Wedding season will soon be upon us, and the groom’s wardrobe is often overlooked. 

An eco-conscious groom needs to look polished, dressing to fit his wedding’s tone and scope. Most weddings are formal occasions, calling for a tuxedo or high-end suit, which can be made from sustainable hemp, organic cotton or organic wool. 

Generally, the tuxedo jacket is single-breasted, with three buttons and a satin trim—a style that’s universally flattering to most men’s frames. The classic wedding ensemble also includes a formal shirt, tie and vest.

Organic and Sustainable Options

To set themselves apart from the groomsmen and ushers, grooms tend to go with classic black and white, forgoing colors. On some occasions, grooms may choose to wear a white tuxedo. Conscious Clothing sells both black and white hemp suits. 

Boll Organic is known for its organic men’s dress shirts, as is Culturata. Rawganique specializes in organic hemp dress shirts, as well as organic hemp dress pants and organic hemp dress jackets and vests. 

You can often score bargains on bamboo tuxedo vests and ties on eBay. Ties (or bow ties) and vests can be completely black or can coordinate with the wedding party’s colors. For example, if bridesmaids are wearing butter-yellow gowns, the groomsmen can wear yellow accessories.

Casual Weddings

 The exception to a tuxedo or suit is the casual wedding, such as one held at the beach or in a park. Ecolution’s Organic Hemp Palermo Sport Coat may fit the occasion. 

At ultra-casual weddings, grooms have been known to wear eco-friendly shorts, shirts and sandals.

Individual choices are meaningful, but if they fit into a sound overall dietary pattern, there’s plenty of wiggle room, according to the July issue of Harvard Men’s Health Watch.

A report from Harvard’s Health Professionals Follow-up Study examined the effect of dietary patterns—rather than individual foods—on men’s health. The results: Men who ate a lot of red meat, processed meat, refined grains and sweets were 64% more likely to develop heart disease than men with the most prudent diets.

The best diet features generous amounts of fruits, vegetables, legumes, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, olive oil and fish, Health Watch notes. A healthful diet is also low in saturated fat from meat and whole dairy products, trans fatty acids from fried foods and snack foods, salty foods, refined grains and concentrated sweets.

But this doesn’t mean you have to eat spinach every day or turn down both hamburger and bun.

What should you do?

Evaluate your current diet. Then set goals based on the pattern that will keep you healthy. Change slowly, but steadily.

By focusing on an overall pattern, you’ll be able to find healthful foods you like. And you’ll also be able to eat the less healthful foods that matter to you most—as long as your portion sizes are reasonable and your overall dietary pattern is sound.

The bottom line: When it comes to diet, men who pay attention to the big picture can occasionally eat “bad” foods they love.

Note: OrganicAuthority.com recommends eating certified organic food to maximize flavor and nutrition, while minimizing your risk of exposure to pesticides, chemicals and preservatives.