A groom asked me last month, halfway through a fitting, if he was actually allowed to move in his outfit. He was standing in front of the mirror in a bandhgala so densely worked in zardozi that lifting his arm past shoulder height took visible effort. I love that question, because it means he has finally started thinking about his own wardrobe as more than a formality wedged between the bride's five outfit changes. It also points to a gap I see at almost every wedding I style. So much thought goes into the bride's Sangeet look, and the groom's often ends up as a quieter copy of his wedding day sherwani: same silhouette, slightly less embellishment. That is the wrong brief entirely. The Sangeet is a party, not a ceremony, and he should be dressed like he is going to one.
The Sangeet Deserves Its Own Brief
The Phere and the Sangeet ask completely different things of a man's clothes. On the wedding day he is standing, walking slowly, being photographed in stillness, so a heavier hand of embroidery and a more sculpted silhouette actually work in his favour. At the Sangeet, he is dancing in his sister's choreographed number, laughing through a lip sync battle, hugging two hundred relatives under stage lighting that runs hot by nine in the evening. I ask every groom the same question before we even open a lookbook: what are you actually going to be doing in this outfit? The answer changes everything about what I put him in.
The Aesthetic: Indo-Western Takes the Floor
Indo-western has become the clear favourite for grooms this season, and I understand why the moment I see it on a client. Think a structured jacket with a mandarin collar or an asymmetric button line, sometimes finished with a single ornate brooch at the lapel instead of a full chest of embroidery. The silhouettes I am drawn to for 2026, the kind you now see across groom couture lines like Sabyasachi and Manish Malhotra, lean toward cape-style jackets and asymmetric, draped kurtas rather than the stiff, symmetrical bandhgala we default to for the wedding day itself. My favourite trick, and one I use with almost every groom now, is the three-piece set: a jacket, a kurta, and a churidar or trouser, built so the jacket can come off entirely once the dancing starts. He gets his photo moment at the entrance in the full layered look, and two hours later he is just as sharp in the kurta alone, minus the weight.
The Stylist's Touch: Colour Without Competing
I never let a groom choose his Sangeet colour before we have locked the bride's. Not so the two of them match (matching is the one thing I actively steer couples away from), but so his colour can sit one register beside hers and read as a couple in every photograph without ever looking coordinated in a costume sense. This season I am leaning on ivory and off-white finished with pastel threadwork or a soft metallic mirror detail for daytime and destination Sangeets, and deep wine or oxblood for evening ones, both photograph beautifully once the stage lights come up. Midnight blue with fine silver threadwork is still one of my most requested colours for a reason, it reads as rich without ever looking heavy. And if a groom wants green, I steer him away from the bottle green and emerald of a few seasons ago toward sage, olive and moss: quieter, more current, and far easier to build jewellery and a safa around.
Built for Movement: Fabric, Fit and Footwear
This is the one outfit in a groom's wardrobe where I actively argue for less embroidery, not more. I concentrate the handwork on the collar, the cuffs and a single front panel, and leave the rest of the canvas in a silk blend or a mulmul that moves with him instead of announcing itself. I also ask the tailor for a roomier shoulder and armhole on this piece specifically, because it is the one look where his arms need to go all the way up without a seam fighting him. Footwear tells the same story. The heavily worked mojaris are for the wedding day, when he is mostly standing still and being photographed from the ankle up. For the Sangeet, I put grooms in a slimmer jutti or, increasingly, a sneaker built with the same fabric or embroidery language as the outfit: comfortable enough for three hours on his feet and still unmistakably intentional. The other detail I am seeing more of in my own fittings, and quietly love, is personalization: initials worked into a cuff, a motif borrowed from a grandfather's own sherwani, a colour that means something only to the couple. It does more for an outfit than another inch of embellishment ever could.
A few things I tell every groom before his Sangeet fitting:
Lock the bride's Sangeet colour first, then choose his to sit one shade beside it, not match it.
Build a three-piece set with a jacket that comes off, so he has a photo look and a dance look in one outfit.
Keep embroidery to the collar, cuffs and front panel instead of the full canvas, so the piece keeps its movement.
Ask specifically for a roomier shoulder and armhole on this outfit. It is the one look where his arms need to move freely.
Save the heaviest mojaris for the wedding day, and choose a slimmer jutti or embroidered sneaker for the dance floor.
Add one personal detail, initials, a family motif, a meaningful colour, rather than piling on more embellishment.
The SGK Philosophy: Dress Him Like a Second Lead, Never a Backdrop
Here is what I tell every groom on our first call. You are not a supporting character standing beside your own wardrobe reveal. You are the second lead of this entire week, and by the time the Sangeet arrives, you have earned the right to actually enjoy it: sing along badly to your cousin's performance, dance without your jacket fighting you, and still look like you belong in every single photograph. That is the whole job of a stylist in my chair, not to dress a man to match his bride stitch for stitch, but to give him his own creative direction and the freedom to move in it. If you are planning a Sangeet and want a wardrobe built for the night you are actually going to have, I would love to hear from you.
With love and style,
Shreya Gupta Kedia
Founder, SGK Styles
