Of course COVID-19 has turned a lot of weddings upside down this year. Due to different state rules and limited capacity for weddings at the moment, we are witnessing many weddings being postponed into later 2020 or even rescheduled for 2021. Of course, some are getting married anyway in a minimony or a micro wedding. Who isn’t frustrated with the impact of the virus on life!
You may have read our blog that we wrote about the minimony. Minimonies and micro weddings are trends that we are seeing this year where the brides and grooms are having smaller, more intimate weddings with close family and friends so that they can exchange their vows and be legally married. Most of these couples are scheduling the larger celebration at a later date so that they can include everyone on their original guest list.
So with many months of dealing with COVID-19, we are seeing similar patterns and trends with the groom’s attire and who is dressing up for the minimony or micro wedding.
For the most part, we are seeing the following things occurring:
Groom, Best Man, Father and Siblings
We are finding that more than half of the time, the groom, best man, fathers and siblings are wearing the originally chosen suits and tuxedos for the minimony and micro wedding. In this particular instance, the bride and groom are not having the entire wedding party dress up for the smaller ceremony. In fact, because of restrictions, often, the entire wedding party (bridesmaids and groomsmen) may not be involved with the smaller ceremony. Often, it may just be family plus the maid of honor and best man.
Dressing Up But Wearing Something Different
When a groom does his full groom try on at Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo to help him choose what he and the bride want him to wear for the wedding, we find that the couple really falls in love with the look that they’ve chosen.
In cases like these, we find that the groom will choose an entirely different suit or tuxedo for the minimony or micro wedding so that he can save his chosen attire for the big celebration at the venue when that is scheduled. As an example, we had a groom choose our Allure Men sandstone tuxedo for his summer wedding. When the larger celebration was postponed to July of 2021, he came in and chose an Ike Behar navy suit for his July 2020 micro wedding with family and friends. He wants to wear the sandstone tuxedo with all of his groomsmen at the big bash in 2021!
Everyone is Dressing Up as Planned
Some of our brides and grooms want everyone to wear the tuxedos or suits that they originally chose for the wedding party. Therefore, the groomsmen, fathers, ring bearers and groom are all dressing up as originally planned. This preference is growing as restrictions are slowly being loosened for large or outdoor gatherings.
Early on in the pandemic, we had what was coined by one wedding party as a “drive by” wedding! The wedding party drove by waiving as the bride and groom were married with family practicing social distancing as they exchanged their vows. Everyone was dressed up in their bridesmaid dresses, tuxedos and mother gowns. We are impressed with the bride and groom’s determination and perseverance to make all of this happen!
Wear What You Want But Please Look Nice!
Lastly, we are finding a small percentage of the micro weddings asking the wedding party to wear the dress or tuxedo/suit of their choice as long as they look formal. The bride and groom prefers to keep the chosen attire for their big wedding celebration. When the bride and groom allow the wedding party to wear what they wish for the micro wedding, we are seeing pictures of the bridal party wearing their favorite suits or most formal attire that they own. In the case where a groomsman does not own a suit, we are finding that they come to Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo to rent a suit so that they can dress up for their friend’s wedding.
As you can see, you have plenty of flexibility on how to dress your wedding party if you are splitting your celebration into two parts: suits and tuxedos for the minimony or micro wedding and larger celebration at a later date when COVID-19 restrictions are hopefully lifted.
We have plenty of experience dressing brides, grooms, bridesmaids, ring bearers, mothers and fathers. Let Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo help guide you to your dream wedding look.
About the author: Franco Salerno is co-founder and co-owner of Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo, now in their eighth year in business. In that time, he built the tuxedo department into a force rivaling big box stores by providing expertise, caring service, and beautiful, quality formal wear. Personally invested in every transaction, Mr. Salerno provides customers with the utmost trust and confidence, assuring their wedding or formal event attire will be perfect. A native of Philadelphia, he currently resides in Warrington, Bucks County with his wife and store co-founder/co-owner Wendy, and their two daughters for whom the store was named, Daria and Deanna.