The pocket square — the most important wedding accessory
For a Western wedding suit, the pocket square is the single most important accessory. It provides colour, texture and personality in the outfit's most visible detail. At a wedding, the pocket square should coordinate with — but not necessarily match — the tie or the bridal party's colour. A white linen pocket square in a simple TV fold is always correct; a silk pocket square in a complementary colour with a looser fold adds personal expression. The pocket square should be natural-fibre — linen or silk — rather than synthetic.
For Indian ethnic wear — bandhgala, sherwani, kurta-bandi — the pocket square is less conventional and is not required. Some grooms add a small silk square to a bandhgala's breast pocket; this is a personal choice rather than a traditional requirement.
Other accessories — tie, cufflinks and boutonnière
Ties for the wedding suit should be in silk — a Grenadine silk tie or a solid woven silk in a complementary colour. The tie's colour should coordinate with the suit and the pocket square as a coherent triad. At The Black Lapel, we make silk and wool ties that can be colour-matched to specific commission fabrics.
Cufflinks for the French-cuff dress shirt complete the formal look. Quality cufflinks in gold, silver, mother-of-pearl or enamel are appropriate for formal wedding wear. We keep a selection of cufflinks at the workshop that can be tried with specific shirts at the final fitting.
Boutonnières (lapel flowers) for Western wedding suits are a personal choice. A single fresh flower — white gardenia, white carnation, or a small rose — in the buttonhole of the wedding suit lapel is a traditional British wedding detail that adds a note of natural freshness to the photograph. It requires a working buttonhole in the lapel — our bespoke suits include this by default.