Socks are also the cheapest thing you can hand a groomsman that he’ll wear again. A good pair costs less than a round of drinks and needs no tailoring, and sizing is barely a question. Your photographer will ask for the shot anyway, so you may as well have something worth photographing.
Some couples buy one coordinated pair for everyone. Some hand every guy his own color. Some let it turn into a free-for-all where nobody consults anybody. All of that is below, pulled from real L&L weddings. 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 Socks
One of the best parts of the wedding day – apart from marrying your true love – is spending time with your nearest and dearest to celebrate. In particular, what would your day be without your groomsmen? They’re your best mates that’ll stick with you through thick and thin. On the big day, chances are it will be your groomsmen who make sure you don’t get too nervous by having a few laughs.
So how could you thank them for all their support — how about some fun groomsmen socks!?
Below are groomsmen socks we spotted on real L&L weddings, including custom embroidery and one pair of fried eggs. Click any link to see the full day.
Every Guy in a Different Pair
Kelly and Matthew got married at the summer camp where they met, so nobody was going to enforce a dress code at ankle level. Red dinosaurs on one guy, a snowman on the next, yellow smiley faces down at the bottom of the frame.
The photographer shot straight down onto the petal-covered grass, which is how you get all of them in one photo without lining anybody up.
See Kelly and Matthew’s Summer Camp Wedding →
No two guys picked the same theme here. Cocktail glasses, cheeseburgers on skateboards, a stormtrooper and baseball bats, all worn under black suits with black dress shoes.
Megan and Douglas kept the whole day relaxed, and a sidewalk huddle like this takes about a minute to set up.
See Megan and Douglas’s California Wedding →
Kaitlyn and Nathan’s Denver Botanic Gardens wedding was romantic with a quirky streak, and the quirky ended up at the ankles: pastel argyle, Ninja Turtles, a Mondrian color-block grid.
Everything above the hem stays steady, navy suits and brown oxfords straight down the line.
See Kaitlyn and Nathan’s Denver Botanic Gardens Wedding →
Striped Socks in Full Color
Ethan bought the socks himself and gave each guy his own color: hot pink, purple, green, yellow, magenta, red. Same diagonal stripe on every pair.
Set against navy suits and brown oxfords on a brick path, that’s the wedding’s fall palette turned up loud at ankle height.
See Kim and Ethan’s Piedmont Club Wedding →
Colin surprised his groomsmen with brown dress shoes and these blue and white chevron socks, which covered two parts of the outfit in a single gift.
Against bright royal blue suits on vineyard grass, the zigzag reads from across the lawn.
See Kerri and Colin’s Connecticut Winery Wedding →
Most people stop considering novelty socks the moment tuxedos and patent leather enter the picture. Frances Marie and Nick went ahead anyway.
The stripes run navy through cobalt to pale blue, so they still read formal from a few feet back. Their Pensacola yacht club reception also had a Death Star cake topper, which tells you how much restraint was on the agenda.
See Frances Marie and Nick’s Pensacola Yacht Club Wedding →
Argyle in Colors You Don’t Expect
Every guy here wore coral red argyle with a charcoal suit and tan oxfords.
Jessica and Marty’s spring wedding ran tan, white, pink and gold, and the socks carry the brightest end of that palette all the way down to the grass.
See Jessica and Marty’s Greenhouse Wedding →
Same pattern, different colorway for each guy: cream and blue, pink and green, purple and red.
Argyle is the safest way to run mismatched socks, because the shape stays constant even when the colors go off in six directions. Katie and Trey’s Nashville wedding ran coral, copper and dusty blue, and all three turn up somewhere in the lineup.
See Katie and Trey’s Nashville Wedding →
The groomsmen went with navy argyle. One guy in the middle went with yellow emoji faces.
That single deviation is what makes the photo, and it costs one pair of socks to pull off.
See Emily and Brian’s Golf Course Wedding →
Three groomsmen, one diamond pattern, and three completely different colorways over linen trousers with suede and brown oxfords.
On a family ranch in the middle of summer, this is about as dressed up as anyone needed to get.
See this Blue and White Country Wedding →
Custom Socks with Names and Roles On Them
Navy socks printed with the wedding date and a different name on each pair, then photographed along a fence rail so the text reads straight across.
Summer and Will’s lake house wedding had a summer beach theme. Khaki trousers and tan brogues kept the whole look easy.
See Summer and Will’s Avon Lake Wedding →
Black socks embroidered with the job title: rings for the groom, a tiny tuxedo for the best man, groomsman down the line.
Laid out on a shelf before anyone put them on, which is a shot you get exactly once. Irma and Josh married at a Napa Valley winery, and the whole day stayed on the quiet side.
See Irma and Josh’s Napa Valley Winery Wedding →
One Color Family and No Two Alike
Every pair is blue and none of them match: stripes on one guy, a college logo on another, tiny sailboats on a third.
Propping them along the edge of a canoe at the Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a better idea than any of us would have come up with.
See Rachel and Chris’s Chesapeake Bay Wedding →
Five pairs of green, all different: olive stripes, a small animal print, buffalo check, ribbed forest green, and a tiny repeating motif.
Lining them up on a beam before the guys got dressed shows the palette in a way a photo of ankles never will. Worth doing at a brewery wedding, or anywhere the getting-ready room has good light.
See Lexi and Kwam’s Atlanta Brewery Wedding →
Small Prints for the Understated Groom
The guys sat on a stone wall in navy suits, black bow ties and brown oxfords, wearing a check small enough to read as texture until you’re a few feet away.
Elaina and Joseph’s Greek wedding took its cues from mid-century modern. This is the sock version of that.
See Elaina and Joseph’s Mid-Century Modern Wedding →
Charcoal socks with a small yellow motif on repeat, worn by the whole group with brown leather.
The tip we’d take from this Breckenridge wedding: put the groom in a different color so you can find him instantly in the photo.
See Liz and Jimmy’s Breckenridge Wedding →
He crossed one leg on a wooden deck to show light blue socks with a white dot, worn with tan cap-toe shoes and a navy suit.
Alyssa and Adam’s fall wedding at Sunflower Hill Farm ran soft blue and cream, so the socks sit inside the palette rather than outside it.
See Alyssa and Adam’s Sunflower Hill Farm Wedding →
Animal Print Socks
One tan hare on each black sock, worn by the whole party at River Ranch in North Lake Tahoe. Navy trousers, one burgundy suit in the middle, shirtsleeves rolled.
For a bohemian day outdoors, an animal print does more than a cartoon would.
See Channey and Tylor’s Lake Tahoe Wedding →
Navy socks covered in cat faces, one of them painted with Bowie’s lightning bolt.
Brie and Aryan married in Lausanne, and catching it mid-stride on a brick path is the only way anybody would ever spot the detail.
See Brie and Aryan’s Switzerland Wedding →
Food Prints That Match the Venue
All three prints sit on the same teal base: watermelon slices on one guy, small red fish on another, a white print on the third.
Hannah and Brandon put every pair against tan shoes, so the color holds the group together even though the prints don’t.
See Hannah and Brandon’s University of Northern Iowa Wedding →
Eric’s socks had fried eggs on them. So did his tie.
Cat and Eric ran a food theme through a quirky Boulder Country Club wedding, and the shot of these on frost-covered morning grass is the one we remember.
See Cat and Eric’s Boulder Wedding →
Sal and Greg got married on an avocado farm in Valley Center, then wore matching avocado socks to do it.
He pulled one pant leg up on the gravel over brown chukkas and navy trousers. Tying the sock print to the venue is the cheapest inside joke at the whole wedding.
See Sal and Greg’s Avocado Farm Wedding →
Sports Team Socks
Every guy got a different NFL team: 49ers red, Bills blue, Texans, Steelers yellow, all under grey suits and dark oxfords.
Lining up indoors and lifting the trouser hems on three takes about four seconds. Ask for it while everyone is still dressed and sober.
See Alexis and Sean’s Temecula Valley Wedding →
Stars and Stripes Socks
Navy socks with white stars and a red and white stripe at the cuff, worn with tan suede and brown brogues at a farm outside Aurora.
The groom and his guys all wore the same pair, which is the whole strategy: pick one loud thing and repeat it down the line.
See Renee and Chris’s Abbey Farms Wedding →
Cartoon and Superhero Socks
Striped socks with a face knitted into each one: a mustache, a grimace, a wide-eyed monster in teal.
Everything above the ankle stays plain, navy suits and brown oxfords on the grass at Old Stonegate Farms, so it never reads as costume.
See Nicole and Jesse’s Old Stonegate Farms Wedding →
Blue Superman socks with the crest across the calf, caught while he was still lacing up brown leather shoes.
Stephanie and Levi’s orchard wedding in Julian had sunflowers and cowgirl boots elsewhere, so nobody was aiming for black tie.
See Stephanie and Levi’s Apple Lane Orchard Wedding →
Socks with a Face Printed on Them
Feet up on a leather ottoman, beers and whiskey in hand, blue suits, and a row of famous faces at the ankle: Lincoln, the Mona Lisa, a couple of portraits nobody could name from six feet away.
Rachel and Isaac’s Kansas City wedding was colorful everywhere else too, so the socks weren’t the outlier.
See Rachel and Isaac’s Kansas City Wedding →
Stars and stripes at the cuff and an OutKast portrait down each side, worn with black cap-toes on warehouse asphalt.
Meredith and Ryan married at the Foundry at Puritan Mill in Atlanta, which is the only correct city for these socks.
See Meredith and Ryan’s Puritan Mill Wedding →
Custom socks printed with somebody’s face on repeat, top to toe, under a grey suit and tan oxfords with string lights behind.
Nicole and Andrew’s Houston wedding had a Lord of the Rings thread running through it, and readers still bring up the guys’ socks.
See Nicole and Andrew’s Houston Wedding →
Socks with a Punchline on the Shin
Slogans stitched across the shin on most of the guys, skulls on one, worn with grey suits and brown derbies.
DeAnn and Tyler’s orange grove wedding in Southern California was casual and loud, so nobody was going to file a complaint.
See DeAnn and Tyler’s Orange Grove Wedding →
Socks Printed with One Very Specific Hobby
Red socks covered in yellow rubber ducks, worn with black cap-toe oxfords.
Claire and Matt were shot on the sidewalk outside a Baltimore museum, and nobody involved has ever explained the ducks.
See Claire and Matt’s Baltimore Museum Wedding →
Blue socks with yellow bicycles printed on them, tan leather shoes, a turquoise heel just in frame.
Erica and Mike got married in a medical oddities museum with a retro punk theme, so a bike print was the tame part of the day.
See Erica and Mike’s Museum Wedding →
One Sock Ordered for the Whole Lineup
Every pair carries the same blush and cream print, worn with navy suits over brown and tan brogues.
Danielle and Jacob married at Hermann Hill in autumn with a neutral palette. This is the version of the sock photo that stays quiet, and it still works with leaves on the ground.
See Danielle and Jacob’s Hermann Hill Wedding →
The Overhead Sock Circle
Shoes in a tight circle on a patterned rug, socks pointed inward, camera straight down.
Denise and Chris’s barn wedding in Oxford is where we’d send anyone who wants this shot. Stand close, aim at the floor, and you have it in one take.
See Denise and Chris’s Barn Wedding →
Same idea outdoors on concrete: navy trousers, brown shoes, and a ring of socks that runs argyle to blue stripes to one guy in flat red.
Jodie and Jon’s Wisconsin wedding was stacked with DIY details, and mismatched socks for the guys was one of them.
See Jodie and Jon’s Wisconsin Wedding →
The Whole Party with Pant Legs Up
The whole party stood under a floral-draped pavilion and hitched a trouser leg at the same moment.
It’s the only shot here where you get faces, suits and socks in one frame, which makes it the one to actually request from your photographer.
See Billy and Courtney’s Virginia Park Wedding →
FAQs
Who pays for the groomsmen’s socks?
The couple, almost always. Socks are usually part of the groomsman gift, which means the groom picks them, buys them, and hands them out with the rest of the getting-ready kit. If you’re asking the guys to buy their own, tell them the color rule early and keep it to one line: navy suit, any pattern you want.
Should the groom wear different socks than his groomsmen?
It’s worth doing. A photographer at one of the weddings here suggested putting the groom in a different color from the rest so he’s instantly findable in the group shot. It also gives you a reason to buy him something a bit sillier than what everyone else got.
Do novelty socks look wrong with a tuxedo?
Not if you keep the palette tight. The tuxedo lineup in this gallery works because the socks stay in the navy-to-pale-blue range, so from a few steps back they read as texture instead of a costume. Save the cheeseburgers for a suit.
When should you give groomsmen their socks?
Morning of, with everything else they need to put on. Any earlier and at least one guy will leave his at home. If the socks are custom or embroidered, order them a good six to eight weeks out, since personalization runs slower than standard shipping.
What’s the best way to photograph groomsmen socks?
A few setups do the job. Everyone standing in a circle shot straight down, a line of hitched trouser legs, or feet propped on something with character like a fence rail or a canoe. Tell your photographer before the day so it gets on the shot list instead of getting remembered at the reception.
Don’t forget to pin this to your Wedding Fashion Board for later!
