Men’s Wedding Guest Outfits: What to Wear for Every Dress Code

If you’re looking for men’s wedding guest outfits and don’t quite know where to start, this guide is for you.

I’ll go through the most common dress codes and share outfit ideas for each one, starting from the most formal and working down to the most relaxed so you can figure out what works best for your event.

Just keep in mind that this is all through an Italian lens. Dressing well is part of the culture, so the looks will likely feel a bit more polished than what you’re used to. But that also means you’ll never feel underdressed.

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Black Tie Outfits For Men

If the invitation you’ve received clearly says black tie, this is what’s being expected from you.

Black tie requires you show up in a tuxedo, but that still leaves you with a couple of options.

The first question to ask is how serious this black code is, and is it classic black tie or a modern one, which means you can break the rules and be a little creative with your outfit. Simply ask the groom or bride, or someone close to them.

You also need to consider the season.

Once you’ve got your answer, here are three outfit ideas you can choose from:

Classic tuxedo: this requires you wearing a black tuxedo with the bow tie.

Classic and modern: you can go with a spezzato look, with the black trousers, a white shirt, and a colored tuxedo blazer. You can wear the bow tie, and maybe lose it after an hour or so. Open the shirt and that gives you a more relaxed and modern look.

Velvet tuxedo blazer: If it’s a Winter black tie wedding, consider wearing a velvet tuxedo blazer with the classic tuxedo trousers and white shirt. You can choose a black velvet blazer, or these other colors: navy blue, dark green, burgundy, brown, and beige. The bow tie should still be black.

Answering your tuxedo questions:

1. What style of blazer do I opt for?
   The classic tuxedo blazer has a peak lapel style. However, double breasted is becoming a more common alternative.
   
2. What type of shirt goes with a tuxedo?
   There are three styles: pleated, pique bib front, or plain front. Unless you want to be very dramatic with your outfit choice, go for the classic plain one.
   
3. What type of shoes do I wear with a tuxedo?
   Choose from classic black lace up shoes, lacquered black men’s shoes, or black velvet moccasins for a more modern Winter look.
   
4. What other accessories are necessary?
   Your outfit needs to include the black bow tie and cufflinks. If you want a slightly more modern look, you can opt for a colored one but keep it within the same color family. For example, if you opted for a navy blue tuxedo blazer, you could go for a blue bow tie. Black is always the safest and most classic color.

Formal And Semi-Formal Men Wedding Attire

A black tie code for a wedding is not very common. So, if you are reading this before you’ve received the invitation with the details, don’t worry.

You’ll likely get an invitation that mentions no specific dress code details, and that means you are expected to wear a normal wedding guest attire. Normal always means formal or semi formal, unless the bride and groom specify otherwise on the invite or verbally.

Formal vs Semi-Formal

If you’ve not had to consider the semi-formal option before now, you’re probably asking yourself what that entails, so let me quickly clarify that for you.

A formal wedding guest attire involves wearing a full suit with a classic shirt, a tie, a vest, and formal shoes.

On the other hand, semi-formal gives you the option to be more flexible and creative, but that can mean different things. I am listing the common changes you can make to the classic look below:

1. You can start by losing the vest, and that will make your outfit immediately feel less serious. If you lose the vest, you’ll need to add a belt. Italians love to match the leather color and type to their shoes.
   
2. In some cases, when the even is even less formal, you can also skip the tie. That means you’ll wear the shirt with a button or two open. Just keep it classy by not showing too much chest skin. I know that’s a very Italian man look online, but elegant Italian men usually agree that can look tacky.
   
3. You can play with the print of your shirt.
   
4. For more relaxed occasions, you can even swap the shirt with a fine knitted or cotton tshirt. Just make sure it’s high quality, fits well – not tight and not too loose, and is well steamed. This, obviously, implies not wearing a tie.
   
5. Swap classic suit shoes for loafers, which means you can also skip the socks.

I am giving two formal and two semi-formal outfit ideas, one for warmer months and one for Fall/Winter.

Spezzato Can Be A Great Semi-Formal Option

Another great way to dress up well for a wedding, show personalty and feel unique in your outfit choice, but at the same time feel you look the part, is to opt for a spezzato suit look.

Spezzato means that you are breaking the suit, and pairing different pieces together – tailored pants, with a different blazer, that don’t belong to the same suit. I am going to consider doing a whole post about different spezzato, or mix and match outfits for men. Let’s see a few examples:

Keep in mind that these spezzato looks work for many other occasions than just weddings. You can wear them to work, if you tend to dress up on a daily basis, for important business meeting, for first dates when you want to impress the other person, for family occasions, or formal dinners.

Smart Casual Wedding Guest Outfits For Men

I am pretty sure that smart casual means something different depending on who you ask. For Italian men it’s likely to imply a final outfit that might be more polished and stylish than what you’re probably thinking.

In reality, that’s very close to the least formal options I gave you above.

What does that mean?

If the invitation mentions a smart casual code, or the groom told you that, you can consider wearing one of these type of outfits:

1. A more modern suit with a shirt, no tie, an open neckline, and loafers.
2. A more relaxed suit, maybe slightly oversized, with a cotton tshirt, and either loafers or sneakers. I will make a separate note about shoe options in a few seconds.
3. A more relaxed spezzato look, with more colors, especially great for a Summer wedding.

A great smart casual option for Winter weddings, is a spezzato look with a polo neck. It also looks amazing under a more formal suit. Let me show you both looks.

What type of shoes to wear with a smart casual attire?

Loafers are the best in between choice. They are classic, semi-formal, and an elegant choice.

If your outfit leans into cool modern, you might get away with wearing designer sneakers, but they need to go with the outfit, look new and immaculately clean.

I don’t suggest wearing sneakers to a wedding. In fact, I had a young Italian guest show up wearing them, and to me it didn’t look good, especially in my more formal setting.

Mules have become a common modern shoe options even with tailored pants, but it’s usually the cool men that can rock those. I would only suggest them for very relaxed and maybe beach weddings.

The same thing goes with sandals. I don’t like the look of them with a blazer, but if you think you can make it work, and the wedding is small and informal, there’s no fashion police that’s going to stop you.

Casual Men Wedding Guest Outfits

I’ve already given you plenty of options that can feel casual, considering you are attending a wedding.

That’s a very important consideration.

The type of casual outfit you wear to a wedding can’t be the same you wear to a regular casual dinner.

You always want to dress up more for an occasion like a wedding, even if it states casual.

If you tell an Italian man to attend a casual wedding, her will likely still wear a suit, or a suit trousers and a different blazer. He will definitely not wear a tie, and might also show up wearing a tshirt or a polo shirt instead.

Speaking of a polo shirt, I have recently starting seeing wedding guest outfits featuring a matching polo shirt and blazer, and I think that’s a beautiful smart casual to casual option for relaxed Spring and Summer weddings, especially beach weddings. If it’s really hot, you can opt for all linen, keep the blazer on for the ceremony and then remove it.

Having said that, casual wedding attire for non Italian men usually means wearing tailored trousers with a shirt, a nice pair of loafers, and a matching belt.

Italians will opt for that option when the wedding is on a beach, or in the countryside, and it’s going to be fully outdoors in Summer.

I will give you two outfit examples next:

More Stylish Italian Men Outfit Guides

If you like looking for inspiration before choosing outfits for special occasions, vacations, or even work and dates, I suggest you read my other Italian men fashion guides:

Italian Outfits For Men That Always Look Good

Men Spring Outfits To Upgrade Your Style (can work for Summer too)

Men’s Jeans Outfits Italians Actually Wear

If you or your partner like Italian cooking, you’ll also find easy and tasty Italian inspired recipes on this blog.

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