ties Ties Ties
Choosing the right style of tie for everyone can really help to tie it together. Why not go for a cool skinny tie to pull away from the usual wedding trends? Or, if you think they can pull it off, a bow-tie can really help to make them look totally different from most of the other guests. Perhaps you should have then all in the same colour as whatever the groom is wearing, or just the same style in different colours… better yet get something really funky, textured and colourful to help them really stand out!
Tip Number 5: Waistcoats
Now for a destination wedding we decided against anything that would make everyone too hot, but rather than spend lots of money on expensive suits for your groomsmen, why not just choose a cool waistcoat for each of them to wear? Again these could be the same colour or maybe just be a similar pattern that ties them all together. Waistcoats are a heck of a lot cheaper than full suits and can look really cool without a jacket! (They also provide something to pin your boutonniere to!) 🙂
So there we have our top Groomsmen tips! Actually they’re really MY groomsmen tips, but I’ll leave you with my gormless groom’s one and only contribution to this area…
“Buy them each a matching bottle of whisky… after the first few drams they’ll wear anything you want!”
Typical!
