Men's Summer Wedding Attire Ideas and Advice for 2024

The sun is out and so are the great fits. 'Tis the season for men's summer wedding attire. Dressing for a summer wedding, whether you're a groom or a guest, can be a lot of fun. Well, dressing for any wedding can be fun, but summer lends itself particularly well to putting together excellent outfits. The warmer weather tends to see couples implementing slightly more relaxed dress codes, and even the more formal side of weddingwear takes on a more free-flowing feel, with linen and seersucker suiting moving into the space. Whether you're suiting up to get married or trying to figure out how to dress for a destination wedding you've been invited to attend, here's everything you need to know about what to wear to a summer wedding.

In this article:

• Do Guys Have to Wear a Suit to a Summer Wedding?
• Men's Summer Wedding Attire for 2024
• Tips for Choosing Men's Summer Wedding Attire

Do Guys Have to Wear a Suit to a Summer Wedding?

Not sure whether you should wear a suit to a summer wedding? It's a totally understandable query. Luckily, the answer is pretty simple: whether or not you wear a suit or tux to a wedding will always be determined by the wedding's dress code, not the season in which the wedding takes place.

Attending a black-tie wedding in June? You're going to need to wear a tux. A dressy-casual affair in August? You can probably leave the suit at home. You can check the couple's wedding website if you have any questions about what to wear to their wedding. If you don't find the answers there, you can always reach out to them (better yet, their wedding planner) directly and ask for clarity.

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Men's Summer Black-Tie Attire

What to wear: For a black-tie wedding you're going to need a tuxedo. There's no wiggle room on this. For hotter months of the year, you may want to opt out of a vest (which is not a required piece in a tuxedo) or a tuxedo made from a lightweight fabric.

What to avoid: Avoid anything less formal than a tuxedo. No three-piece suits, no two-piece suits, nothing other than a tux.

Men's Summer Formal Attire

What to wear: Formal weddings tend to mean a tuxedo is optional, so you can wear one if you want (though I'd always advise checking to make sure the groom is wearing one–if the groom is wearing a suit, you shouldn't be dressed more formally than them). If you don't wear a tux, you should wear a suit with a more formal set of accessories and detailing. That means a tie for sure as well as possibly a dress shirt with French cuffs.

What to avoid: Don't mix suit separates or wear a shirt with an open collar. Stick with a traditional tie, too–save your neckerchiefs and bandanas for a less formal occasion.

Men's Summer Cocktail Attire

What to wear: Cocktail attire is where things start to loosen up a bit in terms of formality (though you're still probably best off sticking with a suit). What's going to look best varies from season to season. For the summer, try a suit in lightweight linen and an open dress shirt collar. Speaking of shirts, this is also a good time to try wearing a knit polo under your suit rather than a dress shirt. You can try mixing in accessories like bandanas, neckerchiefs, and other alternative neckwear as well.

What to avoid: First of all, don't dress all the way down for this. Cocktail attire is still on the formal side, so whatever you wear should still incorporate a suit jacket of some kind. That said, from here on down the scale of formality, leave your tuxedo in the closet.

Men's Summer Semi-Formal Attire

What to wear: Semi-formal wedding attire is the point at which suit separates become the name of the game. This is a great opportunity to mix tops and bottoms, maybe wearing linen trousers with a cotton or seersucker blazer. If you wear a suit, dress it down with a polo or open-collared patterned shirt. Speaking of patterns, don't be afraid of them for semi-formal attire. Floral ties, loud pocket squares, dress shirts with fun patterns, all of them are right at home at semi-formal weddings.

What not to wear: Just because it's semi-formal doesn't mean it isn't formal at all. You shouldn't wear a tee shirt to a semi-formal wedding but don't wear a tee shirt to a semi-formal wedding. Shorts are also probably not the right move here unless they're paired with a matching suit jacket (they exist, I promise).

Men's Summer Casual Attire

What to wear: Dressy casual is one of the more nebulous dress codes to define. The big thing to keep in mind is that at this level of formality, you don't need to wear a suit. Try a trendy knit polo or an oxford with linen trousers and loafers. Shorts might be acceptable here as long as they're on the dressy side (leave the cargo shorts at home) but check with the couple before showing up with your thighs out (even if the sky will likely be out).

What not to wear: Again, this is not the time for a tee shirt. But the thing you don't want to do here is dress too formally. Don't wear a suit, don't wear a dress shirt with French cuffs, and don't wear a tuxedo.

Men's Summer Destination Wedding Attire

What to wear: Well, that depends on the destination. There aren't concrete rules in place for what to wear to a destination wedding–so much of it is going to be determined by the wedding itself. In these instances, you should ask the couple what they have in mind. If the wedding is down on a beach in Mexico, they may be cool with you packing a matching linen shirt and shorts set for a casual vibe. On the other hand, sometimes a beachside wedding still means wearing a suit. Don't be afraid to ask questions.

That being said, don't think too hard about it, either. In most cases, a destination wedding means that the couple probably isn't too concerned about what their guests wear for the ceremony. They're much more concerned with you getting there safely and celebrating with them.

Men's Summer Wedding Attire for 2024

Looking for some summer groom attire inspiration? Trying to find a fit for the destination wedding you just got invited to? We've got you covered for all that and more with some of our favorite men's summer wedding attire selections. Read on for the best suits, suit separates, and knit polos to make your dream summer wedding outfit come to life.

For a Summer Formal Groom: Todd Snyder Italian Linen Shawl Collar Tuxedo

Photo: Todd Snyder

If you're gonna go the tux route in the summer, make it a linen one. Todd Snyder's classic shawl collar tux brings all the black-tie elegance you need with the bonus of a lightweight linen blend perfect for the warmer months of the year.

Men's Summer Formal Attire: Suitsupply Navy Roma Suit

Photo: Suitsupply

Suitsupply's Roma suit cut is one of our favorites, leaning into soft tailoring vibes with an unstructured shoulder and a wide lapel. It's the perfect summer wedding suit for folks with more than one save-the-date pinned to their fridge, a formal suiting workhorse that can easily be styled differently each time you wear it.

For a Summer Casual Groom: Dandy Del Mar Dominica Crochet Shirt

Photo: Dandy Del Mar

Crocheted and knit polos are all the rage right now (this is far from the first you'll see on this list) but if you're a groom who wants to get married in one this summer, go with the best of the best: Dandy Del Mar's Dominica shirt is a breezy knitwear dream, a favorite of celebrities on the red carpet and on press tours these days. Roll out the red carpet for yourself when you walk down the aisle in this.

Men's Summer Casual Attire: Abercrombie Camp Collar Linen Blend Graphic Shirt

Photo: Abercrombie & Fitch

A patterned linen shirt with a camp collar is the perfect summer wedding guest attire for more casual affairs. Abercrombie's easy, affordable wardrobe staple comes in a whole bunch of fun knit patterns but we're big fans of the martini edition.

Trendy Men's Casual Summer Wedding Attire: Percival Crochet Short Sleeve Shirt

Photo: Percival

Percival makes some of the most popular knit shirting in the world today. If you're looking for a trendy casual summer wedding look, this is a good place to go. Their floral crochet shirt is sure to have the other guests asking, "Hey, where'd you get that?"

For a Summer Semi-Formal Groom: Brooks Brothers Seersucker Sport Coat

Photo: Brooks Brothers

Don't sleep on seersucker when the weather gets hot. It's the perfect suit separates fabric, a statement piece that'll keep you cool when it's hot out. Mix this piece from Brooks Brothers with a nice oxford and a pair of good dress pants for the perfect suit separates look for grooms.

Men's Summer Semi-Formal Wedding Attire: Bonobos Jetsetter Unconstructed Blazer

Photo: Bonobos

A laid-back sport coat is a versatile piece to have in your closet when dressing for semi-formal weddings, especially in the summer. Try Bonobos's take on their classic Jetsetter suit, this time in an unstructured fit perfect for summer weddings.

For a Summer Destination Wedding Groom:

Photo: J.Crew

Grooms looking to pack a lowkey suit for a destination wedding need look no further than J. Crew's classic Ludlow suit in a creamy linen blend. Give it a steam once you've taken it out of your suitcase and you'll be good to go.

Men's Summer Destination Wedding Guest Attire:

Photo: Sunspel

Heading to a destination for an upcoming wedding. Channel your inner globetrotter with Sunspel's Riviera polo, famously worn by Daniel Craig in the James Bond movies. There are few better pop culture icons to channel when rolling up to nuptials on a beach or the Riviera.

Tips for Choosing Men's Summer Wedding Attire

Before you start running wild with your next wedding fit mood board, remember that dressing for a summer wedding is going to require some of the same consideration that wedding outfits do regardless of season. Make sure you've taken the wedding venue, the weather, and the dress code the couple has requested into consideration before putting your look together. Once you have those details locked in though, you're all good to start piecing together a summer wedding outfit that will turn the heads of the rest of the guests.

Sweat the Weather

Summer is, you know, hot. And depending on where the wedding you're attending is (more on that later) it can be even hotter. As such, the best move, if you're going with a suit in the summer, is to make sure it's made of a breathable fabric like linen or seersucker. If the dress code permits you to go with a semi-formal or dressy casual look, you can even forgo a suit altogether.

Venue Is Everything

While not every different kind of wedding venue comes with a strict set of rules or a dress code of its own, the location of the ceremony is going to play into what you wear as a guest. Formal venues like country clubs and historical estates will often see guests wearing outfits substantially different from what they'd wear to a beach wedding, for example. The dress code may determine whether you're rolling up in a suit or suit separates, but the venue is going to be what determines whether or not you wear socks with your dress shoes.

Shift Into Neutral

Earthy neutrals like beige and brown are some of our favorites in the suiting world, the perfect base colors to build your outfit from. While the darker side of that color scheme is best for the colder seasons, colors like light brown, beige, and warm olive will look great at summer nuptials.