Summer wedding attire for large wedding party - tie / square combo with light gray suit?

[phatonycmu]

Folks,
Many thanks for the excellent information contained regarding wedding attire. The following thread in particular contained a ton of great information:

http://www.styleforum.net/a/what-should-i-ask-my-groomsmen-to-wear

This will be a slightly lengthy post as it requires a bit of background information on my particular occasion.

Background:

My fiancé and I are getting married in late August in New Jersey. Our ceremony is during the day with our reception in the evening. My groomsmen will be wearing a custom-made light grey wool suit (lightweight fabric) for both ceremony / reception. I have some questions on clothing for the groomsmen, in particular tie / pocket square combinations (price range < $100 total).


My fiancé is Indian and we are having a Hindu ceremony during the day so my attire will follow suit. In the evening, I am having a tux / shirt combo made by a combination of Mr. Ned and CEGO (been going there for years based on advice from this forum). We have a large wedding party (8 groomsmen + 8 brides maids). My groomsmen's day jobs don't require them to be in suits often (engineers, scientists, etc...) and thus the BYO-suit advice from the thread above wouldn't work well. In addition, a few of my groomsmen are large guys (6'3"+ and 250+) so off-the-rack suits and ties are also tricky.

With all that in mind, I got all of them custom-made light gray wool suits in a lightweight 2-button cut as gifts from a tailor I've used in Thailand. They aren't stunning quality, but when buying for 8 different guys with highly varied body-types, there is a bit of practicality that comes into play. I'm having them wear a white dress shirt and black shoes, but need to offer some guidance on ties / squares. I do personally prefer the advice of not having everyone wear the same tie. My thought is to provide them a "menu" of tie / square options and pick one they like. Additionally, the bridesmaids will be wearing Indian outfits that are a combination of aqua and pink for both the day and the evening.

Questions:

• The wedding ties in the 101 link above generally focus on monochromatic ties in some cool patterns. Given the summertime nature of the wedding is it appropriate to go with a mix of same-colored ties in different patterns / textures (e.g. pink pin dot, pink grenadine, etc...)?
• I'm thinking about matching the pocket squares to one of the main colors with the bridesmaids (i.e. aqua pocket squares, pink tie + different pattern pink square, etc..) - thoughts? Since the other pieces of the groomsmen's outfits are gray / white / black, a pop of color would be welcome.

Please keep in mind I have a few guys that would greatly benefit from access to extra long ties. From some of the other threads on the subject I've looked at Kent Wang, Sam Hober (too expensive), Brooks Brothers, Lands End, and Andrews Ties. I'm located in Manhattan as well for access to some of these stores. I'm trying to keep the total cost of the square and the tie below $100.

Some initial thoughts from my own research (please feel free to provide others!):
http://www.landsend.com/pp/mens-sof...N&CM_MERCH=IDX_men-_-dress-shirts-ties-_-ties

http://www.andrewstiesusa.com/images/product/medium/17_1_pinkwithwhitedots.jpg

http://www.kentwang.com/media/catal...5fb8d27136e95/6/0/6058999300_50e67192f6_b.jpg

http://www.andrewstiesusa.com/images/product/medium/26_1_blueandpink.jpg

Many thanks in advance for your advice!

Poorly hung, but will serve the purpose to get an idea of the fabric.

 

[jt10000]

Take a look at this from Put This On: http://putthison.com/post/334425916/weddingattireformen
Especially this part:
"There is no need for men’s clothes to match exactly. Outside of the military, it looks tacky. Even when wearing black tie, a group of men’s tuxedos should not match exactly - they’ll look like backup dancers in a 1930s musical. This is difficult for some women to comprehend. Hold fast."

 

[phatonycmu]

Thanks! I've read this thread extensively as well. I'm curious if there are other tie / square vendors I should be looking at. Also, I've read a fair amount on matching squares to ties (i.e. match color or pattern, not both), but I could very much use a sanity check that it's cool to match a pink grenadine tie with a pink paisley square for example.

Take a look at this from Put This On: http://putthison.com/post/334425916/weddingattireformen
Especially this part:
"There is no need for men’s clothes to match exactly. Outside of the military, it looks tacky. Even when wearing black tie, a group of men’s tuxedos should not match exactly - they’ll look like backup dancers in a 1930s musical. This is difficult for some women to comprehend. Hold fast."

 

[Gdot]

will they be wearing flowers in their lapels?

If so the squares should be very simple - white linen tv fold or the like.

 

[Gdot]



Thanks!  I've read this thread extensively as well.  I'm curious if there are other tie / square vendors I should be looking at.  Also, I've read a fair amount on matching squares to ties (i.e. match color or pattern, not both), but I could very much use a sanity check that it's cool to match a pink grenadine tie with a pink paisley square for example.

No - do not match tie to square. If the tie is pink then the square should be something that compliments the tie - may even have little bits of pink in it. But by no means should the predominant tone of the tie match the predominant tone of the square.

 

[phatonycmu]

Yes. White flowers.

will they be wearing flowers in their lapels?
If so the squares should be very simple - white linen tv fold or the like.

 

[phatonycmu]

Quote:
What about something like this? The pink tones are definitely off, but just demonstrating a concept from a quick google search... As I mentioned earlier, I'm a bit of a neophyte in matching squares and ties.




Based on your post I'm thinking you would recommend using this square instead? (I couldn't find a paisley pattern with pink as a secondary color)

 

[Gdot]

With a lapel flower I think you should keep the squares to plain white.

I also think you should be looking for ties that are darker than the suits. Not dark - but darker than the suits.

Medium gray suits can easily start to look blah without a little contrast.

 

[cnyman]

I've been to several weddings and most don't usually match their ties and square don't usually match. But I also agree with Gdot that contrasting colors would liven up a grey suit.

 

[js4design]

Well done on your part buying all the guys suits, and suits that fit them well at that.

 

[morrison13]

Wear a blue shirt or light pink for your gray suit