The decision isn’t really black or navy. It’s self-tie or pre-tied, solid or patterned, matched to the pocket square or matched to the boutonniere, and how loud it gets to be next to the rest of the groom attire.
Satin in a soft palette, paisley you can spot from the back row, feathers in a wooden box. We’ve gathered our favorite groom bow ties to inspire your own. And if you fall in love with any of these looks, click through to see the full wedding! For even more inspiration, browse our Real Weddings directory.
Our Favorite Groom Bow Ties
First up: groom bow ties spotted on real L&L weddings, satin and paisley and feather alike. Click any link to see the full day. Scroll further for shoppable options.
Multicolored Paisley Bow Tie
Red, teal, gold and cream paisley on a navy suit, and it works because everything else stays quiet. White shirt, no pocket square competing for the same attention.
The boutonniere goes the other direction entirely: blush garden roses, a pale rosebud, silvery brunia, eucalyptus. Loud tie, soft flowers.
See Wellsley and Austin’s Mount Ida Farm Wedding →
Bow Tie and Pocket Square Cut from the Same Fabric
Lilac satin twice: once at the collar, once folded into the breast pocket. Against the gray suit and the weathered red barn behind him, it’s the only color in the frame.
See Madelene and Logan’s Old Mill Farm Wedding →
Burgundy on a gray three-piece. The pocket square is folded flat so only a sliver shows, which keeps the bow tie the thing you look at.
See Kelsey and Vince’s Temecula Wedding →
Blush satin on a black tux with a pleated bib shirt and black studs. Formal enough for a black tie invitation, soft enough to sit inside a pink and green palette.
See Kimberly and John’s South Bass Island Wedding →
The same rust and orange paisley in both places, and the pocket square is stuffed rather than folded so the pattern reads from across the room.
Black shawl lapel tux, cream shirt, and he let the paisley carry the whole look.
See this Steampunk Styled Wedding at the Mariners’ Museum →
Bow Tie Matched to the Boutonniere
Red textured bow tie, red ranunculus, and a gold safety pin standing in for a boutonniere pin. The navy tux with black shawl lapels keeps it from tipping into holiday territory.
If you want more ways to build the flower half of this pairing, we have a whole gallery of unique boutonniere ideas.
See Sarah and Steven’s Powel Crosley Estate Wedding →
A single lilac tulip against a charcoal three-piece, picking up the purple in the paisley without matching it exactly.
The white pocket square shows about a quarter inch. That’s the whole point of it here.
See Olivia and Jacob’s Champaign Wedding →
The red center knot of the bow tie turns up again in the red wrap around the boutonniere stem. Blue thistle and dusty greens pull from the blue in the paisley.
See Katie and Ryan’s Jewel Toned Texas Wedding →
Gray Polka Dot Bow Tie
Gray chambray with white dots, hand tied so the ends sit slightly uneven. On a brown herringbone suit it reads relaxed without reading careless.
The boutonniere is a purple fishing fly, hook and all, which is what happens when you get married at an antique boat museum.
See Ashley and Caldwell’s Antique Boat Museum Wedding →
Gold Paisley Bow Tie
Tan and gold paisley, self-tied, sitting against a gray checked jacket and a pale gray shirt. Two patterns at very different scales, which is why you can wear both.
The boutonniere is dried: a cream bloom, a fern frond, papery gold leaves. Very much the moody secret-garden thing this shoot was after.
See this Vintage-Inspired Woodland Shoot →
Turquoise Satin Bow Tie
Bright turquoise satin against heather gray. The groom wore a Clayton ultra slim suit with a gray vest and a white shirt, and the bow tie is the Malibu style from Jim’s Formal Wear.
Succulents and dusty greens in the boutonniere keep the whole thing coastal instead of costume.
See Lauren and Bradley’s Tybee Island Wedding →
Berry Bow Tie with a Navy Three-Piece
Deep berry pink against navy, worn under a straw cowboy hat with a boutonniere built on a bullet casing.
Burgundy and blue was the palette for the whole day. This is the smallest piece of it and probably the clearest.
See Jammie and Eric’s Branded T Ranch Wedding →
Emerald Green Bow Tie
Emerald green at the collar and a jacket lining covered in a multicolored geometric print. He’s holding the jacket open on purpose, which is the correct move when you’ve paid for lining like that.
The lilac suspenders with brown leather tabs make three patterns in one photo, and it still holds together.
See Amanda and Ben’s Addison Grove Wedding →
Red Print Bow Tie with a Gingham Pocket Square
Two patterns, two scales. The bow tie is a tight red and white geometric print, the pocket square is a much bigger red and blue check, and neither one cancels the other out.
This is the counter-argument to the matching set: pick one color, then change everything else about how it shows up.
See Sarah and Zach’s Shelburne Farms Wedding →
Blue Floral Print Bow Tie
Blue floral cotton, self-tie, photographed twice: once hanging loose around the collar before it’s tied, once flat in a wooden box next to the flowers.
Kelly and Matthew picked a different floral tie or bow tie for every guy in the party, so nobody matched exactly and everybody looked like they’d been dressed on purpose.
The boutonniere picks up the same palette: blue thistle, a burgundy snapdragon, a white bell flower, navy ribbon trailing off the side.
See Kelly and Matthew’s Summer Camp Wedding →
Feather Bow Tie
Layered teal and green feathers in a Brackish box, shot on stone before it went anywhere near a collar. Feathers hold that fanned shape all day in a way fabric doesn’t.
See this Cheerful Spring Wedding at Mercury Hall →
Black and white guinea feathers, and the lid is engraved with their date and the line they chose: hand in hand, walking each other home.
Half the gift is the box. Worth knowing if you’re buying these for the groomsmen too.
See Bethany and Kenneth’s Wedding →
Sage Green Bow Tie with Suspenders
Dusty sage cotton, tan suspenders, white shirt with the sleeves pushed up, no jacket in sight. Both hands are on the tie like he was about to straighten it and thought better of it.
For an avocado farm in Valley Center, this is the right amount of dressed.
See Sal and Gregory’s Avocado Farm Wedding →
Champagne Satin Bow Tie
Champagne satin, slightly oversized, over a white shirt and a navy waistcoat with no jacket on top. The peach rose is pinned to the waistcoat instead of a lapel, which is the move when the jacket comes off before the ceremony anyway.
For a neutral palette wedding at a private lakeside home, this is about as soft as formal gets.
See Madeleine and Adam’s Lakeside Wedding →
Lilac Textured Bow Tie
Pale lilac with a fine woven texture, caught mid-tie with both hands still on the ends. Gray waistcoat, pale pink shirt underneath.
If you’re building a lavender and gray palette, this is the shade to ask for by name.
See Kennedy and Johnathon’s Shady Wagon Farm Wedding →
Navy Ikat Print Bow Tie
Navy with a blurred white ikat print, propped against a pair of tan leather cap toe oxfords with the belt lined up alongside.
Worth staging on the morning of even though it’s on his neck twenty minutes later. It’s the one photo that shows the fabric up close.
See Kate and Ian’s Coastal Maine Wedding →
Sheet Music Paper Bow Tie
Folded from sheet music and worn over a pleated tux shirt, shot next to a bouquet of rolled paper roses.
It’s a styled shoot built entirely around paper for the first anniversary, so treat it as a portrait session idea rather than an all-day one.
See this Paper Anniversary Styled Shoot →
Stars and Stripes Bow Tie
Flag print bow tie packed into a box with a wooden beard brush, beard balm and beard oil. The gift and the accessory arrive together.
Whether it makes it down the aisle or only into the getting-ready photos is his call.
See Chrissy and Ryan’s Delray Beach Wedding →
3D Layered Oak Wood Bow Tie
Black Satin Peacock Bow Tie
Double Tiered Coral Paisley Bow Tie
Handcrafted Walnut Denim Bow Tie
Handmade Blush Cotton Bow Tie
Handmade Full Grain Bow Tie
Khaki Burlap Groomsmen Bow Tie
Kinetic Walnut Gear Bow Tie
Peach Coral Floral Bow Tie
Sparkling Champagne Sequin Bow Tie
Sustainable Cork Butterfly Bow Tie
Texas Flag Reversible Bow Tie
Wild Cheetah Bow Tie
FAQs
Should the groom’s bow tie match the boutonniere?
It doesn’t have to, and the pairings we like most only connect at one point. A single lilac tulip next to a purple paisley tie. A red ribbon wrapped around a stem, echoing the red knot at the collar. Pick one color they share and let everything else be different.
Matching them exactly, same shade, same intensity, tends to flatten both. The flowers stop looking like flowers and start looking like an accessory.
Self-tie or pre-tied?
Self-tie sits slightly uneven, and that’s the look most of these photos are trading on. Pre-tied sits perfectly symmetrical and stays that way through dinner and dancing.
If he’s going self-tie, he should practice a few times before the morning of. The getting-ready photos are usually taken while he’s still fighting with it.
Should the groom wear a different bow tie from the groomsmen?
A small difference helps him read as the groom in a line-up: a pattern where they wear solids, or a deeper shade of the same color.
The other direction works too. Kelly and Matthew gave every guy a different floral print, so nobody matched and it still looked deliberate.
What color bow tie works with a navy suit?
Navy takes warm colors well. Burgundy, rust, berry pink and red all sit against it cleanly, and a patterned tie with navy somewhere in the print ties itself to the suit without disappearing into it.
Navy on navy is the one to be careful with. If the shades are close but not identical, it looks like a mistake rather than a choice.
Can he wear a bow tie without a jacket?
Yes, and a waistcoat or suspenders will do the work the jacket was doing. Both give the shirt some structure so the bow tie has something to sit against.
If he’s skipping the jacket, pin the boutonniere to the waistcoat instead. It holds better there than on a shirt.
Don’t forget to pin this to your Wedding Fashion Board for later!
