Gentlemen, we want you to look amazing on your wedding day, and if you are a guest then do the groom a favor and look amazing in the photos that the couple will cherish for the rest of their lives.

With a few simple tweaks, you can avoid looking disheveled on the wedding day.

Quick Pro Tip: If you’re carrying a few pounds around the middle, go with a more structured suit jacket with padding in the shoulders.  This will broaden you in the shoulders and help give you a V-taper to your waist.

SHOES

If you’re paying attention to our Ground Up Groomsmen Style Guide, you know we started at the ground with your shoes. My biggest piece of advice on this one is to avoid chunky square-toe shoes. Think about James Bond. The whole idea of wearing a suit is to create a V-taper from your shoulders to your waist and also to create a visual streamline from your head down to your feet. Nothing should stop your eyes from breaking up this visual streamline.

PANTS

Next, let’s talk about your trousers. Flat front, slim fit trousers should be a given. The advantage of flat-front over pleated is flat front pants do not have a lot of extra baggy pleated material through the legs and waist. This extra material will make you look shorter, heavier and sloppy. Another thing to consider is the hemline. Insist on no more than a 1/2 break. Anything more and the pants will puddle over at your shoes. These aren’t jeans, so they’re supposed to be a little shorter to show your shoes and a little sock. Remember, puddling pants breaks up the visual streamline.  If you’re having your trousers tailored, have them also taper the leg opening from the knee down to the foot opening. This will help lean you out and make you appear taller.

Bonus Pro Tip Renting vs. Buying: If you’re buying your suit for the wedding, look at slim or trim fit options and be very picky about the tailoring. If you’re renting the suit, try to size down (try one size smaller than what they give you) and insist on slim fit suits. Rental suits are normally cut pretty wide because they need to fit “most guys“. However, if you go with a rental company like Generation Tux, they offer modern slim fit suits that look amazing. We always love seeing Generation Tux suits so we reached out to them directly to see if they could offer Carrie Mcguire grooms a special discount. They said yes! Just use this code at checkout BPCARRIEMCGUIRE and get 20% off your entire order.

SHIRT

Next up, your shirt. Again, go with slim fit. However, please don’t confuse slim fit for tight.  That’s not what slim fit is all about. Slim fit simply means that the extra material around your back and mid-section has been reduced so you avoid the billowing muffin-top that happens when you tuck the shirt in. Make sure the collar is snug, and make sure the sleeve length is not too long.

JACKET

Last, but not least, your suit jacket. If I sound like a broken record, you’re right. Go with a slim fit jacket. Size down if you have to. It’s not a hoodie and it should actually touch your body and have a slight tug when buttoned. If you can pull the jacket away from your body when it’s buttoned, it’s too big.  Speaking of the buttons, don’t, under any circumstance, button the bottom button of your suit jacket…ever. If you’re not used to wearing a suit, it may feel a little snug and maybe even a little restricting. That’s okay. If you feel like you have a lot of room to move, your suit jacket is too big and you’ll look sloppy…sorry but it’s true! The sleeves of the jacket should be short enough to show about 1/2″ of shirt sleeve cuff when your arms are hanging naturally straight down. Lastly, you know those slits in the back of the jacket? Those are vents and they’re supposed to be cut open. If yours are sewn closed with a thin thread, cut the thread and set your vent free. While you’re at it, also make sure you cut open all of the jacket pockets. They come from the factory sewn closed too.

Guys, none if this is meant to make you feel uncomfortable or nervous about what you’re wearing, but your wedding is a pretty big deal. Everyone is there for you. When it comes to your suit, all you have to do is pay attention to these few critically important details and you’ll look like an absolute boss on your big day.

PS. If you need help folding your pocket square, check out this link, or just come find me and I’ll take care of you.

For more tips check out our entire section on the blog dedicated to Groundup Groomsmen Style for your wedding day.