Photo: Lilian Haidar
Now that you've decided to have a black-tie wedding, it's time to think about your wedding attire. Specifically, for the men in the wedding party. Should the groom and his attendants all wear matching tuxedos? Or, if some men already own their own tuxes, can they simply wear their own? Our wedding etiquette experts are here to answer your dress-code questions in our daily post.
My groomsmen and I would prefer to wear our own tuxes instead of renting them for our black-tie wedding. Will it look strange if we have different lapels and notches?
If you and most of your groomsmen already own tuxedos, then there's no sense in renting ones just for the wedding. Save yourselves the additional expense because no one will notice the slight lapel or notch differences. And even if someone did notice, they would probably think that 100% matching is more strange than not matching (matching tuxes = wait staff, don't you think?). Groomsmen in classic black tuxedos will always look polished and coordinated, even if their tuxes are by different designers.
Since it is a black-tie wedding, most of your male guests will also be wearing tuxedos. So, to make your groomsmen stand out in the crowd, have your florist make them boutonnieres to pin to their lapel. Then, to distinguish yourself from your attendants, you could ask your florist to add a textural element to your boutonniere, like berries or fresh herbs, so that yours is slightly different. Or, yours could have a similar but different bloom: wear a ranunculus boutonniere, and have your groomsmen sport spray roses. (It's a good idea to keep the flowers in the same color family for a consistent look.) Two more options: you could have a fuller boutonniere with two or three blossoms, while the groomsmen have a single bloom of the same variety. Or, you could wear a fully open blossom while the groomsmen wear buds of the same flower.