The King & Allen guide to: Looking stylish at a wedding.

Dressing with style to a wedding is all about balance.

At one end of the spectrum is to look like you’ve just stepped out of an office – conservative, depressing and showing no attempt at making an effort. On the other end of the spectrum is worse – a fortnight’s fun in one: the loudest shirt, the brightest suit, the ‘craziest’ tie:

The best way to find the perfect balance is to liven up a plain or block colour suit with some interesting accessories, or wear a suit with a pattern and keep the accessories simple.

People often feel that a dark grey or dark blue suit is not ‘light’ enough for a wedding. This need not be the case because if the suit is relatively understated you can really have fun with your accessories. Experiment with a big, bellowing pocket square and a colourful tie to compliment:

A complimenting tie and pocket square with a black suit

If pocket squares feel too flamboyant for your style, experiment with some silver accessories instead. A collar bar is a great way of adding class to your shirt and tie, as is a tie pin. Together they can look fabulous, so long as you don’t go any further. Add a pocket square on top, for example, and the balance is ruined. You’ve tried too hard:

A Collar bar and matching Tie Pin with a navy blue suit

A fine pair of (real) braces and a smart woollen tie can give a suit a lovely vintage look:

Braces and a woollen tie with a navy blue suit

The right bow tie turn a classic grey suit into something quite special:

A bow tie with a mid grey flannel worsted.

A patterned shirt can work brilliantly on a block colour suit, but it’s not for the faint hearted and you can’t wear a tie. This style is for very modern weddings only:

A blue mohair suit with a patterned shirt and no tie.

Patterned suits, however, require little or no accessories. A plain shirt and a simple tie are all you need.

A bold patterned suit with a simple, tonal tie

Try if you can to match the colour of your tie with the colour on the windowpane check:

A Prince of Wales check suit with matching tie

Separates can also work well – but the colours must all compliment.

Tweed jacket, waistcoat and tie in complimentary colours

And finally, never, under any circumstances, should you wear jeans to a wedding!