Spring Wedding Attire for Any Style of Nuptials

Spring weddings are common, but they can be stressful. What if it’s an outdoor garden wedding and it’s sweltering hot? You have to look the part, but you have to dress for the season, too. Most of the time, though, spring wedding attire for men isn’t all that complicated. In fact, if you’ve attended a wedding before, you already know roughly what to expect. Just consider the dress code and the venue, in addition to the season.

Choosing the Right Fabric for Spring Weddings

Often, you wear a suit to a wedding — or at least you’ll be wearing suit separates. This is partly why it’s important to choose the right fabrics. You don’t want to be sweaty, overheated, or uncomfortable, especially if you’re the groom. Statistically speaking, you’ll probably be attending a May wedding, and May can be warm, windy, or even rainy. Or perhaps you’re going to a tropical destination. Here are fabrics to consider.

Spring Wedding Fabric: Tropical Wool

Tropical wool is made from premium merino wool with an open weave. This makes it airy, which allows you to stay cool even when it’s warm out. It’s the best fabric for warm weather, especially when it comes to suits. The only drawback here is that since it’s so high-quality and finely made, it can be pretty pricey.

Spring Wedding Fabric: Linen

Linen is the go-to material for warm weather, which is why so many summer suits are made with it. Its biggest strength is that it’s one of the most breathable fabrics you can find, but it does wrinkle easily. Linen is often organic and also durable. It has an elegant but breezy look, getting softer and more comfortable with each use.

Spring Wedding Fabric: Cotton

Cotton is generally good for warm weather because it’s durable and versatile. It’s a natural fiber, and if you go for one with a loose weave, it’s quite breathable. Even more, it’s fantastic for sweat absorption, which makes it great for any garment that directly touches your skin. Not all cotton is made the same, so stick to lightly woven options for warm weather. Like linen, it might crease easily, too.

Spring Wedding Fabric: Seersucker

Seersucker is a lightweight material that’s often cotton-based. It’s known for its crinkled and puckered texture and often features skinny lines throughout. It’s made using slack tension weaving, contributing to its textured, light, and breathable surface. This also makes it easy to hide wrinkles; it’s perfect for casual or beach weddings because it looks celebratory but isn’t stuffy. It does, however, have a super specific look that isn’t for everyone.

Spring Wedding Suit Colors for Men

The more formal the wedding, the more you’ll want to stick with classic neutral suits. While black and navy don’t always scream spring, you can go for light gray, cream, tan, or even powder blue. You might even consider a marine blue or maroon option. Both are dark but are organically spring colors. However, if the event allows, you can go for pastels, mint greens, light pink, and other spring-specific colors.

What To Wear to a Spring Casual Wedding

It all depends on how casual the wedding is. After all, there are even weddings in T-shirts and jeans these days. Even in the most relaxed nuptials, at least try to incorporate spring colors or patterns. However, if the wedding falls in that confusing spectrum between casual and smart casual, it’s all about balance. Try a tieless suit with sneakers, or a broken suit with a t-shirt and loafers. Or, just go for an easy dress shirt, dress pants, and dress shoes — no jacket necessary.

What To Wear to a Spring Formal Wedding

A formal wedding will either call for a tuxedo or a professional suit. So, how does one make this uniform more spring-appropriate? Go for the right accent colors, accessory colors, and accessories in general. For example, you can always wear a seasonal boutonniere with a tuxedo. There are also lapel pins if you want something that isn’t so perishable. Meanwhile, a formal suit can include spring-appropriate ties or bowties, dress shirts, pocket squares, and socks.

Classic Spring Wedding

Most weddings these days aren’t overly formal or overly casual, especially if you’re an attendee. There’s often a dress code if you’re in the wedding, especially if you’re the groom. A classic wedding get-up can involve a spring suit — remember, go for linen, light cotton, or tropical wool. If you want something more professional, try a white contrast collar and a blue or gray suit. Brown shoes are more spring-appropriate than black. And finally, if the dress code allows, have fun with your tie, vest, and pocket square.

Spring Colors Can Be Dark

There are options for you men who prefer dark colors over the usually light palette offered in the season. I’d just say to avoid black entirely unless you’re willing to offset it with a floral tie or light pink shirt. Maroon and olive are naturally occurring colors during the springtime — go for suits in those hues. People underestimate how adaptable maroon and olive are and often forget that they are, in fact, menswear neutrals. You can even pair them with the traditional white-shirt-black-tie combo. Or, at the very least, go for blue, light gray, and even navy over stark black. 

Spring Into Summer

Did you know that certain beach and spring garden weddings may allow shorts and you can wear them with a suit jacket or blazer? However, you want to avoid looking like you just forgot your pants. Ensure you wear intentional shorts, like madras, dress shorts, or a bright color matching your tie, shirt, or accessories. There needs to be coherence between your shorts and the rest of your outfit.

Smart Casual Weddings

Most wedding guests will be allowed to go smart casual. I always say that, out of respect, you should lean harder into the smart side than the casual side. What I mean by that is that you should at least use suit separates. Go for a tieless broken suit, with a nice dress shirt. Consider incorporating a fun pattern, pastel color, or even florals.

Add Florals to Your Cocktail Attire

And speaking of florals, there’s no better way to celebrate love. Try a fun floral shirt framed by a spring suit with a subtle pattern. If you prefer something more subtle, just wear a more conservative suit and go for a floral tie. A solid tie and floral pocket square is even more subtle. It’s totally up to you how much flower power you want to incorporate.

The Season of Love

Again, most weddings take place in May. As such, your likelihood of attending a spring wedding is quite high. Men’s wedding guest attire for spring offers a lot of possibilities (depending on the dress code, of course). You can stay traditional, but you can also play around with color in ways you can’t during the colder seasons.