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DECIPHERING DRESS codes for men’s summer wedding attire often leaves even the most fashion-savvy guys scratching their heads. From casual beach weddings to formal black-tie affairs, men's summer wedding attire needs to adapt accordingly to the dress code.
When looking for men’s summer wedding outfits, keep in mind that style and comfort go hand in hand. Since this season calls for lightweight, breathable fabrics, the best summer wedding attire for men should include summer suits made of materials like linen, cotton, seersucker, and chambray to keep you feeling cool and looking collected. If the invitation specifies a formal dress code, consider a tailored wedding suit in a classic color, and complete the fit with a crisp white dress shirt, leather Oxford dress shoes, and a tasteful pocket square.
Read More: Best Suits for Men
For less formal dress codes like for beach weddings, men’s summer wedding attire should not look too stuffy but instead incorporate styles like summer blazers with linen pants or just the whole linen suit to make an impression. In this case, business casual shoes like loafers will help balance looking casual and polished. Oh, and don’t forget to accessorize with a tie or bowtie that adds a touch of elegance.
Below, let’s dive into our guide to the five main types of summer wedding attire for men, from casual beach wedding outfits to a black-tie, tuxedo ensemble, with brands and specific items that’ll help you suit up successfully without breaking the bank.
Casual Wedding Attire
The easiest and most flexible wedding dress code is casual. While that doesn’t mean you should show up to a summer wedding in your beach duds and swim trunks, you can go for a more laidback, and nonchalant style of dressing up that still feels appropriate. For instance, the linen suit jacket from Billy Reid is perfect for its breathable fabric that’ll help you beat the heat, while still looking polished. The subtle herringbone pattern even helps elevate your fit and keeps it from becoming too unstructured and flowy.
Billy Reid Archie Jacket
Sunspel Riviera Polo Shirt
Luca Faloni Lipari Linen Trousers
Then, instread of smothering yourself in wool trousers, opt for another light, breathable garment for your pants, like Luca Faloni's chino-style linen pants that don't look slouchy or lazy at all. Instead, these linen pants are perfect for an elevated beach look while making sure you feel refreshed throughout the alfresco event. You just need to find the right color combo with the blazer.
For underpinnings, you can don something like a plain polo shirt that's soft, breezy, and easy to match the suit without clashing against the wedding dress code. And on the feet go with a well-made pair of leather loafers in this unique style. They will look excellent with the cool fabrics, going sockless, and provide you with a prime opportunity to bust out your best dance moves at the reception.
City Wedding Attire
When attending a city wedding, keep your attire looking sleek and classic. A stretch wool suit is a smart choice for a smooth style with a hint of sheen and extra comfort. A mid-gray colorway pairs perfectly with a crisp white dress shirt like this one by Lululemon that also has a four-way stretch for urban mobility. However, collar proportions are key, so make sure to choose one with a nice semi-spread collar.
Lululemon Commission Long Sleeve Shirt
Charles Tyrwhitt Stain Resistant Mini Floral Silk Tie
When accessorizing, you can sport a stylish tie or just wear your collar open for a look that’s a bit more relaxed, but add a pocket square for a touch of sophistication. Slide on a pair of business casual shoes like the OG penny loafers to complete the look (sock optional!) and you’re good to hit the town.
Beach Wedding Attire
You want the coolest, most comfortable summer suit with ease, so opt for an ultra-lightweight unconstructed suit. A cotton and linen blend makes for a prime choice in summer suiting for its texture (that’s perfect for travel with no need for an iron) and breathability that will let you feel that cool beach breeze. Add a pop of bold, graphic print to your wedding attire with a fun camp collar shirt that you can wear all summer long at the beach or outdoor barbecue.
J.Crew Ludlow Slim-fit Unstructured Suit Jacket
Fair Harbor The Casablanca Camp Shirt
J.Crew Ludlow Slim-fit Unstructured Suit Pant
When you’re not feeling the sand under your feet, these casual shoes whose preppy aesthetic naturally complements the laidback beach vibe are the best footwear option with durable, easy-to-clean canvas uppers. Overall, you want your beach wedding outfit to match the easygoing vibe of the celebration, but without looking sloppy.
Formal Wedding Attire
The black tuxedo is your ultimate formal suit worth investing in. Thankfully, brands like Indochino offer high-quality fabrics and terrific construction, as well as head-to-toe customization for reasonable prices, making rentals a thing of the past. Their suits are basically fool-proof with the right balance of proportions to flatter any body shape. Plus, the brand offers almost everything else you’ll need for the timeless formal look, including cufflinks.
Indochino Harford Velvet Black Tuxedo
Suitsupply White Pleated Slim Fit Tuxedo Shirt
Beckett Simonon Hoyt Monkstraps
You can learn to tie a bow tie or make your life a little easier with a perfectly-sized option that’s already pre-tied for you. Just make sure it’s not too big and wide for a streamlined, elegant wedding look that is bound to turn heads. For footwear, the only way to dress and impress in formal summer weddings is via tuxedo shoes, and these monk straps in glossy leather finish will easily smarten you up while hitting the nail on dressy formal attire.
Business Casual Wedding Attire
For weddings where the dress code is somewhere in the middle of formal and casual, your best bet is to invest in versatile semi-formal wedding outfits. And because it is summer, after all, we recommend seersucker suits which are a perfect blend of breezy charm and elevated style. Todd Snyder specifically makes ones that are lightweight, stretchy, well-fitted, and look dapper for formal weddings but still nonchalant enough for casual ones. (Also available in black, navy, stone, olive, and more).
Todd Snyder Seersucker Madison Drawstring Suit
Rhone Commuter Shirt
Tie Bar Twill Paisley Pocket Square
Cole Haan ZERØGRAND Wingtip Oxford
For shirting, Rhone's dress shirt looks sleek and elevated but feels like bliss with stretch, anti-odor tech, and moisture-wicking built-in, working well with the breathability of seersucker to keep you cool and collected at the wedding venues. For footwear, dress sneakers are allowed now for semi-formal or smart casual dress codes, and these by Cole Haan have the professional look without compromising on all-day, on-the-go comfort. To round it all up, grab a pocket square in paisley style to raise your style score.
Cocktail Attire for Men | Best Black Blazers | Best Linen Shirts | Best Button-Down Shirts | Best Summer Pants
How We Selected
To find the best summer wedding attire for men, our editors and writers have personally tried on over 12 outfits since 2021 and tested each of them by actually wearing them to weddings. We also mixed and matched different suits with different accessories and shoes for different dress codes to get a sense of how versatile each item was. We vetted our tested summer wedding outfits by taking notes of their style, comfort, price point, versatility, and performance such as breathability and stretch. We also examined whether the fit of the jacket or pants was ideal, whether the shoes were comfortable for walking and standing, etc. to help narrow down our selections.
Read more: Learn How Men's Health Tests Products
To help pick the best men's summer wedding attire, we also took into account the different summer wedding settings and dress codes, from laidback beach weddings to regular weddings in a city or land venue to formal black-tie weddings to business casual weddings, and we tested the practicality of each outfit against their designated setting to help make our selections.
Why Trust Us?
At Men’s Health, our testing editors and writers always make sure to actually test and use the products ourselves before considering whether to include them. Therefore, rest assured that our product recommendations derive from first-hand experience, and you can read more about our testing process here.
In addition, we have a whole fashion closet in our NYC office dedicated to calling in, trying out, and selecting the best and newest menswear products. We put them on stylish, fit guys to hear their opinions and see how the items look on them before making our final decision. And as style editors, we constantly go into the fashion closet to feel a product’s materials—even put it on ourselves for a spin—to test it.
Lastly, you can trust our opinions on shopping recommendations, whether it’s the products, styling tips, or trends. Not only do we have Fashion Director Ted Stafford and Deputy Editor, Commerce Christian Gollyan, but we also have a panel of style experts—including stylists, fashion influencers, designers, etc.—whom we regularly seek shopping guides from. Therefore, our product recommendations and buying tips are all driven by professional, expert opinions.
Ted Stafford is the Fashion Director of Men’s Health. He oversees all style and fashion content for the brand, and also styles their fashion stories. His active lifestyle informs his passion for translating great designs into real-life style, a favorite part of his job. Prior to joining Men’s Health he worked at GQ magazine and Calvin Klein
Maverick Li is the Style & Commerce Editor of Men’s Health, where he covers clothing, footwear, watches, and grooming. He was previously the Assistant Commerce Editor at Esquire.
As Men's Health's Deputy Editor, Commerce, Christian Gollayan oversees all shopping content on menshealth.com. He relocated back to New York by way of Portland, where he was the Associate Managing Editor at TheManual.com. Christian's work has also been featured in InStyle, Food & Wine, the New York Post, and Tatler Asia.
