Posted on September 18 2026
The old model was simple. Everyone in the wedding party wore the identical rented suit and the groom wore a different tie.
It photographs like a uniform, and increasingly nobody wants that. Here's the current approach, which is more forgiving and looks considerably better.
Start with one fixed element
Pick a single thing that stays constant across the whole party. Everything else can vary.
The usual choice is colour family. Everyone in navy, or everyone in mid grey. Within that, individual suits can differ slightly in shade and texture and it still reads as coherent in a group photo.
The alternative is formality level. Everyone in a three-piece, or everyone in a two-piece with no tie. Colours can vary more if the formality is locked.
Pick one. Trying to fix both is how you end up back at uniforms.
How the groom separates
Three techniques, in order of subtlety.
Texture. The groom wears the same colour in a different weave. A subtle check or a herringbone against plain worsted. In photographs he reads as distinct without it being obvious why.
Tone. One or two shades apart in the same family. Groomsmen in mid grey, groom in charcoal.
A third piece. Groomsmen in two-piece, groom in three-piece with a waistcoat. This is the clearest signal and the easiest to execute.
What generally doesn't work is a completely different colour, which can make the groom look like a guest at his own wedding.
Solving the body-type problem
This is the real reason identical suits fail. A single cut cannot flatter a party that includes a tall slim man of twenty-five and a broader man of sixty.
Fixing the colour and letting each man choose the cut that suits him is the answer. Slim fit for those it suits, classic fit for those it doesn't. In a photograph nobody notices the cut difference. Everybody notices a suit that doesn't fit.
Fathers are frequently forgotten
The father of the bride and father of the groom are in a large number of the formal photographs and are almost always an afterthought.
They don't need to match the groomsmen. They should be in the same formality register and a complementary colour. A father in a well-fitted charcoal suit alongside a navy wedding party looks entirely correct. A father in a suit he bought in 2009 does not, and the photographs last a very long time.
The accessories decision
Keep ties or pocket squares consistent across the party if the suits vary. Keep them varied if the suits are identical. One or the other carries the co-ordination.
Shoes should match in colour across the party. Black or brown, agreed in advance. This is the detail that gets missed most often and it's the most visible one when everyone lines up.
The timeline that actually works
Six months out: decide colour and formality. Groom chooses his suit.
Four months out: wedding party ordered and measured.
Six weeks out: all fittings and alterations completed.
Two weeks out: final try-on with shoes and shirt, in case anyone's size has changed.
The most common failure is leaving alterations to the final fortnight, when there's no room to fix a problem.
Suits that co-ordinate cleanly
We do this constantly
Bring the group in together if you can. Half an hour with everyone in the same room settles decisions that otherwise take six weeks of group chat.
See our wedding packages or come talk to us in Markham.
Common questions
How do you coordinate a wedding party's suits?
Pick one cloth family and vary the tone, not the colour. Keep lapel width, button stance, and shoe colour identical across the party.
How far in advance should a wedding party order suits?
Twelve weeks is comfortable. Eight is workable. Under six and you're relying on stock and luck.
Do groomsmen have to wear matching ties?
No, and matching everything can look like a uniform. Same colour family, varied texture, is the more current approach.
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