The grooms below went a lot of different directions with it. Forest green and cobalt and steel blue. Cream and taupe for spring weddings held outdoors. Tweed, brocade, windowpane check, and one charcoal morning suit with an ascot. A few stuck with black and let a single red tie or a satin lapel do the talking.
If you want color, a texture nobody else in the room will be wearing, or a classic suit with one detail that keeps it from looking rented, we’ve gathered our favorite groom wedding suits 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 Wedding Suits
First up: groom wedding suits spotted on real L&L weddings, with the color, the cut and the details that made each one work. Click any link to see the full day. Scroll further for shoppable options.
Steel Blue Three-Piece with a Black Bow Tie
Not navy. Steel blue sits a few shades lighter and warmer, and it’s the reason this suit doesn’t dissolve into every other groom portrait you’ve scrolled past.
Nayef kept everything else black, down to the pocket square, so the one white bloom at his lapel is the only bright thing on him. Their reception was a blush ballroom, but the portraits went outside into dry golden grass, and the blue holds up beautifully against it.
See Katlea and Nayef’s Blush Ballroom Wedding →
Royal Blue Suit with a Grey Waistcoat
Here’s the fix for looking like one of your own groomsmen: put everyone in the same royal blue suit, then give the groom a light grey waistcoat and grey tie while the rest wear navy ties.
Drew is instantly readable as the groom in a lineup of seven men in identical suits, and nobody had to buy a separate outfit to make that happen.
See Emily and Drew’s Traditional Church Wedding →
Forest Green Suit with a Floral Shirt
Jeremy wanted a bright teal suit. He ended up in forest green, which was the better call, and then put a floral print shirt underneath it anyway.
Green works as a neutral outdoors in a way navy never quite manages. Against the water and the trees, he just looks like he belongs there.
See Kaitlyn and Jeremy’s Colorful Lakeside Wedding →
Warm Taupe Three-Piece with a Feather Bow Tie
Victoria chose a pale suit on purpose. An April wedding held outside gets warm, and light wool in a soft taupe is far more forgiving than anything dark when you’re standing in a field for an hour.
The feather bow tie is the part we’d copy. It’s texture where most grooms default to silk, and swapping it in costs almost nothing.
See Victoria and Dylan’s Blackwater Lodge Wedding →
All Black Suit with a Patterned Tie
Black on black is the version most grooms skip. Zach wore a black shirt under the black suit, so the only break anywhere in the look is a soft green patterned tie and one hot pink bloom at the lapel.
Jasmine and Zach married outdoors at Stone Valley Meadows in Franklin, Ohio. There’s so much green behind him that a louder suit would have been one thing too many.
See Jasmine and Zach’s Stone Valley Meadows Wedding →
Slate Grey Suit with a Blush Bow Tie
Luke skipped the matching exercise entirely. Blue-grey suit, a blush bow tie, and brown leather on both the belt and the shoes, which runs warmer than the black-on-black most grooms default to.
The open collar and the old painted brick behind him keep this on the relaxed side of dressed up. That’s the register a lot of grooms are after and rarely ask for by name.
See Ramona and Luke’s Pink Industrial Wedding →
Grey Suit with a Burgundy Waistcoat
The waistcoat and tie are cut from the same burgundy satin, which is what keeps this from looking like separates thrown together. Grey suit, one saturated color, done.
A sunflower at the lapel against all that deep red is a louder pairing than it sounds on paper, and it worked for an intimate autumn wedding at Chapel in the Hollow.
See Jessica and Dustin’s Sunflower Chapel Wedding →
Light Grey Three-Piece with a Pale Pink Tie
Light grey is the gentlest a classic suit gets. Against an old stone Pennsylvania farmhouse in daylight it reads warm rather than washed out, with a pale pink tie and a white rose to finish it.
The dog is wearing a cream bow. We’re not going to pretend that isn’t the first thing you looked at.
See Megan and Bryce’s Bucks County Wedding →
Navy Suit with a Contrast Grey Lapel
Navy with a grey satin peak lapel is a structural change rather than an accessory one, and it shows up in photos far more than a different tie would.
With that much going on at the lapel, Kurt could keep everything underneath plain. It’s also a way to stand apart from a row of navy groomsmen without wearing a different color.
See Maddie and Kurt’s Greenville Wedding →
Grey Windowpane Check Suit with a Novelty Tie
The tie has a fried egg on it. So do the socks. Eric committed to the bit, and the grey windowpane check underneath is sober enough that he gets away with it.
Their Boulder Country Club wedding was quirky by design, so the suit is the calm half of the outfit. Pattern in the fabric, joke in the accessories.
See Cat and Eric’s Quirky Colorado Wedding →
Charcoal Morning Suit with an Ascot
Morning dress is the formality most people forget exists: a cutaway coat that curves away at the front, grey striped trousers, and an ascot instead of a tie.
Jerry finished his with an engraved pocket watch for a Roaring Twenties wedding at The Graycliff. He wasn’t sure about any of it until he tried it on, which is how this usually goes.
See Megan and Jerry’s Great Gatsby Wedding →
Brown Tweed Jacket with a Plaid Waistcoat
Two patterns, worn on purpose. Brown herringbone tweed over a black and white checked double-breasted waistcoat, held together by a plain white shirt and a black knit tie.
Mixing patterns works when the scales are different, and this shoot at a villa in Le Marche is a clean demonstration. Fine herringbone underneath a big bold check.
See This Italian Autumn Styled Shoot →
Light Grey Three-Piece with a Plaid Tie
Light grey suit, an orange and blue plaid tie, dried flowers at the lapel. The tie is the only thing carrying color and it carries plenty.
Jimmy and Martha married in the woods at The Clearing in Ontario, where a pale suit stands out against dark trees in a way a charcoal one wouldn’t.
See Jimmy and Martha’s Forest Wedding →
Cobalt Blue Three-Piece with Cowboy Boots
The boots are what make this one. A cobalt three-piece with a burgundy bow tie is already a strong pairing, and brown cowboy boots underneath keep it from looking borrowed.
For a rustic Texas wedding, none of that is costume. It’s roughly what people there wear when they dress up.
See Jammie and Eric’s Rustic Texas Wedding →
Black Suit with a Red Tie
One bright red tie against a plain black suit, photographed on the porch of a historic Maryland mansion. That’s the entire look.
Red is the shortcut to Christmas without any actual holiday decoration involved, which is useful if you want a December wedding that still looks like a wedding.
See Katelyn and Nate’s Christmas Wedding →
Royal Blue Three-Piece with a Burgundy Pocket Square
This is the close-up that sells a three-piece. The waistcoat sits under the jacket in the same royal blue, so when Jonathan took the jacket off for the reception, the look didn’t fall apart.
An ivory textured tie, a white rose at the lapel, and a burgundy pocket square folded so only a corner shows. Not much contrast, and all of it placed well.
See Jonathan and Hilary’s Lodi Vineyard Wedding →
Cream Three-Piece with a Pale Pink Tie
Cream is a real option and almost nobody takes it. Warmer than grey, softer than tan, and it makes a pale pink tie look deliberate rather than accidental.
The boutonniere is where the color lives here: a bright orange ranunculus with a thistle tucked in behind it, sitting against all that pale wool.
See Hannah and Bob’s St. Petersburg Wedding →
Plum Floral Brocade Jacket with a Velvet Bow Tie
Plum brocade covered in woven florals, worn with a black velvet bow tie and a bird of paradise at the lapel. Zachary was getting married on a Hawaii plantation, so tropical maximalism was the correct answer.
Patterned jackets like this live or die on the shirt. Plain white, nothing competing underneath, and the weave reads clearly instead of turning to noise.
See Esther and Zachary’s Maui Wedding →
Light Three-Piece with a Dark Contrast Tie
A light suit with a dark tie gives you more contrast than any all-dark outfit will, and it’s the easiest way to look sharp in a photo without wearing black.
Baby’s breath at the lapel, a silver watch on the wrist, hands still fussing with the knot. Kaitlyn and Shaun married at a Virginia winery, and this is the ten minutes before any of it starts.
See Kaitlyn and Shaun’s Virginia Winery Wedding →
FAQs
What color suit should a groom wear?
Start with the season and where you’ll be standing. Light wool in grey, taupe or cream is far more comfortable for an outdoor spring or summer wedding, and it photographs better in bright sun than anything dark. Navy and charcoal are the safe year-round picks. If you want color, green and blue are the two that read as neutral outdoors, which is why several of the grooms here went that way.
Should the groom’s suit match the groomsmen?
It doesn’t have to, and we’d argue it shouldn’t. The simplest approach is the one Emily and Drew used: everyone in the same suit, with the groom in a different waistcoat and tie. You get a coordinated lineup and the groom is still obvious in every group photo. Putting the groom in a different color entirely also works, just keep the two in the same family so the photos don’t fight.
Does the groom need a three-piece suit?
No, but the waistcoat is worth the extra money at a long wedding. Once the jacket comes off during dinner or dancing, a two-piece leaves you in a shirt and tie, while a three-piece still looks finished. If your wedding is short, hot, or outdoors all day, skip it.
Should the groom rent or buy his wedding suit?
Rent if you want black tie styling you’ll never wear again, or if the groomsmen need to match on a budget. Buy if you’ve chosen something in a color or cut you’d actually wear to other events, which is most of the suits in this gallery. In our experience, a bought suit fits better in photos, because it’s been altered for one body rather than adjusted for the closest available size.
Is a suit formal enough for an evening wedding?
Yes. A dark three-piece with a bow tie, or a suit with satin trim on the lapels, sits comfortably at an evening reception without crossing into black tie. If your invitation says black tie specifically, that’s a different outfit, and a suit isn’t it.
