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Ivory or white for groomsmen?

Knottie1453002712Knottie1453002712 member
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in Wedding Party
Hello all,

It's a summer wedding. My dress is ivory lace and the groomsmen will be wearing gray suits... like a medium heather gray. When I asked about the colors for groomsmen shirts, I got 2 polar opposite responses. My wedding coordinator strongly suggested white, since ivory shirts always look dirty and don't coordinate well with gray. She also added that most people don't notice it anyway. My tux guy, however, said the opposite & said that the guys wearing white would make ME look dirty and it would stand out a lot. My fiance tried on the gray suit with the ivory shirt, and (when there's no white around) you really can't tell. 

A little more info... the bridesmaids will be wearing 2 colors: my 2 sisters are wearing teal and my 2 other maids are wearing like an aqua-seafoam. The ties for the suits are striped with colors that coordinate with the dresses. I've attached pics of the gray suit with the IVORY shirt & the tie that the men will be wearing. The tie does have thin WHITE stripes.

What is the consensus from the Knot world?????
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Re: Ivory or white for groomsmen?

  • southernbelle0915southernbelle0915 mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    White. 100% white. I wore an ivory and cafe dress and my H wore a white shirt. It didn't make my dress look dirty or anything like that. It just made his ensemble look cleaner. 
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  • charlotte989875charlotte989875 member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Definitely white. I wore ivory and it looks great in my pictures, you can't tell the difference. 
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  • redoryxredoryx member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    White, 100%. Especially since the tie has white in it. 
    image
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  • redoryxredoryx member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    I just remembered some friends did this, where the groomsmen and groom wore white shirts under grey suits and the bride's dress was ivory. The bride's dress does not, in any way, look "dirty" 
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  • lovesclimbinglovesclimbing member
    First Anniversary First Comment 5 Love Its First Answer
    I don't think it matters. When my sister got married, she had an ivory dress and planned to get ivory shirts for the guys. I'd seen it on here before (and even posted a thread about it) about how an ivory shirt will look dingy but an ivory dress won't. Everyone who commented on my thread said it would look dingy. I mentioned the concern to my sister, but she brushed it off. She went with ivory shirts, and they looked fine. They didn't look dingy at all. 
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  • ahoyweddingahoywedding member
    First Comment First Anniversary First Answer 5 Love Its
    We just went through this! My dress was ivory & champagne. I wasn't going to care about it, because in the posed pictures, H would be wearing his jacket. Just out of curiosity, I held up a true-white shirt to my dress and it did look pretty odd. I found a color at Jos. A Bank (in the US) that's called Ecru something. It's juuuuust enough not-white that it pretty much matched my dress, but not enough off-white that it would look stupid to wear again.

    Long story short...I didn't care about it, but my mom really did. We got a super good deal on shirts for the 4 guys in the wedding, so to appease my mom we went for it. I'm not sure anyone would have noticed either way, but if it's something you feel may bother you it's worth it.
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  • CMGragainCMGragain member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    White.  Definitely.

    httpiimgurcomTCCjW0wjpg
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  • artbyallieartbyallie mod
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    Ditto PPs, listen to your coordinator. White shirts.
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  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    flantastic said:

    I'm with the wedding coordinator. My dress was ivory and I'm pretty sure all the guys wore true white shirts (not sure, didn't micromanage their attire) and it was fine. Neither I nor anyone else has ever noticed a contrast in color.

    I think ivory would be okay if it truly looked good independently of anyone else's attire, but since the tie has white stripes I'd go with white.


    Team white!
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  • MobKazMobKaz member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its

    scribe95 said:

    My OCD would notice the white/ivory difference. I have no idea what I would do in this situation. Sorry that isn't much help!


    I am a stickler for coordinating colors.  In this case, I think the white stripes in the tie coordinating with white shirts trumps the differential between the ivory dress and coordinating shirts.  Plus in almost every picture except for the extremely casual dancing pictures, the groomsmen would still be wearing the jackets.  The shirt will barely be seen.
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  • SP29SP29 member
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    I think I would go with white shirts, because there is white in the ties. Otherwise, I think ivory shirts would look fine (particularly with a grey or navy suit).
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  • artbyallieartbyallie mod
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    MobKaz said:



    scribe95 said:


    My OCD would notice the white/ivory difference. I have no idea what I would do in this situation. Sorry that isn't much help!




    I am a stickler for coordinating colors.  In this case, I think the white stripes in the tie coordinating with white shirts trumps the differential between the ivory dress and coordinating shirts.  Plus in almost every picture except for the extremely casual dancing pictures, the groomsmen would still be wearing the jackets.  The shirt will barely be seen.


    Exactly. And too, men's ivory shirts are never the same shade as a bridal ivory; they are typically much darker where bridal ivories are barely distinguishable from true white.
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  • justsiejustsie member
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    Also team white. My dress was classified as " ivory over nude" and H wore white, looked just fine in the professional pics. (sorry for the murderous scribbling, it was the quickest way to keep SOME anonymity) 
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  • levioosalevioosa member
    First Anniversary First Comment First Answer 5 Love Its
    White for sure, especially since the tie has white in it.  No one will think your dress looks "dirty."


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  • MairePoppyMairePoppy mod
    First Anniversary First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its
    edited April 2017
    Another vote for white shirts. The gm shirts should go with with their own outfits, not the bride's. To me, the off white shirt doesn't look right with the gray jackets and teal and white ties.
                       
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  • justsiejustsie member
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    @short+sassy thank you for the compliment! My hair is even longer not and is in need of a nice trim :/.
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  • MesmrEweMesmrEwe member
    First Answer First Comment 5 Love Its Name Dropper

    scribe95 said:

    My OCD would notice the white/ivory difference. I have no idea what I would do in this situation. Sorry that isn't much help!


    This would be me too - I'm the person who can tell a half of a half shade difference in colors (I sew - kind of an important skill to have for this)..  White-white or color match the ivory because both are a challenge to work with in general because "White isn't white"...
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