The Groom Guide to How to Look Your Best on Your Wedding Day

As your big day approaches, one of your top-of-mind priorities as the groom is likely how to look your best on your wedding day. After all, looking your best usually translates to feeling your best—and this is especially true on a day when all eyes will be on you and your love.

We’ve created this guide specifically for grooms to help them prioritize, prepare, and be ready to feel like their very best selves as they say “I Do!” (and celebrate after!).

Quick Takeaways

• Looking (and feeling) your best on your wedding day means prioritizing physical, mental, and emotional well-being.
• Don’t leave your wedding day look up to chance. Experiment with haircuts, facial hair, and other aspects of your look before the big day to determine how you feel your best.
• Grooms can be fashionable, too! Make fashion choices you love and add details like cuff links, bow ties, vest, suspenders, and the like to make your wedding-day attire more special.
• When you look and feel your best, you’ll be able to stay more present in the moment and enjoy your wedding day as it’s actually happening.

Why Is It So Important to Feel Your Best at Your Wedding?

Your wedding day is one of the biggest milestones of your life, and one you want to remember fondly. As a photographer, I meet engaged couples all the time who are focused on how to capture their wedding day perfectly in photos. But what most don’t realize is that to capture the day as you envision, you really need to feel authentically well—in other words, like your best self.

But only 36% of adults—just over a mere one-third—say they have an excellent self-image. More than half say their self image is “good,” which is positive news. But don’t you want to achieve that excellent self image for your wedding day? You definitely should!

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Getting there means focusing on your physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing. And grooms, I’ve got some news for you: Yours matters just as much as your significant other’s.

It’s no secret that brides in particular get a lot of the attention leading up to and throughout a wedding day. And hey, most grooms are happy to go with the flow. But your bride won’t feel her best if you don’t feel yours, too.

Truly enjoying your wedding, being present in the moment, and capturing a day that represents your unique love story requires feeling good first.

This, of course, takes some preparation. There is no magic pill you can take the night before your big day to wake up feeling awesome. You’ve got to put in the work. Fortunately, the work is well worth the effort not only for your wedding day but for your overall well-being.

Let’s walk through the most important steps to looking and feeling your very best as you say your I-Dos.

How to Look Your Best on Your Wedding Day: 8 Tips for Grooms

Focus on Health First

When is the last time you’ve done a thorough health check-in? Visited your primary doctor? Evaluated if you need to be healthier in any aspects of your life? For younger grooms especially, this answer is usually something to the tune of “It’s been a while.”

But checking in on your health—again: physical, mental, and emotional—is the best first step to prepare to look and feel your best at your wedding. 

Take inventory of your health in these three important areas. Ask yourself questions like:

• How do I feel physically? Are there any aches, pains, or symptoms I should address? Do I need to change my eating or exercise habits?
• How do I feel mentally? Are my stress levels managed well? Am I prioritizing my mental health in meaningful ways?
• How do I feel emotionally? Am I managing and communicating my emotions well during this exciting but momentous time?

Develop Good Habits Before Your Wedding

Once you take inventory of your health and well-being as outlined above, you can channel your energy into developing good habits that help you feel your best leading up to your big day.

Be sure to prioritize things like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, managing schedules and stress, and engaging in the activities that make you feel great about yourself (for example, a yoga class you love or a running route in your neighborhood that helps you clear your head).

Experiment With Different Looks and Styles

We all go through style evolutions throughout our lives—phases of long hair or short hair, facial hair or clean-shaven, different levels of fitness, etc. It’s important to evaluate which style you love right now and decide if it’s the same as how you want to look at your wedding.

For example: You might like experimenting with different hair colors, but you know you want to have your natural color on your wedding day. Maybe you like having a beard most of the time, but plan to go with a clean-shaven look for the wedding. Or maybe you’re feeling the opposite way, and you want to have a more unique style and look for the big day.

There’s no wrong way to go here, but it’s pretty important not to leave it up to chance. Discuss the plan for wedding-day styles with your significant other, and go with ones that make you both feel great about the way you look.

Focus on the Details

Style isn’t just for brides! As a groom, you can focus on fashion and small style details that make you look and feel your best on your wedding day. Things to think about:

• The color and style of your suit or other attire
• Adding special touches like suspenders, a bow tie, vest, or cuff links
• Haircut and facial hair styles
• Skincare, manicures, pedicures (yes guys, you can do these, too!)

When you’re intentional about your wedding-day “look” and add in details that go beyond your everyday style, you give yourself an extra boost and make the day feel more special.

Do What Works for You and Your Bride or Groom

Your wedding day belongs to you and your love, so this advice is important. Do what works for you. Go with the style choices and overall looks that you feel best in. Don’t let your decisions be swayed by how someone else wants you to look or the current fashion status quo.

From the way you style your hair to the outfit you choose to the color scheme of your wedding party’s attire and more, you’ll look and feel your best when everything is totally, authentically, 100% you.

Slow Down and Enjoy Your Day

Trust me on this: You’ll look and feel your best at your wedding when you stay present in the moment. As a photographer, there’s nothing better than capturing a couple who both feel comfortable in their own skin, totally happy, and are acting as their authentic selves.

If you want your photos to capture you looking and feeling your best, resist the urge to try too hard. Look around at what’s really happening—this big and amazing day you planned with someone you love enough to spend the rest of your life with—and stay there physically, mentally, and emotionally. Let your photographer do the rest.

Let Perennial Capture Your Wedding Day

At Perennial, we use documentary-style photography to capture the unique love story of every client we serve. If you want your photos to document your day in its truest, most candid form, documentary-style photography could be right for you.
Want to learn more? Book a call with us today!