The choices are smaller than they look, and every one of them shows up in the pictures. Shawl collar or peak lapel. Black, navy, charcoal, ivory, or something with real color in it. Bow tie or long tie. Cummerbund, waistcoat, or neither. Get those right and the tailoring handles the rest.
If you’re set on classic black tie, curious about a white dinner jacket, or wondering how far burgundy velvet can go, these are the groom tuxedo looks we keep coming back to. Fall for one and click through to see the full wedding. For more, browse our Real Weddings directory. Oh, and if you’d rather do a suit, we have this article with groom suits.
Our Favorite Groom Tuxedo Looks
These are groom tuxedos from real L&L weddings, grouped by what changes from one to the next. Click any link to see the full day.
The Classic Black Tuxedo
Black three-piece, satin peak lapel, white rose on the buttonhole, folded white pocket square. No twist, no signature detail, and about half the time that’s the right call.
Rachel and Christopher married at a lakeside estate in the Finger Lakes on a timeless black tie brief. The urn of white and blush roses beside him carries all the color.
See Rachel and Christopher’s Finger Lakes Wedding →
Sylvia and Alexander married in a chapel in central Amsterdam, and the walk between venues turned into the portrait. Black shawl collar, patent lace-ups, red shutters and a parked bike behind him.
Take a plain black tux outdoors and it gets more interesting immediately.
See Sylvia and Alexander’s Amsterdam Wedding →
Same shawl collar, completely different mood. A rooftop, a gray winter sky, Midtown stacked up behind him.
The plum boutonniere is the only color on him, and against that much black it reads louder than you’d expect.
Allison and John’s day had a downtown feel, with burgundy running through the palette.
See Allison and John’s New York City Wedding →
Black Tuxedo Echoed Across the Groomsmen
Everyone in black tie, the groom pulled forward and sharp while the line behind him goes soft. Easiest way to keep a group shot from reading like a lineup.
The men aren’t in identical rentals. At this distance you can’t tell, because the color matches and the bow ties match and that’s enough.
See this Biltmore Estate Wedding →
Black peak lapel, white boutonniere, velvet slippers where you’d expect a patent shoe. The whole party is mid-walk, which is why nothing looks posed.
Cara and Bennie married at Belle Mer in Newport. Pale blue bridesmaid gowns against that much black tie are the reason this photo works.
See Cara and Bennie’s Newport Wedding →
Two black tuxedos, one black bow tie, one blush. A last-minute cuff adjustment with somebody else’s hand on your shoulder, and a lot of green behind them.
Alyvia and Brandon’s photographer caught the version of getting ready people recognize: outdoors, running late, somebody helping.
See Alyvia and Brandon’s Legacy of Love Wedding →
The White Dinner Jacket
Ivory shawl collar jacket, black trousers, black bow tie. It’s the one tuxedo variation that reads formal and relaxed at once.
Benjamin’s jacket came from Men’s Wearhouse and the trousers from Hugo Boss, both picked out back in California. The gilt chandeliers and marble fireplace came with the Paris venue.
See Rachel and Benjamin’s Paris Wedding →
Becky and Sean’s castle micro wedding happened at Christmas with a very short guest list, which is usually when couples go simpler instead of sharper.
He went sharper. Ivory jacket over a black waistcoat and black trousers, worn against red sandstone in the middle of winter. Warmer than black would have been, and it holds up next to a heavily beaded gown.
See Becky and Sean’s Castle Wedding →
Double-breasted, ivory, black peak lapels, black buttons. The most formal jacket here, and he’s putting it on alone in a quiet hotel room.
Catherine and Fredrick held their reception in a candlelit wine cave in Napa. Low light is exactly where a pale jacket pays off.
See Catherine and Fredrick’s Napa Wedding →
Navy Tuxedo with Black Satin Lapels
Navy jacket, black satin peak lapels, black bow tie. In daylight it reads blue. In the reception photos it goes almost black.
Elaina and Brian married at the Daly Mansion in Montana on a vintage fairytale brief, and their photographer singled out how well the tux was tailored. Rentals rarely get that part right.
See Elaina and Brian’s Montana Wedding →
Cropped in tight, which is the only way you’d ever catch navy against a black shawl lapel.
Tanner’s tux was bespoke, and the white ranunculus and blue thistle on the lapel pick up the same cool tone. They married at a modern art museum in Waitsfield, Vermont.
See Kelsey and Tanner’s Vermont Wedding →
A wide black shawl collar on navy, shot close enough to see the difference in the cloth. Gold signet ring, gold watch, and that’s it.
Lauro and Veronica married at White Oaks on the Bayou in Texas. Most grooms never think to ask for this frame.
See Lauro and Veronica’s Texas Wedding →
Burgundy Tuxedo Jacket
Burgundy jacket, black shawl lapel, black trousers, burgundy bow tie. The groomsmen stay in black tuxedos and pick the color up only at the tie.
Kyle and Justin ran a burgundy floral palette through the whole day at Interlachen Country Club. There was a Star Wars element too.
See Kyle and Justin’s Interlachen Wedding →
Velvet, and you can tell by the way the light sits on the shoulders. Black satin trim down the lapel, a charcoal satin vest underneath, a pink protea on the buttonhole.
Jess and Colby married in a backyard in the Bay Area, which is useful to know before you write velvet off as too much for your venue.
See Jess and Colby’s Bay Area Wedding →
Charcoal Gray Tuxedo
Charcoal three-piece with satin-faced lapels and a matching waistcoat. Gray instead of black keeps the black tie shape without the black tie starkness.
Kyler and Andrew married at Neo on Locust in Saint Louis in the fall. Gray sits better against warm brick than black does.
See Kyler and Andrew’s Saint Louis Wedding →
A lighter gray this time, with the satin lapel just dark enough to separate from the jacket. Small white boutonniere, black bow tie, no waistcoat.
Erica and Aaron married at Casa Feliz in Winter Park, where the brick and teal shutters carry most of the background.
See Erica and Aaron’s Winter Park Wedding →
Royal Blue Tuxedo with a Black Shawl Collar
Proper royal blue, no hedging toward navy. The black shawl collar and black bow tie anchor it so the color stops short of costume.
Benoir and Juliet married on a riverboat on the Seine. The bride sneaking into frame behind him is the best argument there is for shooting portraits in a courtyard instead of a studio.
See Benoir and Juliet’s Paris Wedding →
Deep Midnight Blue Tuxedo
Kelsey and Matt married at Haven at Tomales on a rustic brief with a moody, dark-timber palette, and a midnight tux settles right into it.
Midnight blue reads black in most rooms and blue in exactly one: next to a window, which is where he’s standing.
See Kelsey and Matt’s Tomales Wedding →
Forest Green Dinner Jacket
A forest green shawl collar jacket over black trousers, worn with a black bow tie so the green is the only surprise.
Kwam picked the green to match the wedding flowers, finished it with forest green high-top Converse, and kept the whole outfit secret until the day. They married at a brewery in Atlanta, so nobody was expecting black tie.
See Lexi and Kwam’s Atlanta Wedding →
Double-Breasted Black Tuxedo
Double-breasted with peak lapels, which looks best done up and slightly odd undone. He’s doing it up.
The bow tie is a woven herringbone instead of flat satin, with a single white camellia on the lapel. Roselina and Morten married at a chateau in France, where the room could hold that much formality.
See Roselina and Morten’s French Chateau Wedding →
Black Tuxedo with a Cummerbund
Hardly any groom bothers with a cummerbund now. It’s also why the waistline here looks finished instead of just covered.
Brandon decided on a tuxedo, then had his black cummerbund printed with faint champagne bottles and glasses. Nobody past the front row would ever spot it.
They married at the Trapp Family Lodge in Vermont in the fall.
See Brandon and Natalie’s Vermont Wedding →
Black Tuxedo with an Ivory Tie and Vest
An ivory long tie and a patterned ivory waistcoat where the black bow tie usually goes. It softens the whole thing without dropping the formality.
The boutonniere is a succulent wrapped in green cord with seeded eucalyptus, and it survives a full day better than a rose. Ann and Sal married at Alder Manor House in Westchester.
See Ann and Sal’s Westchester Wedding →
Satin Lapel with a White Rose Boutonniere
Black and white, cropped from the chin down, so all that’s left is the lapel, the bow tie and the rose.
It’s a white spray rose with a bit of eucalyptus and a wrapped stem, pinned high on the lapel where a boutonniere belongs. Plenty of them end up sitting too low.
See Alyvia and Brandon’s Legacy of Love Wedding →
Same idea, different jacket. This lapel is trimmed with a thin line of satin instead of faced with it, which reads sharper up close.
White rose, folded silver pocket square, steel watch. Chelsea and Ryan married at a golf club on Long Island.
See Chelsea and Ryan’s Long Island Wedding →
Black Shawl Collar Tuxedo
A shawl collar shot side-on, the angle that shows how the satin curves. Rain is speckled across the shoulder and nobody has done anything about it.
Melissa and Brian eloped around Central Park and the West Village on a deliberately laid-back day. That’s how you end up with a wet tuxedo and a good photo.
See Melissa and Brian’s New York City Elopement →
Black Tuxedo with a White Pocket Square
Black satin shawl lapel, black bow tie, one sharp white point of pocket square. Take the square out and this is every other black tux.
Alice and Adam kept the whole day small and white at the Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat on the French coast.
See Alice and Adam’s Cap Ferrat Wedding →
Black Tuxedo with a Studded Tuxedo Shirt
The studded front on the shirt carries more of this photo than the jacket does. Small detail, but it’s what separates a real tuxedo shirt from a dress shirt with a bow tie on it.
Brynn and AJ married among the pines at Odiorne State Park on the New Hampshire coast, nautical brief, high summer.
See Brynn and AJ’s New Hampshire Wedding →
Slim Black Tuxedo with a Satin Trim Lapel
Slim cut, a thin satin edge on the lapel, black bow tie, one white rose. The tuxedo equivalent of not overthinking it.
This is the moment before the first look, with Emily out of focus on the porch behind him. Their groomsmen wore the same black tuxedos with blush bow ties to match the bridesmaids, and the whole thing happened at Los Poblanos Estate in New Mexico.
See Emily and Justin’s Los Poblanos Wedding →
Black Tuxedo and a Bow Tie for the Dog
The dog is also in black tie. That’s the photo.
Raymond’s tux was tailor made in Hong Kong, the bow tie is Armani, the patent shoes are Calvin Klein. He also forgot his belt and bought a replacement at Marshalls the day before, which is the most reassuring sentence on this whole page.
Joyce and Raymond married at the Liriodendron Mansion in Maryland.
See Joyce and Raymond’s Maryland Wedding →
FAQs
What makes a tuxedo a tuxedo and not a suit?
Satin. A tuxedo has satin on the lapel, a satin stripe down the outside of the trouser leg, and usually satin-covered buttons. A suit has none of that. Everything else is negotiable: the color, the cut, the button count. That’s why a charcoal tuxedo still counts and a black suit with a bow tie still doesn’t.
Does the groom have to wear the same tuxedo as the groomsmen?
No, and the photos are usually better when he doesn’t. Keep everyone in the same color, then let the groom change one thing: a different lapel, or a waistcoat nobody else is wearing. Look at the burgundy jacket standing in front of a line of black tuxedos above and you can see how little it takes.
Can you wear a tuxedo to a daytime or outdoor wedding?
Yes. The old rule about tuxedos being for after six is long gone, and half the weddings here are lawns and coastlines in full daylight. If it worries you, go lighter. Midnight blue or an ivory dinner jacket reads less severe in sunlight than flat black does.
Bow tie or long tie with a tuxedo?
A bow tie is the traditional answer and it’s what most of these grooms wore. A long tie works when you want the look softer or less formal, and it does best in ivory or a muted color instead of black. Tie it yourself if you can. A pre-tied bow sits too flat and it shows in close-ups.
Is it worth buying a tuxedo instead of renting one?
If there’s any chance of wearing it again, buy. The difference between a rented tuxedo and an owned one lives almost entirely in the shoulders and the trouser break, and rental shops won’t alter either properly. If you’re renting anyway, spend the money on a tailor after you collect it instead of on a fancier jacket.
