'Tie'ing the Knot

Your tie and your groomsman ties are the pinnacle of your wedding day outfit. No matter where or how you have your ceremony, a tie will be a staple for the men's dress code. Most importantly, you will be looking at your wedding day pictures for the rest of your life, so it is important to pick out a timeless, sharp tie that won't say: "uhhh... which way the bar?"

Picking Out The Right One

Matching a tie to your future bride's "burnt sienna" wedding color scheme may be difficult. When picking out a tie, keep in mind a few different things:

1. Is this tie the right color?
2. Is this tie going to look well with my suit/tux?
3. Is this tie design going to go out of style like acid washed jeans?
4. How much am I willing to spend on my tie or for my groomsman?

COLOR: Before you go shopping for a tie, go to HOME DEPOT or LOWES with your fiancé. Although you may be able to show her that sweet power tool that your planning on buying for your first home, the purpose of this trip is to get a paint chip sample card to match the wedding colors. You can pick up a couple to pass out to family members and friends that are helping you decorate for your wedding, but make sure you keep one on you always. This will help you compare ties you find to your true wedding colors. (Most retail clothing employees have no idea what color '

burnt sienna' is. And unless your in the Apple store, giving them the hex triplet number 'E97451' won't help either...)

*After you've settled on a color, good luck finding a tie that matches perfectly. This is a little, dirty game that girls play with you to see how much you love them. They give you a color as rare as an oasis in the desert and say, "now return to me when you've completed your task." Just get used to this game now because it will come a lot more in the future...

LOOK: Suit or Tuxedo? Almost every tie in the world looks good with a suit, but tuxedos are a bit trickier. Luckily, most tuxedo rental stores have a variety of design-free silk ties that go well with their tuxedos and most likely have one that is comparable to your wedding colors. (They have clip-ons and zip-ties too, if tying isn't your forté.)

DESIGN: You wan't your tie to look classy - not a walking piece of artwork that Jerry Garcia just painted. The design of your tie can say everything about you, so avoid cartoon prints, repeated lettering, and grandma's knitted ties like the plague! These ties just scream tackiness. Solid, striped, checkered, dotted, or paisley are best options - but remember to keep them simple. A good question to ask yourself is: "Could people have pulled this off 50 years ago and still pull it off in another 30?"

On top of the quality of your tie is the quantity of your tie. Solid colored ties are easy to get in bulk, so thus they are the easiest tie to go with. However, if you're looking to spice it up a little, keep in mind that finding more than 8 of the same tie are hard to come by for patterned ties.

PRICE: A lot of factors come into play when it comes to your budget for a tie. Traditionally, it is your responsibility as the groom to get your groomsman ties (or rent the ties for them). Depending on you having all of your fraternity brothers as your groomsman or just 2 good friends, you will have to find ties that fit your budget. Once again, solid colored ties are the easiest to find in bulk and thus they are usually the cheapest. You can find good prices for ties online, but comparing the colors are usually hard. If you know anyone in asia, they usally have high quality ties there for cheap, but shipping will cost you some extra bucks. When it all comes down to it, just pray that you are marrying into a lot of money so you don't have to worry that much about it.

The Best Selection of Ties in Utah

• The Tie Shop: found inside the Quilted Bear in Provo, Midvale, and Ogden
• Tie One On: Layton, South Towne, and University Malls
• Missionary Mall
• Mr. Mac
• Costco