Black Tie Preferred...To Tux or not to Tux

[bremersm]

So a very wealthy friend of my wife is getting married next April. We just received the Save the Date. It is a spring wedding with the ceremony at 3pm. The wedding is in Charlotte, NC. The StD states Black Tie preferred. Neither of us is in the wedding party. So if you were invited to this wedding would you where a rental tux or a suit. I don't wear a tux often enough to go out and buy one.


If I wear a suit I am going to use this as an opportunity to get a new pair of black dress shoes.

[hornsup84]

3pm Black Tie preferred is slightly awkward in general, but you could go either way here. Depends if you'll feel awkward if most people go black tie and you're in a suit. If you go suit, I'd go pretty conservative and stick with darker colors generally.

[kenneth]

It seems to me that this is the ideal scenario for the cheap-yet-beautiful Indochino tuxedo:

http://www.indochino.com/product/The-Essential-Dinner-Jacket-Tuxedo


It's cheap, which is good since you don't wear tuxedos that often, and you've got plenty of time to have it made and have the post-creation tailoring done. You'll look way better than if you rented since you'll be in a custom made fitted tuxedo, you won't stand out by not adhering to the stated dress code, and you'll have the comfort of knowing that you can attend black tie affairs at no notice because you have your very own custom MTO tuxedo hanging in your closet.


(they should pay me for PR like that)

[jessy_diamond]

I don't know, 3PM is kinda early for a tux. If you have a dark, conservative suit that fits you well, you will look better than in a probably ill-fitted rented tuxedo.

[kenneth]

Perhaps black tie with a white dinner jacket? That'd be more daytime appropriate but less pragmatic for many uses.

[nicholascrawford]

Is this 3p, followed by dinner and dancing into the night?


I have the Essential Black Suit by Indochino with peak lapels and would wear it in this instance. BUT! I can rarely find other cases to wear it!

[BB]

If I were you, I'd wear a navy suit and a dark grenadine tie. Check out Clooney: http://putthison.com/post/3144782372...haps-ironic-in

[bremersm]

@nicholascrawford - correct. The ceremony is at 3. If it is a Mass then the cocktail hour will likely be at 6 and the sitdown dinner at 7 with dancing late into the evening.


The more I think about it the more I think I will wear a charcoal suit with a french cuffed white shirt.

[nicholascrawford]

I wouldn't worry about being too dressed up early in the day. You've gotta plan for the whole night.

[greg_s]

While that is true, NC, I'm still not sure I would throw on a tux at 3pm...

[hornsup84]

I'm with greg on timing -- etiquette dictates 6pm as the cutoff for formal attire, but I think you could swing a 5pm service, as you'll be around mostly in the evening, but 3pm seems like a stretch.

[nicholascrawford]

The obligatory: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_P7yWnAAd0

[saleen]

I agree that 3pm is a bit early for a tux. However, that being said, this is the bride and groom's choice. If I was invited to a black tie event that started at 10am, I would still wear my tux. I would think they made a bad choice, but its not my call.


That being said, this scenario says "black tie preferred." If I didn't already have a tux and thought $400 for a tux wasn't "cheap," I'd wear my darkest suit possible with a white shirt, black shoes and formal belt.

[bremersm]

Well, I just got my Father's Day gift. It was late because my wife ordered it from Charles Tyrwhitt. Part of the gift was a charcoal waist coat that is an exact color match for my JCrew Thompson suit. I am thinking of wearing the waist coat with the suit as a three piece. Thoughts? To make it even formal I am going to wear a white french cuff and a black bow tie.

[JT10000]

Don't wear a bow tie. It'll look like you're trying to fake a tux and be weak. Get a very formal, simple straight tie - perhaps something striped with at most two colors. Or one color - perhaps black if that's sufficiently different than your suit.