When a couple books a styling consultation with me at SGK Styles , I always notice the same moment. The bride pulls out a mood board thick with references, fabric swatches, and magazine tears. The groom sits beside her and says, "I'll just match whatever she wears." And while I love the devotion behind that answer, it is not a styling strategy. The groom deserves his own considered wardrobe. One that tells his story. One that looks intentional, not incidental.
Summer 2026 is bringing a genuinely exciting shift in Indian groom fashion. After years of the standard heavily embroidered dark sherwani, grooms are finally stepping into a lighter, more personal era of getting dressed, and the results are beautiful.
The Colour Conversation You Need to Have First
Before a single fabric is chosen, I ask every groom one question: have you and your bride talked about your colour palette?
This is not about matching outfits. It is about visual harmony. A bride in deep crimson zardozi work next to a groom in powder blue will create a photograph that confuses the eye. But a bride in ivory and blush standing beside a groom in champagne and warm gold? That is a couple who looks like they belong together.
For summer 2026, the dominant bridal palette is running beautifully soft. Blush pinks, dusty mauves, muted corals, and sage greens are everywhere. Which means grooms have a real opening to work within a coordinated pastel story. Pinterest searches for pastel sherwanis have surged by over 85% this year, with lavender emerging as the quiet standout of the season. Ivory is having a genuine moment too, especially for daytime ceremonies and destination weddings where the light is everything.
I always tell my grooms: the colour conversation happens first. Before the designer shortlist, before measurements, before anything else.
Fabric First: Why Summer Weddings Demand a Different Standard
A June or July wedding in India is not a December wedding. The climate alone should be dictating your fabric choices, and if it is not, your guests will notice long before you do.
The fabrics doing serious work for summer grooms this season are linen-cotton blends, chanderi silk, and cotton-silk mixes. These fabrics breathe, drape beautifully in photographs, and spare you the experience of sweating through a six-hour ceremony. There is an ease to a man dressed well in the right fabric for the right season, and it reads on camera in a way that nothing else can replicate.
Velvet and heavy brocade sherwanis belong to winter. They are magnificent in December. In June, they are a different kind of mistake entirely. I steer every summer groom firmly toward lighter weaves, and the payoff is always visible.
The Right Silhouette for Each Function
A modern Indian wedding has multiple events, and one sherwani simply cannot carry the weight of three or four distinct occasions. Building a multi-day wardrobe for the groom is one of my favourite parts of the styling process, because it gives us room to show different facets of his personality.
For the Mehendi and Haldi : This is the function to be playful and experimental. A mirror-work kurta (which is having a bold, masculine comeback in 2026), a printed cotton kurta with wide-leg trousers, or a linen bandhgala in sage or pistachio all work beautifully here. Keep it light, keep it comfortable, and let the colour do the storytelling.
For the Sangeet : An Indo-western silhouette is your friend. Think a structured jacket over a well-cut kurta, a bandhgala in a jewel tone like emerald or deep sapphire, or a Nehru collar jacket over a crisp ivory base. This function allows the most personality, and grooms who lean into that tend to look absolutely electric on the dance floor.
For the Phere or main ceremony: This is where the sherwani earns its place. The strongest sherwanis I am seeing in 2026 carry minimal, precise embroidery around the collar and cuffs, slim-fit silhouettes that do not swamp the body, and a palette that reads as considered rather than conventional. A blush ivory or warm champagne sherwani with fine threadwork photographs beautifully and will not look dated in ten years' time.
For the reception: This is where grooms who want to dress Indo-western can commit fully. A well-tailored bandhgala suit, a structured kurta-trouser set, or a classic Jodhpuri suit in a muted tone all work here. The reception is the one function where the groom has genuine creative freedom, and I love watching men step into it.
What the 2026 Groom Is Getting Right
The shift I am most excited about this year is the comfort-first philosophy, pursued without any sacrifice of elegance. Modern grooms are no longer accepting stiff, heavy tailoring that makes them look like they cannot breathe. The request I hear constantly in my consultations now is: "I want to look sharp and feel like myself."
That is entirely achievable, with the right approach. And it requires exactly what great bridal styling requires: time, intentionality, and an eye that understands proportion.
Here is my practical checklist for every groom getting styled this wedding season:
Have the colour palette conversation with your bride at least three months before the wedding. Do not leave it to the week of.
Book at least two fittings. One outfit fitted in a hurry is one outfit that does not sit right on your wedding day.
Know your fabrics. Ask your designer or stylist what the fabric is and how it performs in heat. This is a question you are allowed to ask.
Accessorise with intention. A nath on the bride deserves a considered safa , brooch, or kaleere -inspired accent on the groom. These details tell a story together in photographs.
Do not leave footwear for the last week. Jutis and mojris need breaking in.
Coordinate without matching. The goal is visual harmony, not a costume.
The SGK Approach to Couples Styling
At SGK Styles , I work with couples as a unit. The groom's wardrobe does not exist in isolation. It exists in active conversation with the bride's wardrobe, the venue, the season, and most importantly, the man wearing it.
The best-dressed groom I have ever worked with was not the one in the most expensive sherwani. He was the one who walked into our first consultation knowing what he liked, was genuinely open to being guided, and trusted the process enough to let us build something personal and coherent together. He looked like himself, only more so. That is always the goal.
This wedding season, I want every groom to have that experience. If you are planning a wedding in the coming months and want considered, coordinated styling for both of you, I would love to hear from you. You deserve an edit too.
With love and style,
Shreya Gupta Kedia
Founder, SGK Styles
Shreya Kedia
