Wedding Suits for Men: The Complete Guide for Grooms and Groomsmen

A good wedding suit comes down to four decisions: the season and venue of the wedding, the dress code (whether it is printed on the invitation or only implied), the colour scheme the couple has chosen, and your own build, budget and sense of style. Get those four right and most of the rest falls into place. This guide takes each in turn, with a colour-by-colour breakdown, a venue and time-of-day reference, guidance on configuration (two-piece, three-piece, double-breasted or dinner suit), and a proper section on coordinating a groom with his groomsmen.

More than 230,000 weddings take place in England and Wales every year (Office for National Statistics), and the suit is the one thing a groom wears in nearly every photograph from the day. MrGuild has been tailoring for grooms from London since 2018, with real depth in three-piece and double-breasted cuts and our signature peak lapel, and you can see the full wedding range in one place. By the end you will know how to choose a wedding suit by season, venue, colour and configuration, and how to dress a whole wedding party without everyone looking identical.

Wedding Suit Trends for 2026: What's Changed

To understand where wedding suiting sits in 2026, it helps to remember where it was in 2025. Last year the story was relaxation: softly structured blazers, wider and looser trousers, and the 'old money' ease that filtered down from general menswear. Colour followed the same mood, with sage green, sand, stone and pale blue leading the palette.

2026 moves the other way. Wedding suiting now runs in the opposite direction to general menswear: while business suits keep relaxing, wedding suits are sharpening, with more structured shoulders, a more considered fit and fuller, more deliberate silhouettes. If you've read that tailoring is going soft and loose this year, that advice is for the office, not the aisle.

The three-piece sits at the centre of it. The strongest 2026 wedding suit configuration is the three-piece, with the waistcoat adding both formality and reception-stage flexibility: the jacket comes off after dinner and the look stays sharp.

Colour has shifted with the silhouette. Where 2025 leaned pale and soft, 2026 leads with earthy neutrals and jewel tones, burgundy, forest green, chocolate brown and navy with real depth, while head-to-toe pastel has dropped off the headline. Texture does the heavy lifting at the premium end, with tweed, velvet and linen separating a considered suit from an ordinary one.

The Regency influence is hard to ignore. Searches for 'Bridgerton weddings' rose more than 190 per cent year on year (Belle Bridal Magazine, citing Hitched), pushing peak lapels, tweed and three-piece tailoring back to the front of the groom conversation. The sensible version of the trend is restraint: differentiate from your groomsmen through one element, a waistcoat, a lapel pin, a fabric or a different tie, rather than a dramatic contrast.

None of this is a stretch for MrGuild. The peak lapel is our signature, our depth runs through three-piece and double-breasted cuts, and our colour range already covers the 2026 palette.

Choosing a Wedding Suit by Season

Season decides more about a wedding suit than most grooms expect. It sets the fabric weight you can comfortably wear, narrows the colours that look right in the available light, and often answers whether a waistcoat helps or gets in the way. In the UK, where a single afternoon can move through three kinds of weather, dressing for the season is as much about comfort as appearance.

Spring Wedding Suits (March to May)

Spring is the layering season. The weather is unsettled, so the suit has to cope with a bright morning and a cold churchyard on the same day. Mid-weight wool and wool blends work best, with tweed still in play for early spring. A three-piece earns its place here, because the waistcoat lets you manage shifting temperatures without reaching for an overcoat. For colour, lean into navy, mid-blue, sage, burgundy and brown. Browse the three-piece suits for spring-ready options.

Summer Wedding Suits (June to August)

A summer wedding suit has one job before all others: keeping you cool without looking underdressed. Choose a lightweight fabric, linen, a cotton blend or a high-twist lightweight wool, and keep the colour in the lighter half of the range, where cream, light blue, sage and mid-brown all read well in strong daylight. A two-piece is usually more comfortable than a heavy three-piece outdoors, and for a ceremony in full sun a groom can leave the waistcoat off without losing much. The rule worth repeating: lighter, yes, but avoid head-to-toe pastel. For a garden or beach ceremony, a linen suit with an open collar works where the dress code allows. Start with the cream suits and blue suits for warm-weather looks.

Autumn Wedding Suits (September to November)

Autumn is the most photogenic season for a wedding suit, and the one that gives the richest palette room to breathe. Tweed and wool flannel come into their own. Burgundy, forest green, chocolate brown and deep navy all suit the lower light and warmer backdrops, and this is the season where a three-piece looks most at home. Explore brown, burgundy and green suits for autumn weddings.

Winter Wedding Suits (December to February)

Winter pushes the formality up. Dark tones and structured fabrics take over, with heavy wool, flannel and velvet for the evening. Midnight navy, charcoal and deep burgundy are the natural choices, and black-tie turns up far more often than it does in summer. A three-piece is worth it for warmth as much as for formality, and for an evening reception a dinner suit is the sharpest thing in the room. See the dinner suits and tuxedos for winter evenings.

Wedding Suit by Venue and Time of Day

Once the season is settled, the venue and the time of day decide the rest. Formality runs along two axes: how traditional the setting is, and how late in the day the wedding takes place. As a general rule, daytime weddings allow lighter colours and softer fabrics, while evening weddings call for darker tones and more structure. The table below maps the most common UK wedding settings to a suit type, a colour direction and a fabric.

Venue / Time	Formality	Recommended Suit Type	Best Colours	Fabric
Country house, daytime	Smart formal	Three-piece, peak lapel	Brown, burgundy, sage, navy	Tweed, wool flannel
Country house, evening	Formal	Three-piece or double-breasted, peak lapel	Navy, burgundy, deep green	Wool; velvet for evening
Church, traditional	Formal	Morning suit or three-piece	Navy, grey, charcoal	Wool, twill
Church, contemporary	Smart formal	Three-piece or single-breasted two-piece	Navy, mid-blue, charcoal	Wool
Hotel / urban venue	Smart formal	Three-piece or double-breasted	Navy, burgundy, grey	Wool, velvet trim
Garden / outdoor summer	Smart relaxed	Two-piece, linen	Cream, light blue, sage, mid-brown	Linen, cotton
Beach destination	Relaxed formal	Linen two-piece or three-piece	Cream, light blue, sage	Linen
Black-tie evening	Highly formal	Dinner suit (tuxedo)	Black, midnight navy	Wool with satin lapel
Registry office	Smart	Two-piece or three-piece	Navy, charcoal, mid-grey	Wool
Civil ceremony, modern	Smart relaxed	Two-piece or three-piece	Burgundy, brown, blue	Wool, tweed
Winter church	Formal	Three-piece or morning suit	Deep navy, charcoal	Heavy wool, flannel
Cultural / themed	Per theme	Per theme	Per theme	Per theme

Shop by configuration: three-piece suits, double-breasted suits, two-piece suits and dinner suits and tuxedos.

Two settings cause the most confusion. A traditional church or formal daytime wedding may call for morning dress, the British daytime formal option of a morning coat, waistcoat and formal trousers; for most grooms a three-piece in navy or grey is the more flexible and more re-wearable alternative. A black-tie invitation, meanwhile, means a dinner suit rather than a dark business suit: black or midnight navy, finished with a satin or grosgrain lapel.

Wedding Suit Colours: A Complete Guide

Colour is where most grooms spend the longest, and where the season, the venue and your own colouring all meet. This section takes the main wedding suit colours in turn: who each one suits, when it works, what to wear with it, and where it sits in the 2026 palette. If you are torn between two shades, read both entries and let the season and venue settle it.

Navy Wedding Suits

Navy is the most versatile wedding suit colour, and the safest year-round choice for a groom or a guest. It flatters every skin tone and every build, and once the fabric weight is matched to the season it works from a January church to an August garden. Navy photographs consistently in both daylight and low indoor light, which is part of why it remains the backbone of wedding tailoring and the default for grooms who want to look sharp without making the suit the story. For shirts, white or light blue are the dependable choices; for ties, burgundy, sage or a tonal navy pattern all sit well, with room for something brighter if the wedding is relaxed. Navy also carries a peak lapel cleanly, which nudges it towards the more formal, considered end of the 2026 look. You will find the navy options within the MrGuild blue and navy suits range.

Grey Wedding Suits

After navy, grey is the most versatile wedding colour, and a shade softer in feel. Mid-grey is a strong daytime choice for spring and summer, reading lighter than navy without drifting casual, while charcoal moves comfortably into evening and winter weddings where more depth is wanted. Grey is unusually forgiving with the rest of the outfit: white, light blue and pink shirts all work, finished with a burgundy, navy or sage tie. It also happens to be the easiest wedding colour to re-wear for work afterwards, which matters when the suit has to justify its cost beyond a single day. For a groom who wants distinction, a charcoal three-piece against grey-suited groomsmen is a quiet, effective way to mark the groom out. See the grey suits.

Black Wedding Suits

Black is formal, modern and best reserved for evening, black-tie-adjacent and contemporary urban weddings. It rewards a little deliberation: at a traditional daytime church a full black suit can read closer to funereal than celebratory, so it belongs to later ceremonies and city venues more than country ones. Worn well, though, it is genuinely striking. A crisp white shirt is foolproof. For an actual black-tie wedding the answer is a dinner suit rather than a black lounge suit, but for a smart evening reception a black suit with a burgundy or deep jewel-tone tie looks considered and current. Black also suits grooms who plan to wear the suit again for formal evenings, since it is the most reusable of the dark colours. Browse the black suits.

Blue Wedding Suits (Beyond Navy)

Beyond navy, mid-blue and lighter blues are among the most useful wedding colours of all, particularly for spring and summer. A brighter mid-blue feels current, photographs well in daylight and suits outdoor and garden ceremonies; a richer, deeper blue holds up year-round and edges towards the more formal end. Lighter blues flatter most complexions and bring some warmth to a daytime look without the commitment of a bolder colour. Wear them with a white, very pale blue or pink shirt, and a burgundy, navy or sage tie to ground the look. For groomsmen, mid-blue is one of the easiest colours to coordinate across a party, since it sits comfortably next to navy, grey and brown. The blue and navy suits range covers the lighter and mid-blue options alongside navy.

Brown Wedding Suits

Brown is the 2026 standout, and the natural choice for autumn, rustic and country weddings. Medium and chocolate browns work beautifully for a groom, carrying real depth in lower autumn light, while lighter, warmer browns suit groomsmen and guests. Brown has quietly become one of the most photogenic wedding colours, especially against stone, wood and countryside backdrops, and it pairs particularly well with the tweeds and heritage textures that are back in favour this year. Keep the shirt soft, white, cream or light blue, and reach for a burgundy, sage or tonal-brown tie. One rule is worth stating plainly: wear brown shoes with a brown suit, never black. For grooms drawn to the season's textured, Regency-leaning direction, brown is the most natural place to start. Browse the brown suits.

Burgundy Wedding Suits

Burgundy gives a groom more presence than almost any other wedding colour, while still staying within what a wedding will happily accept. It has moved from a bold outlier to something close to mainstream in 2026, carried by the same jewel-tone shift that has pushed forest green and deep navy forward. Burgundy is at its best as a three-piece for autumn and winter weddings, where the depth of the colour matches the lower light and the heavier fabrics. It also gives a groom an easy way to look distinct from groomsmen in navy or grey without the contrast feeling forced. Keep the shirt clean and pale, white, cream or soft pink, and choose a tie in navy, deep green or a tonal burgundy. Brown shoes suit the lighter burgundies, while black works with the deepest, most formal shades. For a groom who wants presence in photographs without a colour that shouts, this is the one to consider first. Explore the burgundy suits.

Green Wedding Suits

Green has become one of the most talked-about wedding colours of recent years, and in 2026 the whole family is in play, from soft sage through olive to deep forest and emerald. The shade decides the moment. Sage and olive are daytime colours, easy and natural for spring and summer ceremonies and especially at home outdoors against greenery and stone. Forest and emerald carry far more depth, suiting evening receptions and autumn weddings where they read rich rather than light. Green is also one of the more flattering wedding colours across skin tones, which is part of why it has held its place rather than fading as a passing trend. Pair it with a white, cream or light blue shirt, and a tie in brown, burgundy or a tonal green. The MrGuild green suits range runs from olive through to emerald and forest.

Cream and Beige Wedding Suits

Cream and beige are warm-weather wedding colours, made for spring and summer, daytime ceremonies and outdoor settings. Cream is the stronger choice for a groom, clean and quietly formal, while beige tends to read better on groomsmen and guests than on the man getting married. Both come alive in natural light, which is exactly why they belong to garden, vineyard and destination weddings rather than dark winter churches. The one rule that matters: avoid a shirt in the same tone as the suit. A white or pale blue shirt keeps the look crisp, where a cream shirt with a cream suit flattens the whole outfit in photographs. For ties, brown, burgundy and sage all work without competing with the suit, and tan or brown shoes finish it better than black, which looks heavy against these lighter shades. Start with the cream and beige suits.

White and Off-White Wedding Suits

A white or off-white suit is a groom's colour, and only a groom's. For groomsmen or guests it sits too close to the bride's dress to be a safe choice, so it belongs to the man at the centre of the day. Worn by the groom, it is a genuine statement, best suited to destination, beach and warm-weather weddings where strong light and a relaxed setting carry it. White does ask for a little care. Skip the bright white shirt, which disappears against a white suit, and choose a softer tone instead, light blue, pale pink or cream. Keep accessories warm rather than stark, and lean on texture, linen or a fine basketweave, to stop the look reading flat. It is not a colour for every wedding, but for the right one it is hard to beat. Browse the white suits.

Tweed Wedding Suits

Tweed is the UK's signature country-wedding fabric, and it crosses colours rather than belonging to any single one. It comes into its own at rural, barn and autumn weddings, where its weight and texture suit both the season and the setting. Heritage patterns carry the look: herringbone for something understated, glen check and houndstooth for more presence. Because tweed is a cloth and a family of heritage checks rather than a colour, you will find it across the brown, green and grey ranges, and in dedicated heritage patterns rather than in a section of its own. Pair a tweed suit with a white or light blue shirt and a knitted wool tie, a tonal tweed tie or a simple brown one, then finish with brown brogues or Derby shoes. For grooms drawn to the Regency-influenced, textured direction of 2026, tweed and heritage checks are the most authentic way into it. Explore the brown, green and grey suits, or the houndstooth suits for a heritage check.

Wedding Suit Styles: Two-Piece, Three-Piece, Double-Breasted and Tuxedo

With colour and fabric decided, the last big decision is configuration: two-piece, three-piece, double-breasted or dinner suit. It comes down to three things, how formal the wedding is, how far you want to look distinct from your groomsmen, and how often you expect to wear the suit again. The four options below run roughly from most flexible to most formal.

Two-Piece Wedding Suits

A two-piece is the most flexible wedding suit, and the easiest to wear again afterwards. Jacket and trousers, no waistcoat, which keeps the look lighter and a touch less formal. It is the natural choice for smart-relaxed weddings, registry offices, summer and outdoor ceremonies, and second weddings, anywhere the mood is celebratory rather than strictly formal. It is also the most economical way into a good suit, and the version most likely to earn its place in your wardrobe for work and evenings later. If your wedding sits at the relaxed end, or you simply want one suit that does the most jobs, start here. Browse the two-piece suits.

Three-Piece Wedding Suits

A three-piece is the strongest groom choice for 2026, and the configuration most worth its small extra cost. The waistcoat does real work: it adds formality and structure, and it keeps the look sharp during the reception when the jacket comes off, which is the moment most wedding photographs are actually taken. A three-piece suits formal weddings, country houses, churches and autumn or winter ceremonies, and it gives the groom a quiet way to read as more dressed than his two-piece groomsmen. The upgrade over a two-piece is modest in price but significant in the photographs. For most grooms marrying in 2026, this is the configuration to default to. Browse the three-piece suits.

Double-Breasted Wedding Suits

For a groom who wants to look clearly different from his groomsmen, the double-breasted suit is the 2026 statement choice. The cut is genuinely different, a wider overlapping front, more structure across the chest, and a sharper, more deliberate impression, which is why it photographs with real presence. It suits grooms who want distinctiveness, evening receptions and modern urban venues, and it looks especially strong in deeper colours like burgundy, navy and chocolate brown. A double-breasted jacket also carries the MrGuild peak lapel particularly well, which is part of why it has become a signature shape here rather than a niche one. If you want one decision that sets you apart without changing colour, this is it. Browse the double-breasted suits.

Dinner Suits and Tuxedos

A dinner suit, or tuxedo, is the black-tie evening option, and it is the right answer only when the wedding calls for it. If the invitation says black tie, or the wedding is a formal evening affair, this is the configuration, finished with a satin or grosgrain lapel in black or midnight navy. It is not a daytime choice, and a standard dark suit is not a substitute for it. Velvet dinner jackets have grown more popular for 2026 receptions, adding texture and a little drama without breaking the black-tie code. For anything short of a formal evening, one of the three configurations above will serve you better. Browse the dinner suits and tuxedos.

How to Coordinate Groom and Groomsmen Suits

Groomsmen should complement the groom, not match him exactly. The aim is straightforward: the groom should read as the centre of the group at a glance, without looking as if he turned up from a different wedding. Get that balance right and the photographs do the rest. Most of the work happens through one deliberate difference rather than several, and the section below sets out where that difference is best placed.

The Principle: Complement, Don't Match Exactly

A groom should be visibly distinct from his groomsmen, but never jarringly so. The cleanest way to manage this is to choose a single point of difference and hold everything else constant. That point might be a different waistcoat, a different lapel pin or buttonhole, a separate tie or pocket-square family, a slightly different shade within the same colour family, or the choice between a three-piece and a two-piece. Pick one and commit to it. Stacking three or four differences at once is how a coordinated party tips over into looking mismatched.

Three Ways to Coordinate a Wedding Party

Three strategies reliably work, scaling from the most traditional to the most relaxed.

Strategy one is matching suits with differentiating accessories. Everyone wears the same colour and configuration, and the groom carries a single distinctive marker: a different buttonhole, waistcoat or pocket square. This suits smaller parties, under about five groomsmen, and more traditional weddings. For example, a navy two-piece across the whole party, with the groom alone in a burgundy tie and matching pocket square.

Strategy two is the groom in a three-piece, groomsmen in two-piece. The colour and fabric stay the same throughout, with the groom's waistcoat doing the work of setting him apart. It suits most weddings and photographs especially well, because the waistcoat reads clearly in group shots and stays visible once jackets come off. For example, the whole party in mid-grey, with the groom's matching waistcoat marking him out through the day.

Strategy three is a tonal family with different pieces. Everyone stays within one colour family, but in slightly different shades or configurations. This works best for relaxed, modern or rustic weddings, and for larger parties where exact matching is hard to sustain. For example, the groom in a chocolate-brown three-piece with the groomsmen in mid-brown two-pieces.

This is where the MrGuild setup genuinely helps. The mix-and-match range lets you build a tonal or contrasting party without hunting down separate products, and the MrGuild Size Box sends a full run of sizes, eight suits from UK36 to UK50, so the whole party can try garments on at home and confirm their sizes before ordering, with the cost redeemable against the final order. For a large party in particular, it takes most of the back-and-forth out of returns and exchanges.

Wedding Suit Fit: What Matters Most for a Wedding

Fit is what makes a wedding suit photograph well, and it matters more here than for any everyday suit, because the results are looked at for decades rather than worn for a single day. A handful of things carry most of the weight.

The shoulders come first, and they are non-negotiable. A jacket that sits cleanly through the shoulders, with no pulling and no overhang past your natural shoulder line, is the one thing a tailor cannot easily correct afterwards, so it has to be right from the start. Almost everything else is adjustable. This is not.

Jacket length matters more in photographs than it seems to in a fitting-room mirror. As a rough guide, the hem should fall around the curl of your fingers when your arms hang loose: long enough to cover the seat, short enough to keep the proportions clean.

Trousers want a moderate break, a single slight fold where the hem meets the shoe. No break at all can look abrupt in formal photographs, while a heavy, pooled break looks careless. Aim for the middle.

Sleeve length is a small detail with an outsized effect: around half an inch of shirt cuff should show beyond the jacket sleeve. It frames the hand and quietly signals a suit that has been fitted rather than pulled off a rail.

If you are wearing a three-piece, leave the waistcoat's bottom button undone and make sure it sits flat against the shirt, with no gap at the waist.

One practical point worth holding onto: an off-the-rack suit in the right size, then tailored at the waist, sleeve and hem, will photograph as well as almost anything. MrGuild cuts several fits, from slim through to a fuller, more generous cut, across UK36 to UK50, which brings the starting point closer before any alterations begin.

How Much Does a Wedding Suit Cost?

A wedding suit in the UK can cost anywhere from around £60 to hire to several thousand pounds for bespoke. Most grooms who buy rather than hire spend somewhere between £200 and £900, depending on whether they choose high-street ready-to-wear, premium ready-to-wear or made-to-measure. Bespoke sits well above that. The market splits into five broad tiers.

• Hire (around £60 to £150 per groom). The lowest outlay, and still a common choice in the UK, particularly for groomsmen on a tight budget. The trade-off is simple: you pay for a single wear and end the day with nothing to keep.
• High-street ready-to-wear (around £200 to £450). Solid two-piece options at an accessible price, usually with limited customisation and a narrower range of colours and fits.
• Premium ready-to-wear (around £500 to £900). This tier brings three-piece configurations, peak lapels, deeper colour ranges and a suit good enough to wear again for work or formal evenings. MrGuild offers this level of make, the peak lapel signature, the depth in three-piece and double-breasted, the colour range, at a more accessible price than the upper end of this band, which is part of why the buy-versus-hire maths works so strongly in its favour.
• Made-to-measure (around £800 to £1,800). A standard pattern adjusted to your measurements, with a broader fabric range and a closer fit than off-the-rack.
• Bespoke (around £2,500 to £4,000 and up). A unique pattern cut from scratch, several fittings and full personalisation. This is Savile Row territory, and it is more than most weddings call for.

One point is worth stating plainly, because most guides skip it: a quality wedding suit that you re-wear for business, evenings or future weddings usually costs less per wear over its life than a single hire. For a groom who attends a few formal events a year, buying premium ready-to-wear is often the more economical choice, not the more extravagant one.

Common Wedding Suit Mistakes

Most wedding suit mistakes are easy to avoid once you know them, and nearly all of them come down to rushing the decision or ignoring the context. These are the ones worth guarding against.

• Choosing a suit that works only for the wedding day. A suit you will never wear again is the most expensive one per wear, so pick something you can take into work or evenings afterwards.
• Ordering without a fitting. Never buy a wedding suit blind. Even a perfect off-the-rack size is improved by small alterations at the waist, sleeve and hem.
• Skipping alterations altogether. Buying off the rack is fine; wearing it untailored is what makes a suit look bought rather than fitted.
• Matching the groomsmen too closely to the groom. The groom should read as distinct, and one clear point of difference is enough.
• Wearing black shoes with a brown suit. Brown suits take brown shoes, every time.
• Choosing white or off-white as a guest or groomsman. That colour belongs to the groom alone.
• Wearing a heavy three-piece tweed to a summer outdoor ceremony. Right fabric, wrong season, and you will feel it by the speeches.
• Ignoring the dress code on the invitation. If it says black tie, a dark lounge suit will not do.
• Forgetting to coordinate the accessories. The tie, pocket square and cufflinks should agree with each other and with the suit.
• Leaving the decision to the final few weeks. Start six to nine months out, so there is time for fittings, alterations and party coordination.

How to Use This Guide

If you are early in the process, work through the guide in order: season first, then venue and dress code, then colour, then configuration, and finally party coordination. That sequence settles most decisions before you start shopping. If you already know roughly what you want, jump straight to the part you need. For a specific colour, the colour section above covers who each shade suits and points to the matching collection. For shopping by configuration, go directly to the three-piece, double-breasted or dinner suit and tuxedo collections.

For dressing a wedding party, the MrGuild Size Box handles sizing across the whole group, and the mix-and-match range makes tonal coordination straightforward. And to see the full MrGuild wedding offering in one place, including the size box and every colour, visit the MrGuild wedding collection.

Closing

Choosing a wedding suit follows a clear sequence: start with the season and venue, read the dress code, settle on a colour, choose the configuration, then coordinate the party. Take those in order and the decision is far simpler than it first looks. When you are ready to see the options, browse MrGuild wedding suits, or go straight to the three-piece suits if you already know that is the configuration you want.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best colour for a wedding suit in 2026?

The best wedding suit colour depends on the season and venue, but 2026's strongest groom colours are deep navy, burgundy, forest green and chocolate brown. These earthy and jewel tones have replaced pastels as the headline. Navy stays the safest year-round choice, while burgundy and brown lead for autumn and winter, and sage and lighter blues suit spring and summer.

Should a groom wear a three-piece or two-piece wedding suit?

A three-piece is the stronger choice for most grooms in 2026. The waistcoat adds formality, photographs well, and keeps the look sharp during the reception when jackets come off. A two-piece suits relaxed, summer or beach weddings and is easier to wear again afterwards. For formal church, country house and autumn or winter weddings, choose the three-piece.

What should the groom wear if it's a summer wedding?

For a summer wedding, choose a lightweight fabric such as linen, a cotton blend or lightweight wool, and keep the colour in the lighter range: cream, mid-blue, sage or mid-brown. A two-piece is usually more comfortable than a three-piece for outdoor or warm ceremonies. Avoid heavy wool, and avoid head-to-toe pastel.

How should groomsmen coordinate with the groom?

Groomsmen should complement the groom rather than match him exactly. The most reliable approach is for the groom to wear a three-piece while the groomsmen wear two-piece versions of the same suit, with the waistcoat as the groom's marker. Alternatives include a different tie or pocket-square family, or a slightly different shade within the same colour family.

What is the difference between a wedding suit and a regular suit?

A wedding suit is usually more formal, more carefully fitted and more considered in fabric and detail than a regular business suit. Wedding suits often feature peak lapels, three-piece configurations and richer colours or textures such as tweed, velvet or linen. The fit is deliberately photogenic, and a well-chosen one can be re-worn for business or formal evenings afterwards.

Is it cheaper to hire or buy a wedding suit in the UK?

In the short term, hiring is cheaper: UK hire runs from around £60 to £150. Over time, though, a quality suit you buy and re-wear for work, evenings or other weddings often costs less per wear than a single hire. For grooms who attend several formal events a year, buying premium ready-to-wear is usually more economical.

When should you start shopping for a wedding suit?

Start six to nine months before the wedding. That allows time for fabric and colour decisions, fittings, alterations and coordinating the groomsmen. For made-to-measure or bespoke, allow nine to twelve months. Leaving the decision to the final few weeks limits your choice and adds avoidable stress to one of the most photographed days you will have.

By the MrGuild Atelier, London tailoring studio since 2018