You got the invitation and cleared your calendar. It's not your big day, but you want to look good. Wedding dress codes can feel like a tightrope of unspoken rules and coded language, and you don't want to be that guy: the one everyone side-eyes for wearing a pastel blue suit to a formal reception or a black tux to a garden ceremony.
Showing up appropriately dressed is not only about following rules. It is about feeling confident as you reconnect with old friends or make new ones, and about looking right in the photographs that outlive the day.
This guide covers what to wear to a wedding by dress code and by season, and what changes when you are the groom, in the wedding party, or the father of the bride.
Two Rules That Apply to Every Wedding
Before the dress code, two things settle whether a tie looks considered or accidental.
The first is the knot. Wear a strong, confident one. Ours is the asymmetrical four-in-hand. Then make sure the tie ends at the centreline of your belt. Too long or too short and the whole outfit reads as unbalanced.
The second is proportion. The tie's width should match your jacket's lapel. A skinny tie against a wide lapel, or the reverse, distorts the line of the chest. Get those two right and the rest is a matter of choosing well.
Black Tie
Black tie is the dress code with the least leeway. If the invitation says black tie, your bow tie should be black. A black tuxedo with a batwing bow tie is the whole answer. The batwing is narrower than its butterfly cousin, and that restraint is what makes it look considered rather than costumed.
Crisp white shirt, polished black oxfords, a jacket that fits through the shoulder. Keep everything else simple. This is about classic lines and honouring the moment, not about being noticed.
Black Batwing Bow-Tie
Details & Care
- 100% Silk Satin
- Batwing
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Formal, or Black Tie Optional
Pair a Black Grenadine Tie with a dark suit, charcoal or navy. It sits between formal and festive, which is exactly where a guest should sit: correct, without overshadowing the wedding party.
The grenadine weave is a leno weave, an open lattice rather than a flat face, and that texture is what separates it from the ties hanging in most guests' closets. Against a white shirt and a dark suit it holds up from the ceremony to the last dance. The Navy Grenadine Tie is the safer version of the same idea if the dress code is unclear.
Black Grenadine Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Fina
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Cocktail
Cocktail is where separates earn their keep. A charcoal blazer with grey trousers works, and so does a textured grey jacket with trousers a shade or two apart.
The point is to stay refined while playing with texture and colour rather than with cut. A patterned tie is what ties the two halves together. Wear it the way the style icons did: with a little sprezzatura.
Semi-Formal
Semi-formal has to move from an afternoon ceremony to an evening reception without a change of clothes. Reach for your best-fitting light grey or tan suit.
Let the season pick the tie. A slubbed shantung for spring, forest green grenadine for summer, burgundy grenadine for autumn. Your suit should not feel like a uniform. You are celebrating, not chairing a board meeting.
Forest Green Grenadine Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Fina
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Evening Semi-Formal
Evening semi-formal sits on the dressier side of semi-formal, so go dark. An immaculate charcoal suit and a sleek black grenadine tie is the straightest line to it. You do not have to wear black. Navy, charcoal and burgundy are all appropriate, and anything paler starts to look like an afternoon outfit at an evening party.
Stripes and dots still work after dark. The "Intro" Navy and Steel Blue Block Striped Grenadine keeps the depth of a dark tie while giving the eye something to do, and the block stripe reads as deliberate rather than corporate.
Deep Burgundy Grossa Grenadine
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Grossa
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Casual
A casual dress code does not mean jeans and a clean shirt. It is the harder brief, because you have to look considered without looking overdressed.
Find a linen or cotton suit that breathes. A pale grey linen suit with a Midnight Blue Grossa Grenadine Tie is the pairing to beat. The deep blue grounds the pale linen, and the open garza grossa weave keeps it from feeling too formal for sand or grass. You can skip the tie if the couple's plans are genuinely relaxed, but keep the shirt light and pressed.
Midnight Blue Grossa Grenadine Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Grossa
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Tropical and Destination
A tropical wedding asks you to stay cool and still look dressed. Lightweight cotton or linen in sand, pale blue, soft sage or ivory. The fibre matters more than the colour here: a well-cut linen suit creases in a way that reads as relaxed rather than careless.
Pair it with a tie that echoes the setting. The Burnt Orange Grenadine picks up the light at the end of the day without tipping into costume.
Burnt Orange Grenadine Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Fina
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
Ties by Season
Summer weddings have a reputation as relaxed affairs where it is fine to dress down. That is usually wrong. The dress code sets your attire, not the weather, and the invitation should say. If it does not, ask the wedding party. The season decides the colour and the cloth, not the level of formality.
Spring. Lighter colours and subtle patterns. A Sky Blue and White Grossa Grenadine looks polished without looking overdressed at a day wedding.
Summer. Open weaves and paler grounds. Grossa grenadine, shantung and printed silk all read as warm-weather cloth. Avoid heavy jacquards and anything with a high sheen under direct sun.
Autumn. Depth rather than darkness. Burgundy, honey brown and burnt orange sit correctly against the light.
Winter. The darkest end of the range. Midnight blue, charcoal and black, with texture doing the work that colour does in summer.
Ties by Setting
Theme is vaguer than dress code, but a few settings come up often enough to be worth naming.
Garden party. An intimate outdoor ceremony still deserves a tie. A green tie can be too on the nose among the planting, so pick a fresh colour that works against your suit instead. Sky blue is the reliable choice.
Rustic. A farmhouse or ranch venue leans on stained wood, string lights and floral detail. Simplicity in the room does not mean plainness on you. Take the tie from the couple's colour palette. A solid forest green grenadine handles it.
Vintage. Old Hollywood, the twenties, the sixties: the readings differ, but a classic batwing bow tie suits all of them, which is why it has survived every one.
Modern. Clean lines and minimal design. A textured black grenadine is the sleekest answer, with the weave supplying the interest that a pattern would supply elsewhere.
If You Are the Groom
Everything above applies to you, with one difference: you will be in hundreds of photographs, and you should not be interchangeable with the men standing next to you.
A Black Grenadine Tie is the safest version of standing out, because the texture separates it from flat silk at close range while staying black in every wide shot. If you want the day to look celebratory, the White Striped Metallic Gold Silk Tie does that without novelty, and the Italian finish shows in how it drapes. For a navy suit, a Burgundy Grenadine against crisp navy is the pairing we get asked for most, and it works head to toe.
White Striped Metallic Gold Silk Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Striped
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-fold
- Dry clean only
- Italy
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
If You Are in the Wedding Party
Choosing ties for a wedding party is not colour matching. It is visual harmony across a group photograph, and the failure mode is shiny polyester that looks worse every year the picture ages.
Whether the groomsmen are in navy or grey, a Burgundy Grenadine Tie photographs well: fine texture, and a depth of colour that holds under mixed light. For a beach or garden setting, the Midnight Blue Grossa Grenadine anchors pale linen. For a pop of colour against green or brown suiting, the Burnt Orange Grenadine is the one that reads as deliberate.
One rule holds across all of them: put the party in one tie, or in one weave across two colours. Mixing weaves across a group is what makes a photograph look assembled rather than planned.
Burgundy Grenadine Tie
Handmade in Como, Italy
How to choose your size
- 6′ and under
- Standard
- Over 6′
- Extra Long
Details & Care
- Solid
- Grenadine Fina
- 100% Silk from Como, Italy
- Three-Fold
- Dry Clean Only
- Handmade in Italy
Learn why Grenadines are the best-kept secret in menswear and why you should wear them.
Delivery & Returns
Free delivery to the United States on orders over $135 USD.
Free returns and exchanges. See our return policy.
Client Service
Hours
Monday to Friday, 9am – 5pm MST
Closed weekends and statutory holidays
Reach us
1 800 595 0276
office@aklasu.co
If You Are the Father of the Bride
The father of the bride has his own brief. He should look unmistakably part of the day without competing with the groom, and he is in more close-range photographs than almost anyone. Black, navy and midnight blue grenadine are the ties that do it. We have written that one out in full: ties for the father of the bride.
Outfitting a Larger Party
If you need to outfit a wedding party, or you want something we do not currently stock, get in touch. Aklasu makes custom ties for weddings and offers discounts for larger groups. Contact us or call 1 800 595 0276 and speak to Chantelle.
Dressing for a wedding is not about upstaging the couple or disappearing into the background. Read the dress code, let the season set the colour, and pick a tie made well enough that the photographs still look right in twenty years.
