Family ties

As clueless as I can be about women's fashion, I am even more hopelessly clueless when it comes to men's fashion. Last weekend, I found myself asking strangers at Old Navy whether they thought a navy blue sweater matched the sort-of-gray, sort-of-olive khakis I was buying for Mr. M.

So it goes without saying that picking the groomsmen's attire has left me pretty stumped. The bridesmaids were so much easier - short navy blue dresses with straps, easy as pie! But the men's sartorial choices seemed endless. Tuxedos were too formal for our early morning wedding, but tan suits were too informal. Black suits? Too depressing. Navy suits might work, but then is that just too much navy all at once? And then there are all the different shades of navy blue to worry about - better to just nix the navy suits all together.

We finally settled on gray suits. Gray looks nice on everyone, and it's versatile enough that hopefully our groomsmen will be able to wear their suits again. We're planning on rounding up the groomsfolk during the next Men's Wearhouse BOGO sale and sending them out in pairs to buy their suits. (Nb: I'm not actually sure that this will work - does the free suit have to be the same size at the suit you pay for? If yes, this brilliant scheme will be foiled, since our guys are all different sizes.)

But hey, deciding on a suit color meant that I could finally get down to the fun part of dressing the guys: tie shopping! We're "gifting" the ties to the groomsmen, so we needed to find something affordable... but at the same time, you know, it's our wedding. We didn't want to skimp so much that the dudes had to walk down the aisle sporting some $5 sidewalk vendor ties. Luckily, we found the perfect solution: TheTieBar.com.

Their ties are fantastic, and every single one is just $15. They have extra-long ties and boy's ties, too, so we were able to get the perfect fit for every guy in our party. And, most important, they look and feel awesome - not cheap at all! (I know, I know... I totally sound like a commercial for The Tie Bar. But they really are awesome! And no, I wasn't compensated for this review. I'm just really excited about getting a good deal!)

The wedding party will be wearing the ones on the right; Mr. M will be standing out and looking gorgeous in the lighter pink tie on the left. Rrraowr!