If you’ve decided on a relatively casual wedding, that narrows your wedding attire selection to suiting — but for the groom, it can't be just any suit. Below, we’ll provide the guidance to help you pick the perfect groom suit.
Get started by exploring the most common groom suit colors and why you might choose them, or check out our expert picks by season or wedding formality. Because the best groom suits are chosen with the context of the wedding in mind.
Table of Contents
Groom Suit Colors
Grey Suits
Blue Suits
Black Suits
Tan Suits
Groom Suit Ideas By Season
Spring & Summer
Fall & Winter
Groom Outfits By Formality
Casual Suits
Formal Suits
Grey Groom Suits
Most grey suits have a cool tone that reads neutral, and there are many shades to choose from. No matter the season or time of day of your wedding, you'll have no trouble finding an appropriate groom suit that can be dressed up or down for almost any dress code. Let's dial up the perfect shade of grey for your wedding.
Light Grey Suit
A light grey suit is a smart idea for a spring or summer wedding, and especially during the daytime. The light grey fabric color keeps grooms cooler than darker shades (like charcoal or navy), so you won't overheat under the spotlight. Its neutral color means you can easily accent your light grey suit with wedding colors.
Medium Grey Suit
A classic "medium" grey suit is about as versatile as you can get — they match everything, which means your groom suit can be worn for a formal wedding or dressed down to create a more casual groom outfit. If we had to place this suit seasonally, it's perfect for the fall — the grey fabric complements warm colors well, and it works equally well for cooler temps or warmer days, day or night.
Charcoal Suit
The darker charcoal suit sets the right tone for fall and winter weddings, or any wedding that starts in the evening. If that's your plan, or if you’re leaning toward a formal wedding, this could be your groom suit. Charcoal suits also have an intrinsic seriousness to it that you don't get with the lighter shades of grey, which may be why it's also a popular choice for business dress codes.
Ultimately, the accessories you choose will dictate how formal or casual the groom outfit looks, and it's not uncommon for the groom to look a bit more buttoned up than the rest of the wedding. Even for a casual wedding, this charcoal suit is still one of our recommended groom suit ideas.
Blue Groom Suits
Navy and blue groom suits are the best choice for an inherently colorful look. Shades of blue tend to punch up the colors you pair with them, bringing out the best in your tie, pocket square, or even the dress shirt you choose.
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Blue Suit
The blue suit is modern and bold—a smart choice for an evening wedding in the spring or summer. In the fall, you can get away with blue during the day, but probably skip the vest—you never know how the temps will look like in late September. This is a casual groom suit, so read on if you’re looking for something formal in the blue family.
Navy Suit
Classic navy groom suits feature a dark fabric that works well for evening weddings year-round. In colder months, navy can also work for a daytime wedding — the darker color is safer on a chilly day than a hot one. Compared other dark suits, navy will soften your look the most with its deep blue tones. Dress it up with black and white accessories or a bow tie, or dress it down with a little more color for a casual look.
Black Groom Suits
Black suits are the most formal groom suit option. Small (but significant) details are all that separate black suits from tuxedos, and you can't really wear them interchangeably. That said, there's certainly and time and place for this groom outfit.
Black Suit
Black suits are a little edgy, and bring a lot of personality to an evening wedding, or vows in the fall or winter. If you decide a black suit is the way you want to go, try to work in a little more color than basic black and white—unless you're going for a Blues Brothers, Reservoir Dogs vibe.
Tan Groom Suits
Neutral suit colors can be a blank canvas or carry your groom outfit on their own. When that's the case If you'd prefer a warmer palette, or prefer to balance out the cooler tones in your outfits, look to tan.
Tan Suit
Tan suits are relatively casual, which makes this a great choice for daytime weddings, beach weddings in tropical locales (especially with cotton or linen fabrics), or weddings with a rustic theme. This is a great example of aligning your wedding attire to formality or setting, and a tan suit isn't the groom suit we'd recommend for a formal wedding.
Spring & Summer Groom Outfits
Spring weddings are all about bright, bold color — flowers and sunshine. Our spring groom suit recommendations fit into this equation in different ways. Summer is a slightly different beast, but the best groom outfits for each of these seasons tend to be more colorful or lighter in saturation.
Blue Suit for Summer
This is a colorful suit, which means you can (and probably should) use a little more restraint with your accessories. Pull together a monochromatic look with navy, light blue, and brown, or add a pop of color with a bold necktie on a crisp white dress shirt.
Light Grey Suit for Summer
Looking to pack your look with a lot of color? This is your suit. The light grey fabric provides a blank canvas, and no color family is off-limits. In the spring, pastels are an especially good match for light grey (think pink instead of red, light blue instead of royal).
Tan Suit for Summer
The tan suit does most of its work during the summer, and it's practically the unofficial mascot of beach weddings. Tan groom suits bring out the color in your outfit, so go ahead and get crazy with that pocket square, you maniac.
Fall & Winter Groom Outfits
Fall is a tricky season because it’s really anybody’s guess whether your big day will be a scorcher or frosty. If you’re not a meteorologist, mitigate some of this seasonal uncertainty by planning on a vest, and ditch the thing if it’s hot. Winter is simple—just stick to darker colors.
Grey Suit for Fall
You could wear a medium grey suit in the spring or summer and look (and feel) great, but this grey works especially well with fall and winter colors and textures, like this knit tie. The grey suit isn't too dark, so a solid groom outfit choice for a toasty fall day.
Navy Suit for Fall
For fall weddings that start in the evening, navy is the perfect groom suit. In the winter, you can get away with navy's dark color day or night. It’s a little more formal than a grey suit, but it's easy to accessorize a navy suit for a low-key look.
Charcoal Suit for Fall
Tone down the formal feel of a charcoal groom suit by wearing a necktie rather than a bow tie. Oddly enough, adding a vest can make this suit feel a little more approachable. Otherwise, black and white accessories (like a bow tie and pocket square) will bump this suit up into the black tie optional dress code category.
Black Suit for Fall
We recommend the black suit for chilly months, because it's unlikely you're planning an outdoor winter wedding. A full black suit in the dead of summer is a no-go for most of us humans. Soften a black suit’s impact with accessories in muted colors, and even brown shoes.
Casual Groom Suit Ideas
If you don’t wear suits often, “casual” and “suit” might seem like opposing universes, like Marvel and DC. The difference between a formal navy suit and a casual blue suit is actually pretty simple: one is darker, and therefore more formal, than the other.
Your groom style should match your wedding style, and certain colors will convey how formal or casual your wedding style is. Suits on the lighter side of the spectrum, like tan, light grey, and even a medium grey suit, are best for casual events. Blue suits are also a great choice because of the color and personality a blue suit brings to your look.
Tan Suit Ideas
Think beaches, the countryside, the desert—so, casual. In fact, the tan suit was voted most likely to be worn without a tie or socks, according to a fake poll I just made up. (Related: Whether you wear socks or not, always wear shoes to any wedding, but especially your wedding.)
Light Grey Suit Ideas
The light grey groom suits are almost as laidback as tan. It’s hard to find a better match for a whimsical spring wedding (if you're into whimsy), and these suits work equally well for casual daytime, warm-weather weddings.
Blue Suit Ideas
For a low-effort way to add personality to your look, choose a blue groom suit. The fabric’s rich color complements bold and low-key accessories alike. The blue suit is ideal for any casual wedding in the late afternoon or early evening.
Grey Suit Ideas
Probably the surest bet of any casual suit on our list is the grey suit, in a nice medium grey hue. Grey matches up with whatever color combos you throw at it, and works especially well for casual evening weddings. It's an understated choice for a groom suit, but that can be a good thing.
Formal Groom Suit Ideas
Maybe you’re planning a traditional wedding with a classic, old-school feel, but you're not sure a tuxedo will fit your vibe. That’s fine—you can dial in a timeless look with these formal groom suit ideas.
Grey Groom Suit Ideas
Yup, grey can do it all. Take a grey groom suit into formal territory by wearing black shoes and a bow tie, or a black knit necktie and vest. Grey is a good suit color for a formal daytime ceremony.
Navy Groom Suit Ideas
The navy groom suit plays well with color, but if you’re looking for a formal, traditional suit, you’ll probably keep the colors of your accessories muted anyway. The fabric color keeps a formal look interesting without going too bold—the same reason midnight blue tuxedos are such a popular alternative to the classic black tux.
Charcoal Groom Suit Ideas
This suit provides that serious black and white vibe, but the fabric offers some visual texture that softens the way your whole outfit looks together. Keep playing off that texture with your accessories—try a wool or linen tie rather than silk or satin, or a matte leather lace-up rather than shiny patent leather shoes.
Black Groom Suit Ideas
This is the most formal of groom suit ideas, and while you wouldn't typically dress a black groom suit up with a lot of colorful accessories for a formal wedding, the black and white look is dramatic and striking. Johnny Cash knew what he was doing, and so do you.
Better Suits for the Groom (and the Crew)
Creating the perfect groom outfit for your wedding isn't all about how you look—you should feel good, too. Will you feel confident? Relaxed? Would a cheap rental suit make you feel good?
Renting has always sucked—that’s why we changed it. We design our suits with a modern fit, and craft them in-house with Italian merino wool that feels as good as it looks. We actually offer our groom suits for purchase—the same suits we rent—because they're truly that good.
We also know it can be tough to coordinate your groom outfit with wedding party looks (not to mention get them into a tux shop for a fitting), so we've simplified everything. Just choose outfits for you and your groomsmen, and manage your wedding party rentals entirely online. We'll help them find their sizes from the comfort of their couch. Win-win.
Ready to find your groom suit? Get started now.
