The real decisions are smaller than they look. How closely the guys match each other. Whether the groom gets a different tie, a different layer, or a different suit altogether. Whether anyone is still wearing a jacket by four in the afternoon. What kind of socks they wear. Get those right and the outfits suit the venue, the season, and the guy who has worn a suit twice in his life.
Black tie on the coast, tan waistcoats at a barn, turquoise pearl snaps and boots on a ranch: we’ve gathered our favorite groomsmen outfits 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 Groomsmen Outfits
First up: groomsmen outfits spotted on real L&L weddings, sorted so the looks that change the most are near the top. Click any link to see the full day. Scroll further for shoppable options.
Royal Blue Suit With Striped Socks
Same bright blue suit from Generation Tux on every single guy, and then the socks go off in different directions. Orange. Hot pink. Green stripes. Yellow.
You only see any of it when the whole group kicks a leg out, so somebody had to ask for this shot. Ethan wore a white bow tie against the groomsmen’s blue, and they all went brown shoes instead of black.
See Kim and Ethan’s Piedmont Club Wedding →
Mismatched Grey Suit With a Burgundy Tie
Nobody here is wearing the same suit. Charcoal, taupe, light grey, black, navy, one in a tweed weave. What holds the line together is burgundy: a tie or a bow tie on every guy.
Adam went burgundy too, in velvet, down to the loafers. In a group this size, that’s how you stay findable.
See Racheli and Adam’s Smog Shoppe Wedding in LA →
Tan Suit With a Light Blue Tie
Tan waistcoats and trousers on the groomsmen, light blue ties, and Will added the jacket and a turquoise pocket square. Then the dog sat down in the middle of the frame and stayed there.
Warm khaki holds up better than grey in flat midday light off the water. Useful to know if that’s when your photos are happening.
See Summer and Will’s Avon Lake Wedding →
Grey Waistcoat With Rolled Shirtsleeves
Michael stepped forward in the full grey three-piece. His groomsmen wore the same waistcoat and trousers with the jackets left behind and the sleeves rolled past the elbow.
One layer apart, and that’s the whole difference. For a country summer wedding in front of a barn door, the jacketless version is the sensible one.
See Nicole and Michael’s Country Wedding in Canada →
Head-to-Toe Cream Suit
Cream jacket, cream waistcoat, cream trousers, ivory tie. The only contrast anywhere is a single eucalyptus leaf pinned to each lapel.
Suits this pale need something solid behind them, so they shot against the limestone staircase and the iron door at The Milestone.
See Kailey and Garrett’s Wedding at The Milestone →
Light Grey Suit With Navy Tie and Tan Shoes
Light grey suits, navy ties, tan leather shoes. Of everything in this gallery, it’s the outfit most people could copy tomorrow, and it holds up in a meadow at four in the afternoon and in a gold and navy ballroom at nine.
Nicholas is the one in the waistcoat. One extra layer, and he no longer looks like the two guys either side of him.
See Alexandra and Nicholas’s Ballroom Wedding →
Cobalt Blue Suit With a Blush Tie
Blush and cobalt is a harder pairing than it looks. What makes it work here is how quiet everything else stays: white shirt, white rose, brown belt, no pocket square.
Against the green of the Berkshires the blue stays properly blue instead of sliding toward navy.
See Emily and Nathaniel’s Berkshires Wedding →
Navy Tuxedo With a Bow Tie for the Groom
Everyone at the Lyman Estate wore midnight navy with satin lapels. Matthew wore a bow tie. The five groomsmen wore long black ties.
That’s the entire difference between the groom and the group, and in the photos it turns out to be plenty. Blue thistle boutonnieres on all six.
See Erin and Matthew’s Lyman Estate Wedding →
Black Suit With a Blush Tie
Eight men in black at a country club in northeast Ohio, angled into a shallow wedge instead of a flat row so nobody’s face sits behind a shoulder.
James wore blush, the groomsmen wore charcoal. If you have your heart set on plain black suits, the tie is where you get to say something.
See Alexandra and James’s Manakiki Country Club Wedding →
Black Tuxedo With Suspenders Underneath
Ten tuxedos walking the gravel at Belle Mer with the Atlantic behind them and every jacket deliberately left open.
The suspenders only show up in this picture because of that. Buttoned, it’s a standard black tie group shot.
See Cara and Bennie’s Belle Mer Wedding in Newport →
Black Tie Tuxedo With Burgundy Sneakers
Proper black tie, black bow ties, and a walk down an ordinary residential street before the ceremony. The clapboard houses and the power lines do more for this photo than a manicured garden would.
One of the guys wore oxblood sneakers with his tuxedo. Nobody stopped him, and it’s the first thing you look at.
See Alexa and James’s Greek Orthodox Wedding in Newport →
Charcoal Suit With a Burgundy Bow Tie
Charcoal and burgundy, standing ankle deep in orange leaves at peak New England fall.
Half the group kept their jackets on and half slung them over a shoulder to show the suspenders underneath. Easiest way to stop a lineup from looking like a lineup.
See Kelsey and Josh’s Lakeside Wedding in Connecticut →
Grey Three-Piece With a Cranberry Tie
The party alternates all the way down the line, light grey next to cranberry lace, so the two colors repeat across the whole frame. The groomsmen’s ties match the bridesmaids’ dresses exactly.
William’s tie is grey instead. Small switch, and it’s how you find him in the row.
See Johannah and William’s Church Wedding in Phoenix →
Grey Suit With a Red Tie
Grey Calvin Klein suits from Men’s Wearhouse, bright red neckties pulled straight out of the wedding colors.
They shot it walking down a wet gravel lane in the Alabama pines, where the red is the only warm color for a hundred feet in any direction.
See Caitlin and Rob’s Alabama Wedding →
Turquoise Pearl Snap Shirt With a Cowboy Hat
No suits anywhere on this ranch in South Texas. Turquoise pearl snap shirts, dark jeans, tooled belts with a real buckle, black felt hats, boots.
Mitch wore purple to line up with the bridesmaids. Get married somewhere like this and you’re a lot closer to what the guys already own than a rented tux would be.
See Kelsey and Mitch’s Katzfey Ranch Wedding →
Royal Blue Suit With Brown Leather Brogues
Four royal blue suits photographed sitting down in a dark panelled room instead of standing out in a garden, and the mood of the picture changes completely.
Brown brogues, patterned socks on show, one jacket already off. Good option if your venue has a decent indoor corner and the forecast isn’t cooperating.
See this Austin Chapel and Vineyard Wedding →
Grey Suspenders With a Blush Bow Tie
Julio wore the full grey three-piece with a maroon tie. His groomsmen wore white shirts, grey suspenders and dusty pink bow ties, and no jackets at any point in the day.
They’re all turned in toward him rather than out at the camera. That’s why the gap between what he’s wearing and what they’re wearing registers at all.
See Mariah and Julio’s Boise Valley Wedding →
Pastel Shirt With Tan Suspenders
The shirts all go their own way here: pale blue, mint, mint, light blue, each with a different patterned tie. Tan suspenders and grey trousers hold it together.
Bryan is on the right in the beige waistcoat with the aqua tie. Sleeves rolled, cowboy boots, corrugated barn wall behind. Nothing about this needed a fitting room.
See Samantha and Bryan’s Farm Wedding in California →
Mauve Suspenders Matched to the Bridesmaids
Mauve runs through both halves of the party: rosy brown gowns on the bridesmaids, mauve suspenders on the groomsmen, grey trousers underneath.
James kept the full grey suit and a dusty rose tie. Easy way to pull the men into a palette when suits in the actual wedding color would be a stretch.
See Rita and James’s Summer Wedding →
Grey Waistcoat With a Yellow Tie
Grey waistcoats, grey trousers, no jackets, butter yellow ties, on a shaded path at the Umlauf Sculpture Garden in Austin.
The bridesmaids are in grey too, so the ties and the bouquets carry all the color in the picture. Quieter than it sounds, and a lot more survivable in Texas heat than a full suit.
See Fina and Nathan’s Umlauf Sculpture Garden Wedding →
Mismatched Shirt and Waistcoat With Sunglasses
There’s no uniform here at all. White shirts, blue shirts, some in waistcoats, some in suspenders, dark trousers, every man in sunglasses.
Hunter is in the middle in the full dark suit and white sneakers, standing apart from the group and backlit into the sun. Vintage styling, backyard wedding, and not a rental in sight.
See Hunter and Kirsten’s Backyard Wedding →
Navy Suit With an Open Collar
Two groomsmen, two bridesmaids, and not a tie in the building. Navy suits, open collars, brown shoes, palms and a white resort behind them in Ocho Rios.
A destination wedding is a fair reason to drop the neckwear. The suits still photograph as formal without it.
See Helene and Garret’s Jamaica Wedding →
Navy Suit With the Groom in Light Grey
Eleven groomsmen in navy with brown shoes, and Wesley planted in the center in light grey.
It’s shot from far enough back that the party is small against the meadow, and you can still pick out the groom in about half a second. That’s the entire argument for putting him in a different color.
See Lindsy and Wesley’s Private Estate Wedding →
White Shirt With Black Suspenders and a Bow Tie
Fourteen men in white shirts, black suspenders, black trousers and black bow ties, strung out in one long line on the Lake Erie sand.
Groups this size get expensive fast. A shirt, suspenders and a bow tie keeps the cost down, and on an empty beach under a grey sky it photographs better than fourteen jackets would have.
See Kim and Mark’s Beach Wedding in Port Clinton →
Pale Pink Shirt With Royal Blue Suspenders
Pale pink shirts, light grey chinos, royal blue suspenders, and all four of them caught mid snap from a low angle against the sky.
Matt skipped the group look and wore a bright blue suit with the collar open. In Bora Bora, a jacket on the groom and shirtsleeves on everyone else is about the right amount of formal.
See Tara and Matt’s Bora Bora Wedding →
Black Suit With a Felt Fedora
Plain black suits, white boutonnieres, and hats: two bowlers, two trilbies, worn properly rather than perched on the back of the head for a joke.
The mustaches are on sticks. Against a black and white striped wall at The Forum, this is the least serious black suit photo in the gallery.
See Rob and Amy’s Rock and Roll Wedding →
Gingham Shirt With Black Suspenders
Blue gingham shirts and black suspenders on the groomsmen, no ties, small succulent boutonnieres, a whitewashed wall and an old arched door behind them.
Noah wore the same shirt in pink and added a black tie. Same fabric, flipped color, and he’s the only one with anything around his neck.
See Rachael and Noah’s Wedding →
Brown Tweed Waistcoat With an Open Collar
Brown herringbone waistcoats over open collar shirts, no ties, deep red roses with wheat pinned on, oak trees and Spanish moss overhead.
The wedding was Lord of the Rings themed. This is how you get there without anybody ending up in a costume.
See Kristin and Andrew’s Austin Wedding →
Tan Leather Suspenders With a Green Bow Tie
The groomsmen wore navy fabric suspenders and navy bow ties. Wilson wore tan leather suspenders and an olive green bow tie with an orange rose.
Cropped close at the waist, the hardware is basically the whole photo. A good option if you want the groom to look different without buying him a different suit.
See Elaine and Wilson’s Fall Wedding at Forest Park Inn →
Grey Cardigan With Dark Denim
Cardigans instead of jackets, dark denim instead of suit trousers, patterned bow ties, and a boutonniere pinned straight onto knitwear.
The groom is in the middle in the chambray blazer. This is the furthest thing from black tie in the gallery, and against that teal wall nobody looks underdressed.
See this Denim Wedding Inspiration →
Patterned Waistcoat Back
The whole group turned around for this one. Light grey trousers, jackets hooked over one shoulder, and eight completely different waistcoat backs: turquoise, navy, plaid, paisley, blue brocade, chambray, cream, purple.
From the front they read as one group. From behind, everybody got their own thing. Ask your photographer for it.
See Becca and Sean’s Stevenson Ridge Wedding →
FAQs
The questions we get asked most about dressing a wedding party, answered without the etiquette lecture.
Do groomsmen have to match each other?
No, and some of the best photos in this gallery are the ones where they don’t. The trick is picking one thing that repeats. At Racheli and Adam’s wedding every suit was a different shade and every tie was burgundy, and it reads as a decision rather than an accident. Pick your constant, the tie or the suspenders or the trouser color, and let the rest go where it wants.
How should the groom stand out from his groomsmen?
One change is enough. A bow tie while everyone else wears a long tie. A waistcoat nobody else has. The jacket on when the rest are in shirtsleeves. A tie in a different color, or the whole suit in a different color if you want him visible from across a field. We’d avoid changing three things at once, because at that point he stops reading as the groom and starts looking like he arrived from a different wedding.
Who pays for the groomsmen’s outfits?
Traditionally the groomsmen cover their own suit or rental, the same way bridesmaids buy their own dresses. Plenty of couples buy the ties, bow ties, or suspenders as a gift so the accessories match without anyone chasing five men for money. If you’re asking the group to buy something specific and new, say so early. That cost lands very differently on different people.
Should groomsmen rent or buy their suits?
Rent for black tie, buy for anything the guys would wear again. A tuxedo gets worn once, so renting makes sense. A light grey or navy suit with a decent fit comes back out for every wedding, funeral, and interview for the next five years. And for the barn and beach weddings here, plenty of the outfits are a shirt, trousers, and suspenders, so there’s nothing to rent in the first place.
When should groomsmen order their suits?
We recommend locking in the style around four to five months out, with everyone measured and ordered by three months out. That leaves room for the alterations nobody plans for, plus the groomsman who sends his measurements six weeks late. Anyone travelling in from out of town should get measured at home and send the numbers over rather than sorting it on arrival.
What should groomsmen wear to a summer or beach wedding?
Lose the jacket and lose the black. Tan, cream, light grey, and pale blue all hold up in bright sun, where black turns into a silhouette. A white shirt with suspenders and a bow tie, like Kim and Mark’s group wore on the Lake Erie sand, stays cool through an afternoon outdoors and still looks dressed for a wedding.
