Fashion Friday: How to rock a relaxed wedding day look

Remember last month's fashion piece featuring styling tips for grooms from Roberto Revilla London? Now it's time for the much anticipated second part, which focuses on accessories and how to create a more relaxed wedding look. 

Picking the best accessories

Dressing up for your big day involves making more of an effort than usual. Once you're happy with your choice of suit, shirt and shoes, it's time to think about the smaller details. Your accessories should not only complement the look but also add some interest, reflecting your personality and personal taste. 

If cufflinks can have an accent colour tied in to a specific aspect of the wedding décor or the bridesmaids, that's great. But this doesn't always have to be the case - just make sure they're good quality and look polished. 

The same advice goes for watches. Leave your old watch at home and instead invest in a luxurious timepiece or, if the budget is tight, borrow a decent one from your best man. 

Ties and bow ties go well with a classic shirt and dinner jacket and are the perfect way to stand out from the groomsmen. Be a fashion-savvy groom and choose the right shade or pattern to finish off your ceremony look - you'll be sure to impress your future bride! 

  

The relaxed look 

Thinking about going for a smart yet relaxed wedding look? Well, herein lies the problem as most gents can do smart (suit) and they can certainly do what they think is relaxed (jogging suit/jeans/t-shirt) – but ask them to do something in between and things get complicated. But no need to fear as Roberto Revilla is here! 

For an autumn or winter wedding, consider tweed - you can wear a tweed waistcoat, with flannel trousers, or a tweed jacket with smart trousers and shirt. Plus, you'll get a lot of mileage out of these items after the wedding, too! 

In the case of a spring or summer wedding, again it depends on the borders of formality/casualness you are trying not to breach, but linen – or a linen/wool linen/cotton blend – suit or jacket and trouser combination would be the easiest thing for you to put together. And again lots of mileage out of these garments once the confetti has settled.

Style on your wedding day isn’t only about getting the clothes right. It’s about your attitude and confidence too. Have your speech well-prepared, ensure your outfit is sorted and hanging up ready to go at least a fortnight before the wedding. The at the end of the biggest day of your life (so far) you can pat yourself on the back knowing you looked handsome next to your gorgeously beautiful bride. 

Don't forget to pop over to www.robertorevillalondon.com and check out the Robert Revilla suits, accessories as well as plenty of outfit ideas! 

Fashion Friday: Grooms who dress to impress

Getting the right attire for your wedding can be as daunting for grooms as it is for brides, so we enlisted the help of bespoke tailor and wedding style ‘guru’, Roberto Revilla to give our guys his essential hints and tips.

A traditional formal wedding usually means either morning suit or dinner suit/black tie. But before you decide which style and colour suits your personality and wedding, here are a few things to consider:

Get the suit right

Start the process early (at least four months before the big day), especially if you're going tailored. If you're considering a traditional formal suit, you'll need to try on some ready-made/rental morning suits or dinner before you decide whether suits work for you or if a more custom fit option is needed. You want to look the best you can on your big day, right? 

If you usually struggle to find off-the-peg clothes that look great, then make the investment and go tailored. Dinner suits and morning suits are at the very least great outfits to have in the wardrobe but not need, rather than need and not have.

For great takes on traditional formal wear with an injection of personality, image search on sites like Pinterest and create your own mood board of favourite looks. This will make your life easier when you go to a store or tailor as you’ll be able to show ideas you like and see how best they can make them work for you.

Colour choices 

For morning coats and dinner suits, a navy version rather than traditional black could be worth considering – a contemporary twist and the shade also works better for gentlemen with a summer/spring type complexion (i.e. those of you that are fair of face).

Talk to your fiancée about any colour schemes/themes running through the wedding. As well as a buttonhole it’s a great idea to look at matching your tie/bow tie/cravat to say, the floral arrangements or bridesmaids' dresses. 

Shoes, shirts and everything in between

Treat your wedding as a game of two halves and have a shirt for each. One for the ceremony and then later on, change to a fresh one as you carry on celebrating and dancing the night away with your gorgeous bride. 

When it comes to shoes, I have had some men say, “Oh, I have a pair of black shoes I use for work, I’ll just polish those up and use them.” My advice is NO! Go and invest in a new pair for the big day. With a smart morning suit, a good pair of black oxfords or brogues will do the trick, whilst a dinner suit works well with a high-shine or patent leather pair.

Socks should be chosen last – some fresh new black or grey socks for your morning suit, black or navy (depending on trouser colour) for your dinner suit. Again no harm in having two pairs for the day. 

For more advice on accessories and how to create a more relaxed wedding day look, read our 2nd part blog from Roberto Revilla coming soon! 

To see the latest collections of suits and menswear from Roberto Revilla, visit: www.robertorevillalondon.com/

Fashion Friday: Grooms Love British Heritage

Wondering what fashion trends will be big for grooms this year? Then look no further than today’s Fashion Friday entry! Young’sHire, one of UK’s leading formalwear hire companies, have put together a trend report for 2015 looking into popular styles, colours and trends.

Gentlemen prefer kilts

The traditional highland wear is set to take centre stage over the coming year. Donning a kilt and sporran has always been seen as a statement of true Scottish identity. However new data from Young’s Hire has revealed that, incredibly, there are more proud Scots in England than in Scotland when it comes to selecting traditional Scottish dress. Depending on where you’re getting married, English cities such as London (21%), Leicester (12%), Manchester (10%) and Sheffield (10%) are all topping Dundee (9%). Surprisingly Aberdeen accounted for just two percent of the UK's highland wear hires - ranking well below Liverpool (6%), Bristol (6%), Newcastle (4%), and Cardiff (3%).

One of the key tartan trends, Grey Granite continues its tradition as a long standing favourite, followed closely by the Pride of Scotland check – a pattern that shows real national pride.

"It's always fascinating to take a more holistic look at the formalwear trends around the UK, and it's great to see that although people are really broadening their horizons when it comes to suiting-up for a special occasion, the traditional items like a top hat and tailcoat are still proving very popular. It’s great that traditional Scottish highland wear is still going strong and is growing in popularity across England,” comments Chris Burns, at Young's Hire.

Art deco chic

The traditional ‘top hat and tails’ look continues to be a favourite – classic elegance and opulence. There is however a North/South divide, with London topping the charts when going all out to impress their brides, while northern cities chose a more casual smart approach.

Adding character

To finish off the look, well chosen accessories enable grooms to express their personality and style. Cravats remain the top neck-piece for formal looks, with colours that tie in with the bride’s look – ivory, light pink and silver. Bold coloured dicki bow ties are the ‘laid back’ alternative for a more relaxed celebration.

About Young's Hire

Young'sHire has more than 195 locations across the UK, with concessions in the likes of Debenhams, Suit Direct and Jeff Banks. For more information, visit: http://www.youngs-hire.co.uk

Take inspiration from our dashing groom in the Behind the scenes photos from Bristol-based supplier Anne Harding.

We’d love to know what trends our South West grooms and brides prefer, so visit  our Twitter and  Facebook pages and share!

Behind the scenes: Winter photoshoot at The Battleaxes

On this fresh winter’s day, we offer you an exclusive view from this issue of The West Weddings photoshoot. So it’s time to get cosy, as you poor over these stunning images taken by the talented Martin Dabek, from PhotoDabek - the hot chocolate is optional!  

The location of our photoshoot was The Battleaxes in North Somerset – a charming English pub that instantly lures you in with its cosy open fireplace and rooms full of character. With an idyllic countryside setting, the venue oozes charm and period features, making it ideal for wedding day celebrations. 

 

Our ‘bride’ Rachel looked stunning in the gorgeous gowns from The White Collection in Clevedon, which were complemented beautifully with superb accessories from Bridezillas. Her ‘groom’ David tried on a selection of suits, waistcoats and cravats provided by Anne Harding. 

           

Every detail was planned to perfection by our stylist Kirsten Butler, owner of the Little wedding Helper, incorporating seasonal features and maximizing the surroundings. 

We couldn't have created this issue without our talented wedding suppliers: Jax-Glam Beauty, Hairoics Mobile Hair and Beauty, Mim's Flower Shed, Pretty Amazing Cakes, Triggols Vintage Cars and Lighthaus Events. 

 Loved these images? For more ‘Behind the scenes’ looks, check out our previous post here, then come over to our Twitter and Facebook  pages and let us know which looks inspired you for your big day!

Fashion Friday: Groom Style

We hope our brides don’t mind us focusing on the grooms this Fashion Friday - after all they need to look smart, too. Grooms-to-be, get ready to discover the latest fashion trends so you can rock your frock on the big day. 

There are plenty of choices for menswear wedding suits ranging in colours, styles and cuts available. If you’re fans of tails or kilts, then you’re probably better off renting one from a wedding specialist – we have a list of local stockists on our website and inside the pages of West Weddings magazine. However, if you’d rather invest in a suit that you can wear long after the wedding, then why not arrange a shopping trip with your best man – large department stores like John Lewis, House of Fraser and Debenhams are a good place to start.

Suit

Invest in a morning suit that fits well and makes you look and feel great. Adding a waistcoat is optional, but wearing one will give you a more polished look once you take off your jacket after the ceremony.

Shirt  

There’s something special about wearing a crisp white shirt fitted to perfection – your wedding day is the best time to let your personality shine, and even channel that James Bond look you’ve always wanted.

Stylish shoes

Make sure the wedding shoes you choose go with the suit and feel comfortable - wear them in before the big day to loosen them. Get ready to impress your bride and guests with your dance moves!

Accessories

Wear a bright tie or dickie bow to jazz up a dark suit and, if your wedding has a theme colour, then your tie could match the bridesmaids’ dresses. When it comes to cufflinks, why not splash out on a personalised pair that will make you stand out from your groomsmen. No wedding day look is complete without a stylish belt and your signature fragrance – perfect for making a statement!   

Before making your decision, take a look at these grooms’ outfits – you’ll recognise them from West Weddings magazine. We’ve also created a Pinterest board dedicated to grooms’ fashion - let us know which ones you prefer on our Twitter and Facebook pages.  

                                                                                              

Follow West Weddings's board Groom Fashion on Pinterest.