Wedding - Groomsmen in Bow Ties, Groom in a Necktie? - Page 2

Foo, I think your advice is sound. Your criticism of bowties, however, does not apply to bowties worn with double breasted or vested suits. Worn with DB or a vested suit, a bowtie in a wedding pattern is extremely elegant.

I agree with David, and Manton, and Foo that it is better if the groomsmen do not wear the exact same cut of suit by the same maker.

David, I missed that your suit will be three piece. Excellent choice. If you really wanted to shine, you could do a contrast collar shirt with white pencil stripes on a light blue ground. Google "Prince Charles Parker Bowles wedding" for ideas. But the solid white shirt will look great.

There's nothing wrong with bow ties, per se. My point is that they are eccentric. A group of identically dressed men in bow ties is several degrees more conspicuously odd than a group of such men without bow ties.

I think OP is not forcing them all to wear the same charcoal suit...they are allowed to pick any charcoal suit they want. Not sure if this changes your point or not....

If it's anything like the San Diego I know, a group of men in suits and ties is quite conspicuous to begin with. Even at a wedding. Between the two weddings I went to in San Diego, there might have been 5-6 neckties worn outside of wedding parties.

I am starting to agree with you more the more I think about it - for the reason that it is so unlikely that a group of men would all show up in bowties without being directed to do so. And you don't want to give the impression that the outfits were coordinated ahead of time, just that they happened to all look good together.

Listen to Foo on this point, and on the rest of the points he has made thus far in this thread.

OK, I'll grant that bow ties worn with suits are eccentric. I don't see why that's a problem for my position. The issue is whether bows with suits can be elegant, since you think that a groom or groomsman's wearing one to a wedding is a mistake. I maintain that--worn with DB or a vested suit--they can be elegant. Just because something is eccentric doesn't make it inelegant. And at a wedding, the wedding party can wear whatever it wants, so long as it's elegant.

Yes, much better that their suits do not match.

I would be concerned that the lounge with the bow tie would look like an "imitation" tux...

for black tie affairs, you really need to wear bow ties with your dinner jackets

It's your wedding, you can do whatever you want, bow ties for groomsmen and ties for you.

Are the bow ties going to be navy blue with green accents too?

Those people at the wedding never heard of this fictional character.

Don't put your wedding party in a uniform. It looks stuoid.