I couldn’t be happier with how handsome the men looked with their colorful hand-sewn bowties and suspenders. I was a teensy bit nervous that the look of suspenders and bowties wouldn’t pull together in the end, but it fit our colorful and quirky wedding perfectly.

And my lovely ladies looked lovelier than ever in their custom-made dresses! Whew, those dresses were a nightmare and a half, but they’re still rockin’ them.

Wondering who’s who of the ladies? From left to right we have Bridesmaid T (whom I originally met in high school through our boyfriend’s- she married him, too, aww), MOH Bunting (whom has been my bestie since grade school), myself, Bridesmaid Dr. M (who is now my sister-in-law!), and Bridesmaid L (whom I quickly befriended in freshman year of college and who also married one of our highschool friends).

From left to right, these dapper young men are Groomsmen A (a long-time highschool friend who is now married to Bridesmaid L), Bestman Bunting (Mr. Bunting’s brother), a very handsome Mr. Bunting, Groomsmen N (long-time highschool friend, brother to Groomsmen A, and married to Bridesmaid T), Groomsmen J (twin brother of Groomsmen N and brother of Groomsmen A), and Brother Bunting (my brother and now husband of Bridesmaid Dr. M).

If you couldn’t follow any of that, essentially our entire wedding party is either related or married to one another (but not both at the same time, haha).

We’re just one big happy Bunting Bunch!

At the last minute we decided to swap and get a photo of Mr. Bunting with the bridesmaids and me with the groomsmen. I’m so glad we did, because I love how relaxed everyone looks in these two photos. His friends are my friends and my friends are his friends (three of my ladies are married to three of the groomsmen) so it felt natural to have these.

Once the wedding party photos were done, we headed back to the pavilion building to prepare for the family portraits. Being the ever-perfectionist I am, I had to pause for a moment and adjust Daddy Bunting’s boutonniere.

And then we were off again for more photos!

*All photos, unless stated otherwise, copyright Bryan and Mae Photography.

Follow the adventure:

• We had a fluffing party and rehearsed.
• I woke up and got ready with my girls.
• I step into the prettiest white dress I’ll ever wear.
• Mr. Bunting recounts getting ready at the Man Cave.
• Wishin’ and prayin’ and hopin’  and thinkin’ for perfect weather.
• I received the most important Post-It Note. Ever.
• We race toward one another for our first look.
• Mushy-lovey photos ensued shortly after.

In the beginning, I had told Mr. Bunting that he could choose what he and the groomsmen wanted to wear aside from a tux (unless he reaaaally wanted them). If they wanted to wear suit jackets, they could wear suit jackets. If they didn’t want to (and I was secretly hoping they wouldn’t), then they wouldn’t have to. Of course they didn’t want to wear jackets for an outdoor June wedding, so it was a win-win situation!

I stayed true to my decision of putting Mr. Bunting in charge for the groomsmen. I let him mull it over. He mulled it over a lot (or perhaps too little). I casually reminded him that we needed to start making decisions for their attire. He mulled it over some more. I began to wonder if he really was thinking about it, or if he even cared, so I started probing him more for ideas and answers. I thought maybe if I showed him some ideas, he’d find something he liked. So I started focusing my google and blog searches on groomsmen attire.

Haha, that’s when it all changed.

I found images that I fell in love with. I showed them to Mr. Bunting.

Let me pause for just a moment to give a warning. Ladies, don’t ever go out of your way to show your partner images of styles you don’t like or styles that just won’t work. There is a very high chance that your partner will take one look, point at that very image, and say, “I like that one!” And that’s exactly what Mr. Bunting did.

I didn’t show him any images that I didn’t like, but I did make the mistake of showing him an image that, while so very cool and awesome, simply did not mesh with the rest of our wedding. It was this one:

image via Ruffled / photo by Magic Memory Works Photography

And Mr. Bunting loved it. Le sigh. MOH Bunting and I had to explain to him that it just wouldn’t work with our color scheme or the rest of the wedding’s tone, so I tried to distract him with these:

image via Inspired By This / photo by Aaron Shintaku

image via Pretty Chicky / photo by Dana Grant

image via The Bride With A Blog / photo by Bloom Photography

image via Forage Bow Ties

So much for my vow to let Mr. Bunting pick the style! I was in love, and it was with bow ties and suspenders (and Mr. Bunting of course). Now before you judge, Mr. Bunting still had some opinions that I was more than happy to oblige, like no tan or khaki colors.

We had the guys purchase heather grey pants from Jos. A. Banks, and I found coordinating fabrics in colorful seersuckers and cottons for my seamstress to fashion the bow ties out of.  I love the mismatched bow tie look, so each groomsmen will have a different fabric.

We left it up to the guys to buy or find a white shirt and black dress shoes, and Mr. Bunting and I scoured the mall for the suspenders. Kohls had the best selection, and after an hour or so of Mother Bunting, the cashier, and I trying to figure out the best method to get the best deal with all our coupons, we left with 12 suspenders. Okay, okay, I couldn’t decide which style I liked best in the store, so we bought enough of two different types. After seeing them with the pants and a white shirt, this is the one we decided to keep:

Mother Bunting is amazing with coupons, so after the current Buy 1 Get 1 50% off deal and her coupon skills, we got these Dockers suspenders for about $11 each.

I’m not sure if Mr. Bunting loved the idea of suspenders and bow ties initially, but after actually seeing some of the things come together in person he’s completely on board. I know he wouldn’t agree to them if he didn’t like them at all, so again, it’s a win-win! Besides, Mr. Bunting’s outfit is different than the groomsmen and one he really loves, but that’s for another post.

What are you dressing the boys in? Did your partner have a strong opinion or preference, or did he go with the flow like Mr. Bunting ended up doing?