Typically, most morning coats are woven from wool, and sometimes cashmere, and while this might seem counterintuitive for a summer wedding, wool is actually a fantastic fabric for regulating temperature and moisture. All of our morning coats are lightweight in any case.
Waistcoats
The degree of personality and individualisation to be had with a waistcoat is almost endless. Starting from the silhouette - single-breasted or double-breasted - and moving on to front and rear fabrics, our made-to-measure service will ensure that your waistcoat will be truly unique. But if that all sounds like decision overload, we have literally hundreds of off-the-peg styles cut in a variety of fabrics that will look equally as polished and sophisticated. Linen styles work especially well for summer weddings, and the long, smooth parabola of a double-breasted shawl lapel is the perfect foil for the crisp lines of a morning coat. Whether plain cloth, or patterned, you won't be short of options.
The Other Bits
Namely, shirt, tie, pocket square, socks and shoes. The shirt - a formal dress shirt in this case - comes in a variety of options, from the most minimal hidden placket style to the classic spread collar. White 99% of the time, but pale pastel tones are not out of the question although we would always recommend a white collar to keep things formal and sharp. In all honesty, the best modus operandi would involve coming into the Pall Mall store and trying them all on and deciding what looks best with a morning coat and waistcoat. The tie and pocket square may seem like facile details but they are anything but. Get them wrong and you botch the entire look. Do you mix or do you match? Again, this will be dependent on a number of factors but at Favourbrook we almost always prefer an unmatched trio of waistcoat, tie and pocket square, provided they complement one another.
The Lounge Suit Wedding
Whether guest or groom, a linen suit is the perfect option for a less formal summer wedding. For whatever reason (it's the weather, it's always the weather) the English don't fling themselves into summer tailoring quite like our European cousins, for whom unstructured lightweight linen blazers and chinos seem as natural a combination as ripe tomatoes and buffalo mozzarella. We tend to wear our suits like armour, as a symbol of strength and power, whereas the likes of the Italians wear their own version of tailoring as a personal expression of la dolce vita. One would do well to purloin a few leaves from the Mediterranean book!
One thing we Brits do well is pragmatism, so let's get straight to it. For a summer wedding, whether in the UK or abroad, a linen suit is without doubt the ensemble that ticks all of the boxes. Lightweight and almost always cut without any internal structure, it drapes beautifully and has that natural crumple that downplays the formality of the suit silhouette. Not only that, linen holds dye well, particularly the pastel tones which slide right into a summer sartorial setting. At Favourbrook, we have created linen suits in a wide variety of pastel tones this season, all of which are perfect for the discerning groom or guest. They're smart and traditional yet with a touch of that aforementioned Mediterranean savoir-faire.
Where shirting is concerned, a crisp white shirt is never a bad option with summer tailoring. It allows the tie to be more prominent by creating a strong contrast. Pastel alternatives are perfectly acceptable but we would probably opt for a contrast white cutaway collar just to frame the face that little bit better.
To wear a tie or not to wear a tie will boil down to the dress code you want for your wedding, but we would always suggest wearing one since it offers another opportunity to individualise the look, and on a more practical level, it does help steer people's gaze to your face.
The Black Tie Wedding
One very popular trend we've been seeing in the past few seasons is the black tie wedding. Not a traditional format per se, but many grooms are deciding to tie the knot in both traditional and alternative black tie. And why not?! It's beautifully smart, and decidedly the most glamorous of the three options. The classic black tuxedo jacket and satin stripe trousers also make for a svelte silhouette, and the addition of a pleated dress shirt and bow tie just add to the sense of occasion. There are also many twists on the classic black tie that you can opt for, such as an embellished silk dinner jacket, or a velvet dinner jacket for example. Both options inject an element of colour, texture, and of course, personality.
