Tips For Choosing Wedding Day Suits for You and Your Groomsmen

I’m not going to lie, the focus of a wedding always seems to be on the dress.  There are several shows on TLC that involve entire families sitting in a store, waiting for her to try on the dress while the mother has a fight with the sisters and then everyone finally makes up when she comes out in the perfect couture gown. They gasp, they cry.  It’s the one.  They pull out their credit card, and everyone goes home happy.  

SCENE.

This is not what groom shopping looks like.  Sometimes it’s a few weeks of googling pictures of men, mysteriously looking off into the distance, posing in a suit without socks, like this guy:

And then trying to figure out if your fiancée doesn’t want you to wear socks? And possibly lose 20 pounds and wear makeup? It’s all pretty confusing.

There are a few step-by-step guides out there, that have a more detailed approach.  One of the best guides I’ve found is this one from The Knot, which provides everything from fabric to cut.  However, let’s find a place to start! Take a breath. A lot of this is logical, and you’ve been dressing yourself for years at this point. Hopefully. 

Let’s discuss the main THREE things to start with when you’re thinking about dressing yourself and the men in your party.

Thing One:  How formal is your wedding?

Ok, so although this might be a no-brainer for those who frequently wear suits, I will tell you a story.  When I got married, my wife and I planned a wedding in July, in the summer, at 11am. Every wedding I’d ever been to had a groom (and groomsmen) in a tux, so I fought for my tux!  It was my time for that bow tie! Well--she won, and I ended up in a suit. 

Now that I look at those pictures I realize I would have looked weird at 11:00am in a tux, so I’m grateful she won that fight. Please don’t tell her that, though.

If you don’t trust me, ask Martha Stewart.  Tuxes are for evening, and for more formal weddings.  So rule number one, if your wedding is in the morning, outside and casual, go for the suit. If you’re not sure what the difference is between a suit and a tux is, read the article.

Now, there are all sorts of suits, so you can choose something that fits your body type specifically. You may be thinking that it’s all about her dress, but you want to look as good as you can. We’ve all seen these two fits, right?

This image is taken from a great article, by the art of manliness. This article goes through each and every thing to think about with fit.  How do you know if a sleeve is too long? How do you know if the shoulders are just right?  You may think you know, but it’s great to look in pictures and see if you can figure out whether your suit might need to be altered.

This site, as well as many others, suggests that buying a suit and having it altered is far superior to renting a suit.  So that leads you to thing two.

Thing Two:  Who Are Your Groomsmen?

Something that I think gets forgotten while dressing the men in your wedding party is, “who is standing up there with you?”  I mean, you know what you look good in, but it’s a great idea to make sure that you’re working with a suit that will look good on your party.  

As long as your fabrics and colors match, you can be a little flexible in terms of the cut of the suit, and the jacket. In fact, I’m not against the whole “mismatched” groomsmen look, so I recommend checking that out as well, but make sure you stay within the rules.

If your groomsmen are your best friends, certainly have them help you look and get their input--see what their thoughts are on the suits, and if possible, do a little bit of a guys’ weekend where you shop together, and pick something everybody likes.  After all, unlike a bridesmaid’s dress, a groomsman may wear this a few times.  

You may want to bundle in the whole “suit-shopping” thing with a chance to thank each groomsman for helping with the wedding.  I bought each of my groomsmen a jersey from our favorite team. But of course, you can search around and find personalized gifts, in person or at a good site for groomsmen. Having something handy to thank them avoids that last minute “oh crap” dash for something before the big day (trust me, there will be enough of that already).

Thing Three: What is Your Budget?

Budget, budget, budget! If you’re planning a wedding, this word basically flies over your head every time you close your eyes.  But of course it’s true, make sure that your budget is determined before you start your suit journey.  

Buying a suit (one you like well enough already) and then having it altered is a great way to save some money. If money is no object, of course, you can have a suit built for you, but off-the-rack is always a saving, and that gives you the possibility of buying suits for all your groomsmen as well, and then leaving their own alterations to them.

In a perfect world with none of that budget stuff, you could probably just buy suits for all of them, pay for the alterations, and look like the cast of entourage walking slo-mo down the aisle. 

Steve Granitz/WireImage via Getty Images

I bet they’re all wearing socks. 

But chances are, you have some sort of budget and so do they. This leads me back to buying some off-the-rack stuff, preferably with or for your groomsmen, and asking them to pay for some alterations, so they will look their best.  They can do that at home (in case they’re traveling to you, which face it, they often are). Here’s Esquire’s take on finding a good suit that won’t kill your budget.