Groomsmen Attire Dilemma!

fussball007

Hello fellow Knotties!

We're having a bit of a wedding party fashion crisis, and I'm hoping you can help. 

Basically, it's important to my fiance that he wear his suit in the wedding.  (When I say important, I mean that when the idea of the men renting tuxes was on the table, he almost started crying... it's that important to him to avoid the tux rental.)  I have no problem with this, but it's becoming more of an issue than either of us expected. 

Originally, the plan was for the groomsmen to all wear their own black suits, and we would have them match in some other aspect, like boutineers and ties.  However, in learning about the groomsmen's suits, we've realized their suits are all more formal than my fiance's suit, and they can't upstage the groom.  We've tossed around different ideas, like khaki dress pants and black jackets or blue blazers, but none of those ideas really resonated.  The one idea that we're coming to agree upon is my fiance wears his suit with a vest, and the groomsmen wear black dress pants and matching vests and ties, like this idea but different colors: http://images.oncewed.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/custom-hanger-tags-groomsmen-linen-vests.jpg

Now, I was envisioning a light blue for the bridesmaid dress color, but I don't know how it would look for the men to wear light blue vests to match the bridesmaids.  I feel like that might look too prom-ish.  On the other hand, I feel like it might be too many colors if the men have black pants, gray (or another neutral) vests, white/ivory shirts, and light blue ties.

What's your opinion?  Do you think the light blue vests would look too prom-ish?  I feel like we might have more flexibility with the men if the girls wear navy dresses and carry the lighter blue and coral flowers. I certainly don't think it would take away from the wedding colors if the dresses are a darker blue.  That said, I liked the blue we saw, too, and I think those are pretty dresses.

Any thoughts are very much appreciated. Thank you in advance!

simplestlife

What about black pants and a gray vest? I'm not a fan of colored vests (aside from gray and black). I know that a lot of weddings put the guys in colored vest and/or bow ties, but we personally thought that it was too cutesy. But if you like it, it's probably the norm, so it's not a big deal.

ElisabethJoanne

Black pants, grey vests, white shirts, and light blue ties is not too many colors. Formal dress for men actually involves black, white, a color, and at least 2 shades of grey. The black, white, and grey don't count as colors. It won't look busy.

Navy blue bridesmaids dresses are hard to find. That's my color.

pillsburyaj

I agree about the colored vests being promish. I don't think black pants, gray vest and blue tie would be too much. You could also have them do black pants, gray vest, gray tie, and then tie in the blue in the bouts. Good luck!

fussball007

Thank you all very much!  I feel much better getting confirmation from you all. 

TheDoctor10

Your Groom and Groomsmen need not be wearing the same exact attire. Their attire need only match in the level of formality. This is really hard for a lot of people to accept, but a lineup of gents wearing the same exact outfits looks like a chorus line.

Even for a true black tie affair, it is perfectly acceptable for each gent to have his own tuxedo. Note that I've said "black tie," which is a very specific dress code, but allows a little bit of customization, such as in the lapel design (notch/peak/shawl), number of buttons (1/2), single vs. double-breasted, etc.

Remember that if you dress your Groomsmen in trousers+waistcoat, they won't have a buttonhole in which to insert a lapel flower. Sure, you could have them find waistcoats with lapels, but these traditionally do not have buttonholes for flowers. (And it isn't good for the fabric to pin a flower to the lapel. Always use the buttonhole in the lapel.)

aragx6

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-boards_attire-accessories_groomsmen-attire-dilemma?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding BoardsForum:15Discussion:439b7240-0c9e-4374-8bc5-2c2cc27e2381Post:1d25a2a6-5b05-45c7-89b1-267c128678a1">Re: Groomsmen Attire Dilemma!</a>:
[QUOTE]Black pants, grey vests, white shirts, and light blue ties is not too many colors. Formal dress for men actually involves black, white, a color, and at least 2 shades of grey. The black, white, and grey don't count as colors. It won't look busy. <strong>Navy blue bridesmaids dresses are hard to find. That's my color.
</strong>Posted by ElisabethJoanne[/QUOTE]

Dessy has a color called "midnight" that's very pretty. My girls will all be in midnight Alfred Sung dresses. Might check into them if you're still looking.

fussball007

Excellent!  Thanks again for the feedback! 

He is contemplating getting a new suit for the wedding, but he's a nurse... he truly only wears his suit for job interviews and funerals.  It doesn't really matter to me what he wears, but I know he wants it to look good, and he doesn't want to force his groomsmen (who are ALL traveling from at least 5 hours away) to incur additional major costs, given that they're already paying for travel and lodging.  I understand that; it's a rough economy, and a couple of them are just making ends meet as it is.  I think there's a big difference in asking them to shell out $50 for a new vest and tie that they'll own instead of over $100 for a tux rental.  That's probably the direction we're going.  

I truly do appreciate your thoughtfulness, everyone.