What color a groom should wear?

[the_sulks]

I always had this rationale: if a bride wears a white shirt than a groom should wear a cream or light grey suit since navy or charcoal would stand in bad contrast with a white dress. What's your take on this?

 

[GBR]

Most brides wear white dresses and the groom should wear morning dress.

 

[tbrock]

Perfectly acceptable to wear a lounge suit these days. Even Debrett's would agree. Still acceptable to wear morning dress in UK. For some reason it's acceptable to wear black tie in the US but that makes no sense at all. Really irks me for some reason. Probably just because it is so bastardised and UN-British.

 

[12345Michael54321]

Even if the bride's wearing white, a navy or charcoal suit is entirely appropriate. And often preferable to a cream or light grey suit.

Frankly, I have no idea what this contrast problem might be. If someone maintains that navy and white don't go together, I don't expect I could be convinced of it anytime soon.

But then, pretty much any harebrained notion is supported by at least some wedding planners or fashion writers. And I suppose this one isn't even on the list of the 10 weirdest.

 

[Tweedy]

I don't think if the bride is wearing white or ivory that the groom should wear cream, her dress should stand out and your suit should contrast with her and the bridesmaids outfits. I would opt for grey or navy and as already said a lounge suit is acceptable these days so its really personal preference.

 

[the_sulks]

Thank you for your advice.

Could you suggest cufflinks for the white poplin shirt? I never wore cufflinks and I decided to wear them for my wedding. Are there any rules in terms of color coordination, shape etc.? Say it is going to be a navy suit, white shirt, burgundy tie. The question is what kind of cufflinks I should choose.

 

[Astaroth]

The colour of your suit should be based on the time of day and climate of your wedding and is nothing to do with the colour of the brides dress as others have said. In England where weddings legally have to be during the daytime a Morning Suit is the traditional whereas elsewhere in the world where evening/night time weddings are allowed then evening wear like black tie can be more appropriate.

The colour of your accessories, such as tie, pocket square etc should be informed by the "colours of the wedding", which isnt the colour of the dress but the flowers, table decorations, her accessories etc.

Personally I like fairly plain/ conservative cufflinks so most of mine are just silver (my wedding band & watch is also white metal and so if they were both gold then my links would be too) or at most silver + "white" mother of pearl. If you want them to be reusable then sticking to something similar will maximise the circumstances you can use them in. Novelty ones may be fun or ones that a bright may stand out but probably wouldnt be useable again in the future in a business meeting or such.

I know a fair few grooms who has decided to buy themselves and their groomsmen identical/ matching cufflinks and so if you are going down this route it may impact your budget/ decision

 

[12345Michael54321]



In England where weddings legally have to be during the daytime

The law that prevented couples from getting married outside of daylight hours was done away with by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. For the past few years, it's been perfectly legal to get married at any hour you like in England or Wales. (It already was legal in Scotland.)

 

[the_sulks]



I know a fair few grooms who has decided to buy themselves and their groomsmen identical/ matching cufflinks and so if you are going down this route it may impact your budget/ decision

How many groomsmen should I have? I didn't know a groomsmen should wear the similar clothes. I thought it doesn't really matter what kind clothes they wear. I can't afford to buy them a new suit to match me.

 

[Astaroth]

The law that prevented couples from getting married outside of daylight hours was done away with by the Protection of Freedoms Act 2012. For the past few years, it's been perfectly legal to get married at any hour you like in England or Wales. (It already was legal in Scotland.)

I knew it was in Scotland, hence saying England rather than UK. Didnt know the law had changed here too. The Mrs was annoyed at having to get married in the daytime (she's from s.america) and so wont tell her if she'd waited a couple of years she could have gotten married in the evening as she wanted and is the norm back home for her.

How many groomsmen should I have? I didn't know a groomsmen should wear the similar clothes. I thought it doesn't really matter what kind clothes they wear. I can't afford to buy them a new suit to match me.

Can you hire instead of buy? How many groomsmen (and bridesmaids) are down to you guys. We only wanted a tiny wedding with people that really meant something to us rather than the usual cast of 500 and so only had 1 person each. My bro though had a best man and two ushers whereas a friends wedding we went to in India there were 8 groomsman but thankfully they all only have matching turbans rather than full outfits.

Personally I dont know what you do with more than 3 in a civil/Christian wedding but there are some that seem to like a matching number to bridesmaids for photo symmetry or give the honour to anyone they can get to accept.

 

[jamiemcp]

Depends if he is a virgin or not.

 

[Count de Monet]

What was the rationale for a law banning evening weddings?

 

[Astaroth]

What was the rationale for a law banning evening weddings?

Read a dozen websites and you will get the at least the same number of opinions as to why it was. The reason is probably lost to history and given we've had several Marriage Acts over the centuries and many defined the period differently they may have had different reasonings for it.

Have seen everything from ensuring its light enough for the bride to be seen to ensure someone doesnt switch, though the law allowed weddings up until 6pm and in winter theres no daylight then so doesnt ring true to me, to not interfering with church/registrars working hours, allowing those who want to object to attend or trying to block drunken weddings (though weddings have to be announced beforehand and so no Vegas style turning up to a registry office after meeting a lass on a drunk night out isnt possible anyway)

 

[Count de Monet]



Read a dozen websites and you will get the at least the same number of opinions as to why it was. The reason is probably lost to history and given we've had several Marriage Acts over the centuries and many defined the period differently they may have had different reasonings for it.

Have seen everything from ensuring its light enough for the bride to be seen to ensure someone doesnt switch, though the law allowed weddings up until 6pm and in winter theres no daylight then so doesnt ring true to me, to not interfering with church/registrars working hours, allowing those who want to object to attend or trying to block drunken weddings (though weddings have to be announced beforehand and so no Vegas style turning up to a registry office after meeting a lass on a drunk night out isnt possible anyway)

Fascinating. Thanks. I suppose that explains the opinions of some posters here - perhaps - English - disapproving of tuxedos at weddings, or at least thinking them an odd choice.

In any event, black tie for the gentlemen in the wedding party for a wedding at 6:00 (or later), regardless of what the guests are asked to wear, is quite common in the US and has been for as long as I can remember. So called "candlelight" weddings are popular in the F/W. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to learn that December Fridays at 6:00 pm is the most sought after fall/winter time slot for church weddings here: you get the benefit of free flower decorations at Christmas time..

 

[12345Michael54321]



What was the rationale for a law banning evening weddings?

The law banning nighttime weddings was the Marriage Act 1836. (Which was actually a rather progressive law in other ways.)

It banned nighttime weddings in an effort to limit the number of secret, bigamous marriages.

One can argue just how severe a problem secret marriages truly were at the time, and just how effective the ban on nighttime marriages was in combating this problem, but that was most definitely the rationale given for the ban.

180 years from now, perhaps someone on SF will ask why someone in the year 2010 had to take off his shoes and let a dog sniff his crotch before being permitted to fly from New York to Florida. And somebody will claim there are lots of opinions as to why this policy was put in place, and the true reason is probably lost to the mists of time. But, in fact, the policy was a response to the fear of terrorism. And while one could argue just how severe a problem airline terrorism truly was, and just how effective these measures were in combating the problem, that would still most definitely be the rationale given for putting the policy in place back at the time when it was enacted.