Contrast wedding suits

Contrast wedding suits are a great way of ensuring that the Groom stands out from his Groomsmen. Almost as much as the Bride stands out from her bridesmaids! There are various ways of making this happen. Below are a few suggestions, along with some of our Grooms showing you how its done.

The Groom can have a full contrast wedding suit

Burgundy MTM for Mr Gunningham with his Ushers in 3 piece grey lounge with burgundy ties — Burgundy contrast wedding suit, MTM, for Mr Gunningham with his Ushers in 3 piece grey lounge with burgundy ties

Mr Tookey - MTM jacket worn with our hire trousers Summer 2023 — Burgundy contrast wedding suit, MTM, for Mr Gunningham with his Ushers in 3 piece grey lounge with burgundy ties

Having a full contrast wedding suit can be achieved through all of our collections, hire, custom made and full made-to-measure. Although most of our Grooms do tend to go for matching suits to their Groomsmen. There is nothing to stop you making your own statement and going completely different to your Ushers. The Brides do it. I mean, have you ever seen a Bride match her Bridesmaids? in colour, style or fabric? So go on, if you want to, dare to be different.

Making the contrast using the trousers and waistcoat

Mr Vuuren in navy tailcoats with grey waistcoat & trousers — Navy tailcoats with grey waistcoat & trousers was the option for Mr Vuuren

Mr Millward wore Prince of Wales waistcoat & trousers under his royal blue jacket & put everyone else 3 piece royal blue suits — Navy tailcoats with grey waistcoat & trousers was the option for Mr Vuuren

Having a contrast trouser and waistcoat can change the whole look of a suit. It gives a very modern feel to the traditional tailcoat. As you can see Mr Millward did this by just changing his trousers and tie colour. He stood out from his Groomsmen. He kept the continuity across his entourage by having their waistcoats the same as his. Within our hire collection we can offer matching or contrasting trousers. Our contrast trousers are available in classic stripe, Prince of Wales and dogtooth designs.

Contrast wedding suit trousers

Mr Thick in a classic black tailcoat with classic stripe trouser — Mr Thick in a traditional black tailcoat with classic stripe trouser

Mr Nile in velvet jacket & waistcoat with dogtooth trousers. Rest in hire DJ with dogtooth waistcoats — Mr Thick in a traditional black tailcoat with classic stripe trouser

Contrast wedding suits are not a new idea. If you think about where this whole look came from it stems back to the traditional Edwardian black tailcoat and stripe trouser attire. This classic British wedding look was the option for Mr Thick for his wedding pictured above.

Mr Nile & Mr Elmes chose similar outfits to each other. They both had full made-to-measure black velvet dinner suit jackets. Although both put their personal spin on the styling, shape and fit of each. (Oh, the luxury of designing your own made-to-measure wedding suit). Both Mr Nile & Mr Elmes opted for black satin scollop waistcoats and dogtooth trousers. Their groomsmen both wore 2 piece dinner suits. Mr Nile put his groomsmen in double breasted dogtooth waistcoats and black ties to match in with his trousers. Whilst Mr Elmes chose to have black satin scoop style waistcoats and dogtooth bow ties.

Changing the Grooms waistcoat

All in royal blue suits but the Groom wore a grey collarless DB waistcoat, blue tie and blue shoes

Glen wore a black satin scoop waistcoat under his dinner suit putting his Ushers in Ascot grey DB & matching bow ties — All in royal blue suits but the Groom wore a grey collarless DB waistcoat, blue tie and blue shoes

Probably the most popular way of creating contrast wedding suits is to just change the Grooms waistcoat. Regardless of its the fabric, colour or style. By making this subtle difference you can clearly pick out the Groom from his Ushers. As you can see in the photographs above of our Grooms. Most of our Grooms chose to have the more patterned or lighter coloured waistcoats. They then put their Ushers into matching waistcoats. But as you can see from Glen's photo above. He chose to have the matching waistcoats and put his Ushers in Ascot grey. This proves it does work in reverse too.

This is one of the reasons we always suggest on your first appointment just the Bride & Groom come in. You can work out what works on the Groom. Double check it gets the Brides approval. Then from there based on your choice for the Groom, we can help you find a contrasting wedding suit look for the rest of the entourage.

Contrasting just the ties

Kris wore a spot tie whilst his Usher wore the Bridesmaid rose pink ties under their navy hire suits with scoop waistcoats

Royal blue suits with grey scoop waistcoats. Groom, Mr Dickens wore a royal blue tie rest sky blue to match the Bridesmaids — Kris wore a spot tie whilst his Usher wore the Bridesmaid rose pink ties under their navy hire suits with scoop waistcoats

Having a complete stand alone contrast wedding suit isn't for everyone. Some Grooms prefer a more subtle approach. Keeping the suits and waistcoats the same. But by changing just a tie colour it is a more gentle way of standing out. Maybe the Groom just doesn't suit the bridesmaids colour? Also over the years we have had Grooms confide in us that they don't really like the bridesmaid dress colour so don't really want to wear it on their wedding day! My main comment to many Brides and Grooms is "your not marrying a bridesmaid. Your marrying a Bride. The Bride will 99.9% be wearing white or ivory so why are you being matched to a bridesmaid anyway? If anything you should be matching to the Bride or just having a tie that matches with your suit more."

Creating a contrast wedding suit

If you would like to discuss your wedding suits with us in further detail please contact us. You can call us on Billericay 01277 651140 or Colchester 01206 571171. We can set up an appointment with our hire, custom or made-to-measure specialists. They can help and advise you on achieving your perfect wedding suit look.