Weddingbee Blog

Let’s not forget the groom. Many grooms simply rent a tuxedo, but I knew from the beginning of planning that our wedding wouldn’t be formal and I don’t love the look of a tux (I know, call me crazy). We decided together that Mr. Onion should have a suit that he’d get to wear again and again. After lots of research we decided to have a custom suit made for him and found Alan David Custom in NYC. Mr. Onion also got a beautiful off white custom french cuff shirt for the wedding and a back up shirt.

click images to enlarge 

Now I know what you’re thinking — “Mrs. Onion, that’s great and all but we can’t afford that.” He will have the suit for a very long time and Alan David Custom offers free tailoring for the life of the suit. Yes, it’s more expensive than renting a tuxedo, but it’s not significantly more expensive than buying a nice suit off the rack. I picked one of the more expensive fabrics, but their prices for custom suits range from $695-$1,495.

Isn’t the fabric rich and wonderful? Oh, and the boutonniere is white bouvardia (which was used in my bouquet) by our fantastic florist.

Note: Have your fiance bring TWO shirts with him the day of the wedding — you never know what might happen and you don’t want a little spilled red wine to ruin your night.

And the groomsmen — from left to right, his best friend, Mr. Onion, his brother and father. Another lesson learned with this one. When we first started planning I wanted the groomsmen to wear brown suits to complement the bridesmaids’ dresses. We hunted and hunted for a brown rental suit and could only find a tuxedo. So then we started looking for brown suits for them to buy, but they were all too expensive and all three of them were adamant that they would never wear a brown suit again.

OK — so here comes the compromise. We ended up renting black suits from Dante Zeller. The price was right and they looked pretty good for a rental. Then I found a stunning green tie at Bloomingdale’s that really popped against the black and went nicely with all the natural greens of the flowers. The tie was our gift to our groomsmen.

At the end of the day it worked out beautifully, but at the time I was really frustrated I couldn’t make it work. So, the moral of the story is, be flexible. Just because it wasn’t your original vision doesn’t mean it won’t work out. This goes for attire, the venue, the dress…. you name it.