Common summer wedding attire mistakes

The summer is officially here and many of us will have summer weddings to attend. If you are under 40 and attending the wedding of someone under 40, there is a very good chance that there are good times to be had. First and foremost, many of the women there should be around your age and single. There will probably be alcohol served and good music played, so you want to make sure that you look your best and are comfortable. Here are five of the most common sartorial mistakes that guys make when trying to figure out what to wear.

5 Tuxedos
Unless you are in the wedding party or the invitation says “black tie”, do not wear a tux to anyone’s wedding. The last thing you want to do is upstage anyone on their special day. If you don’t know what to wear, the standard combination of a shirt, tie, and blazer will suffice (or you can wait for our tips on what to wear to summer weddings).

4 Under-dressing
The other end of the spectrum from a tuxedo is full on casual clothing. You want to show the appropriate reverence for that special day between two people. Jeans and shorts are inappropriate at 99% of weddings that people are invited to. You are far better off wearing trousers or chinos, a button down shirt, and a tie to a wedding. When in doubt, go with a suit and tie.

3 Wrap-Around Shades
Sunglasses are a must when it comes to outdoor weddings. No one wants to miss the ceremony because their retinas were being fried out of their skull. One of the most ridiculous wedding sights, however, is all of the guys in their baseball wrap-around Oakleys. Their dates came ready to catch the bouquet and they came ready to catch pop flies. Leave the wrap-arounds at home and upgrade to some big boy sunglasses.

2 Flip-Flops
Unless it is a beach wedding and you know for a fact the ceremony will be on the beach, men should have closed toed shoes at weddings. If you are worried your feet with get toasty, then throw some talc in your loafers and go sockless.

1 Dark Wool Suits
Hands down the most common sartorial mistake that guys make when going to summer weddings is wearing charcoal, black, or navy wool suits. They tend to look very funereal at what is supposed to be a joyous occasion. They are also excruciatingly hot. I remember a wedding I went to last year and watching all of the guys in full suits and ties literally about to pass out from the heat. It’s not so much that the suit is the problem as the colors and the material. Dark wool is just going to absorb heat. Suits made of fabrics with lighter colors and weights will keep you feeling and looking much cooler. Cotton, linen, or tropical wool are much better alternatives to your traditional wool suit, but more on that later.

Stay tuned for Guyism’s Summer Wedding Rundown.

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