When you allow the members of your wedding party a little more freedom to pick their own outfits, they can select something that they’ll be more likely to wear again in the future. This route also works well if you have wedding party members with very different body types, or if you’re including men among the bridesmaids or women among the groomsmen. Discover how to offer your wedding party non-matching outfits.
Non-Matching Outfits for Bridesmaids
Few things are more discouraging to a bridesmaid than being assigned a color or style that doesn’t compliment her skin tone or her shape. Give the bridesmaids the freedom to choose dresses that suit their body type and budget. Offer color swatches that go along with the theme of your wedding and specify how formal you’d like their outfits to be—and then set them free to choose their own styles!
If you’re planning to have men in the bride’s group of attendants, you have a number of options to pursue. All the bridesmaids could wear dressy slacks and blouses or shirts, or the men in the group could wear suits with a vest or accents that coordinate with the bridesmaids’ dresses or skirts. Just be sure that the formality level, color, and style elements tie all the looks together.
As you create a range of options for your wedding party members, try to include different price levels as well, to accommodate those who may not have as much leeway in their personal budget.
Non-Matching Outfits for Groomsmen
Traditionally, the groomsmen all wear identical (or very similar) suits or tuxes. At some casual weddings, the wedding party shakes it up with jeans, khakis, shorts, polo shirts, plaid shirts, or even Hawaiian shirts, depending on the theme. You don’t necessarily have to go ultra-casual to use the non-matching look; you can simply offer your groomsmen a range of colors and styles from which to choose.
For example, if your wedding colors involve jewel tones, suggest dark pants for everyone and then allow the groomsmen to select the color of the shirt they’d like to wear—provided it fits with the color scheme. Or you could select a specific color and let the groomsmen decide how to use that color within their ensembles.
If you’re including women among the groomsmen, you could suggest menswear for them as well; or you could opt for a coordinating dress that creates a cohesive look. Again, it’s all about finding a unifying element, something that creates a visually pleasant impression when the entire wedding party is assembled.
Ideally, approve everyone’s ensembles yourself or have a trusted friend vet the choices so you can ensure a beautiful turnout for the big day. For more tips or advice about planning your wedding, check out our other helpful articles, or speak directly to our event planning specialists at Nanina’s in the Park. We’d love to help you schedule a tour or mark the calendar to reserve your wedding day at our beautiful estate.
