The Great Tuxedo Debate...

When we first started planning the wedding, I knew right away that I wanted to get married outdoors. Don’t know why, just because. Even knowing that the ceremony would be held outdoors if at all possible, I just assumed that a level of formality would still be upheld. I was worried about mentioning this to B, though. He’s a manly man, a Marine, and just didn’t know what his views on “dressing up” would be. Imagine my surprise when both B and his son, T, actually got all excited about the opportunity to “clean up” and show off.

So something like this is what I first had in mind...

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But as the days (and months) have gone by in the whole wedding planning process, I have to say that I’m leaning more and more towards our guys just wearing a suit. Since we’ve put off this discussion for a while, I didn’t want to talk about it when I didn’t know what my Maids were wearing and how dressy they would be, I figured it was high time. Or past time to talk about it.

I have to admit it...I think that I’ve fallen in love with the suit. It’s still formal, but casual enough to allow some level of comfort for our guys. And they can be rented...or if all of The Guys own a black suit, then I couldn’t care less if they’re a little different. Kinda goes back to the look of my Maids, you know?

When I mentioned this whole idea to B, he was down with it, as long as I liked it and would be ok with everything. (I wouldn’t be mentioning it if I wasn’t, but that’s neither here nor there!) And just out of coincidence, we had dinner with one of The Guys and his wife that evening. Luck didn’t hold out, and the first Guy that we checked with does not own a black suit. That’s ok though, because they can still be rented.

While we’re working on going by Men’s Warehouse together to see what we can find that we like, I started thinking about the rest of their “look.” If we go with something less formal than a tux, then they have a few more options. We can “tie” them all together (pun totally intended!) with a fun and quirky tie (and some snazzy socks for those sock pictures that I would LOVE to have!).

And then the subject of the boutonniere came up. Having a more informal look all together now, what if The Guys didn’t sport a boutonniere? Is that against the rules? Something like a nice pocket square perhaps? Like this...

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And who doesn't LOVE Gary Cooper? Can someone say epitome of elegance and grace?

I think that it still looks formal enough, and B was THRILLED at the thought of not having to wear a boutonniere. I had NO idea that he was that opposed to wearing a small flower on his lapel, but ok...point taken and now I understand.

If he’s still not convinced that this is a good look (the suit with a snazzy pocket square) then this picture should do it...

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I mean, come on. What guy doesn’t want to be James Bond?

What do you think? Is the pocket square enough of a substitute for the boutonniere? Or do I still need to do the boutonniere to show that this person is a GM? I mean, if it’s attached to their jacket...and the jacket comes off anyway...you see my point?

But then THIS guy has to go and throw a monkey wrench into my plans...he's sporting both a boutonniere AND a pocket square...

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What's a bride to do?