Ultimate Guide to Groom Outfits for Every Wedding Function

The bride's wardrobe often receives months of planning, while the groom's is left until the final few weeks. Yet a wedding is just as meaningful for him. Every celebration, from the Mehendi and Sangeet to the wedding ceremony and reception, becomes part of a journey he will remember for years to come.

What he wears through those moments matters. The right bandi for a family gathering, a well-tailored kurta for a festive evening, or a thoughtfully chosen ensemble for the wedding day does more than complete a look. It helps him feel confident, comfortable, and fully present in every celebration.

The Groom Dresses for the Same Calendar

Every wedding function asks something different of the man wearing it. The sangeet wants presence and ease of movement. The mehendi wants something light enough for daylight and heat. The reception wants restraint that still reads as considered. The pheras want formality without stiffness. Treating every function as an excuse for the same heavy kurta misses the point entirely - the groom's wardrobe, done well, has as much range in it as the bride's.

The bandi-and-kurta set has become the centrepiece of that range, and for good reason. A short, sleeveless bandi layered over a kurta and trouser gives a groom structure at the shoulder without the weight of a full sherwani, and it photographs with a kind of ease that heavier silhouettes rarely manage. It moves when he moves, sits comfortably through long ceremonies, and still carries enough detail to hold its own next to the bride's outfit. This guide is built around this, with one formal alternative for the occasion that calls for something different.

For the Mehendi: Built for Daylight

Daytime functions are unforgiving in a way evening events are not. Natural light shows every crease, and heavy fabric becomes a genuine problem rather than a minor inconvenience. The mehendi, typically held outdoors or in open, sunlit spaces, calls for an outfit that performs through hours of wear without losing its shape or its colour by the time the photographs are taken.

Our Pick: Grace Kurta Bandi Set

Grace Kurta Bandi Set, in Sage Green, solves for both demands at once. The entire set, bandi, kurta, and trouser is constructed in Tussar silk, a fabric with a natural slub texture and a matte finish that holds its shape through a long afternoon without looking limp by evening. Sage Green is a colour that works specifically in daylight; it reads as fresh rather than flat, and it does not fight with the golds and pastels that dominate most mehendi palettes.

Our Pick: Ambar Kurta Bandi Set

Ambar Kurta Bandi Set, in Dusky Pink, takes the organza-and-Chanderi formula used elsewhere in this edit and applies it to a softer daytime palette. The allover embroidered organza bandi gives it enough presence for photographs, while the Chanderi kurta and trouser keep the actual experience of wearing it comfortable through a function that can run for hours in the sun. Both sets prove that daytime dressing does not require sacrificing detail, it requires choosing the right fabric to carry that detail.

For the Sangeet: Colour That Holds the Room

The sangeet is the one function where a groom can take a real risk with colour, and the wardrobe should reflect that. It is an evening of performance and movement - speeches, dance numbers, long hours on a stage under bright lighting and the outfit needs to hold its shape and its colour through all of it without becoming a burden to wear.

Our Pick: Smaran Kurta Bandi Set

Smaran Kurta Bandi Set, in Fuchsia, is built for exactly this moment. An organza bandi with allover embroidery sits over a Chanderi kurta and trouser. The embroidery on the bandi gives the shoulder line enough detail to carry the room under stage lighting, while the Chanderi underneath keeps the whole look light enough to dance in until the night ends. Fuchsia at a sangeet is not a loud choice. It is a confident one, and on a man who is not used to wearing colour, it tends to land exactly right.

Our Pick: Riyasat Kurta Bandi Set

Riyasat Kurta Bandi Set, in Mint Green, offers a quieter version of the same energy. The bandi here is in Kota Tissue rather than organza, allover embroidered, paired again with a Chanderi kurta and trouser. Kota Tissue has a finer, almost translucent texture that catches light differently from organza - softer, less reflective, but no less detailed up close. For the groom who wants to stand out at the sangeet without competing with the bride's outfit, Riyasat is the more considered route to the same result.

STYLING NOTE: Both sets are built to move. Skip the heavier stoles and let the bandi's embroidery be the only statement above the waist, anything more competes with it rather than completing it.

For the Wedding and Reception: Ivory, Done with Restraint

The wedding ceremony and the reception that follows call for the most considered outfit in a groom's wardrobe. This is the moment the day is built around, the one the photographs will return to for years, and the one where the bride's outfit and the groom's need to sit together as a single, deliberate picture. Less colour, more precision is the right instinct here. By the time the wedding arrives, the groom has likely already worn one or two bolder colours at the sangeet or mehendi. The wedding itself is where restraint becomes the statement, and the outfit needs to feel composed rather than ordinary.

Our Pick: Haven Sherwani Set

The Haven Sherwani Set, in Salt Ivory, is built for exactly this moment. A raw silk sherwani with allover embroidery is paired with a plain Tussar silk kurta and a Tussar silk churidar. Raw silk has a naturally dry, textured finish that catches light differently from a smoother fabric, which gives the allover embroidery a quiet richness rather than a loud one.

The plain Tussar silk kurta underneath keeps the look from feeling overworked, letting the sherwani's embroidery carry the detail on its own. Ivory at a wedding photographs as composed and timeless rather than plain, and against a pale ground, the embroidery has more visual presence than the same work would have on a darker fabric. This is the sherwani for the groom who wants to look fully present at his own wedding, dressed for the most significant moment of the day rather than for any single trend.

For Family Gathering: A Different Kind of Structure

Not every formal gathering calls for a bandi. There is a case for a single, uninterrupted silhouette - one where the embroidery is concentrated rather than spread across layers, and the formality comes from precision rather than volume.

Our Pick: Captive Kurta Set

Captive Kurta Set, in Navy, is built on exactly that premise. A Chanderi kurta with embroidery concentrated at the yoke is paired with a Chanderi trouser, with no bandi layered over it. Without the additional layer, the embroidery has to do more work at a single point, and the yoke placement does exactly that: it draws the eye to the neckline and shoulder without spreading detail across the whole garment.

Navy is one of the more versatile colours a groom can choose for a formal celebratory ceremony: dark enough to read as serious, distinct enough from black to still feel appropriate for a wedding rather than borrowed from a boardroom. For a groom who prefers a single, clean silhouette over a layered one, Captive delivers the same formality through a different construction entirely.

STYLING NOTE: With Captive, let the yoke embroidery stay visible. Avoid layering a heavy stole over the chest that hides the detail the kurta was built around. 

Conclusion

Start with the two functions that carry the most visual weight - the sangeet and the reception or pheras, and choose colours that contrast rather than repeat across the week. From there, fill in the daytime function with something lighter in construction, even if it is just as detailed in embroidery.

A groom's wardrobe works the same way a bride's does: range across colour, fabric, and silhouette is what makes the full week feel intentional rather than incidental. A wardrobe built only around one favourite colour or one familiar silhouette runs out of relevance by the second function. Ridhi Mehra's menswear collection embraces this philosophy through refined tailoring, contemporary silhouettes, and thoughtful craftsmanship, offering modern grooms a wardrobe designed to complement every celebration with confidence and ease.

Frequently Asked Questions

Q1. What should a groom wear for each wedding function?

A groom typically wears lighter, colourful kurta-bandi sets for the mehendi and sangeet, and more restrained tones like ivory or navy for the reception and pheras, matching the formality of each event.

Q2: What is a bandi and how is it worn?

A bandi is a short, sleeveless jacket worn over a kurta. It adds structure and embellishment to the upper body without the weight of a full sherwani, making it ideal for long wedding functions.

Q3: What fabric is best for groom's wedding outfits in summer?

Chanderi, Tussar silk, and Kota Tissue are excellent summer choices for groom's wear each is lightweight, breathable, and holds embroidery well without adding bulk in heat.

Q4: What colour should a groom wear for the reception?

Ivory, navy, and other muted tones work best for receptions, offering a refined, photograph-friendly look that contrasts with the bolder colours typically worn at the sangeet or mehendi.

Q5: How far in advance should a groom plan his wedding wardrobe?

Four to six weeks before the wedding is ideal, allowing sufficient time for fittings, alterations, and any customisation across multiple function outfits without a rushed timeline.