What to wear to a summer wedding

Summer weddings are the hardest dress code to get right, because the instruction on the invitation and the reality of the venue often disagree.

Reading the invitation

• Black tie — a dinner jacket. Not a dark suit. If you don't own one and won't again, hire.
• Formal / black tie optional — a dark suit, white shirt, conservative tie. Navy or charcoal.
• Cocktail / semi-formal — a suit, and you have licence on colour. Mid-blue, grey, even a summer texture.
• Garden party / festive — a suit or a jacket and separate trousers. Lighter everything.
• No dress code given — a navy suit. It is never wrong at a wedding.

The part about heat

Cloth weight matters more than colour. A dark suit in a light, open weave will be far more comfortable than a pale one in a heavy cloth. If the wedding is outdoors in July, that is a reason to choose your cloth carefully, not a reason to wear linen and spend the day creased.

Other things that help more than people expect: an unlined or half-lined jacket, side vents so air moves, and a cotton shirt rather than a blend, which does not breathe.

Navy, in a breathable weave, with a light shirt. It works at ninety per cent of weddings and you will wear it again.

What not to do

Don't wear white, cream or anything approaching it unless the invitation specifically asks. Don't outdress the groom. Don't wear black to a daytime summer wedding — it reads funereal and it is the hottest thing you can put on.

Plan the timing backwards

If you are having something made, count backwards from the wedding and leave a buffer. A suit from us arrives about four weeks after you finalize the order, and you want two or three weeks on top of that to try it on and get the hem adjusted if you want it different. Six to eight weeks before the day is comfortable. Three weeks before is a rush.

If you are in the wedding party, add another two weeks — coordinating several people always takes longer than coordinating one.