Tips for Choosing the Guys’ Shoes at Your Mexico Wedding
Tips for Choosing the Guys’ Shoes at Your Beach Wedding in Mexico
It’s safe to say that as a guy, one of the only times you can get away with ditching the dress shoes at a wedding is if that Mexico wedding is on the beach. Try to imagine a pair of classic black dress shoes on your feet while you’re getting married in the sand….yeah me neither.
However, that doesn’t mean you should cheap out in the shoe department. Casual is great, but there’s a fine line between stylish casual and bummy casual. Stick with stylish and follow a few other tips and you’ll find the perfect shoes for yourself and your groomsmen.
Guys Only Meeting
In my opinion, when talking shoes, any wedding in Mexico or beach wedding should start with a guys only meeting. Get all your guys together and talk about what they’d be comfortable wearing, exchange ideas and go through the options. Don’t be shocked if some (or many) of them don’t seem interested in the discussion, but hey, it’s a great reason to get the guys to go out for a few drinks at the pub. Of course, you don’t have to talk just shoes, read the other articles on staying 10 degrees cooler and a few of the others and have a list of things. And lets face it, with us guys, it will take at least 2-3 hours once a week for a whole sports season to really get to the bottom of things and I am sure your ladies will understand your need to go to the pub with the guys that much…
The Female Perspective
Of course, you should not discount the female perspective on your choice in shoes. Or more accurately, you’d better not discount the female perspective on your choice in shoes. Your lovely bride-to-be may have some plans of her own, so make sure you include her in the discussion. In all likelihood, she’ll be happy you’re taking an interest in shoes at all.
From the Top Down
When you start running through the various footwear choices for your Mexico wedding, start with the clothing and work your way down. If your fiancé is flexible on the topic of shoes, she probably isn’t as flexible on the rest of the wardrobe. Once you both decide on what everyone is wearing, you can narrow down the shoe options.
Consider the Entire Day
You’ll also want to visualize the entire day when making this decision. In many instances, the couple will get married on the beach, have their Mexico wedding photos taken out on the beach and then have the reception indoors or on a hard surface. If you plan on doing this, choose shoes that are suitable for both the beach and indoors, or get a second pair for the indoor part of the day.
Design Your Own
If you’re feeling creative and want to inject some fun into your choice of shoes, you may want to try designing your own. On the Converse website, you can actually design a pair of classic Chuck Taylor shoes that could work perfectly for both a Mexico wedding and Mexico wedding photos. There are a lot of choices out there that are fun and creative that you and your guys will really like.
Check out this pair I designed on Converse in about 5 minutes…
The Cancun Photographer’s Point of View
I may be biased, but I have to at least make a mention to keep your photographer’s point of view in mind during this process. As a Mexico wedding photographer, I see both good and bad shoe choices all the time.
You want a pair of shoes or sandals that are casual, classy and match your overall theme but don’t draw attention away from everything else. The shoes you and your groomsmen wear should enhance the wardrobe and your Cancun wedding photos but shouldn’t be distracting. Your shoes are an important part of the show, but they shouldn’t ‘be’ the show.
Personally, some shoes and sandals I think work well for Mexico wedding photos include Tommy Bahama, Sanuk and a few fun things you can find on Etsy. The aforementioned “distraction” list includes Teva sandals and Birkenstocks as the strap going across the front stands out like a sore thumb. Hint: might want to tell father of the bride this one…
Also, as a note, I am not a fan of dress shoes on the beach. They look a bit silly to me, however, if you are cool with tossing them to the side and going barefoot while on the beach, then by all means, dress shoes are great.
And if you want to ditch the shoes altogether and exchange your vows barefoot, who am I to argue? Just make sure a pedicure is part of your to-do list before the wedding!
Thank you,
Dean Sanderson | Mexico Wedding Photographer