Many months ago, Mr. Cupcake and I decided that we wanted the groomsmen and dads (and, of course, the groom!) to wear suits in the wedding instead of tuxes. I’ve always had mixed feelings about tuxes, and Mr. Cupcake has never been thrilled with them, either. We both love the look of a sharp, tailored suit.
Photo by the Wiebners
When Mr. Cupcake went to try some tuxes on a few months ago at Men’s Wearhouse, neither of us were really impressed and all of the jackets seemed ill-fitting on his not-so-tall and slender frame. We asked about renting suits, but the MW employees scratched their heads and said that they didn’t know of ANYWHERE that rented men’s suits. We heard this from other people as well, so we thought it must be true.
We were discouraged, because we didn’t want to ask the men in the wedding party to buy suits that could cost well over $250, but Mr. Cupcake also didn’t feel great when he had a tux on, and it showed. He should feel just as happy and confident in what he’s wearing on the wedding day as I will. We considered having all the guys rent tuxes and buying one for Mr. Cupcake so it could be tailored to fit him, and eventually figured that was the most reasonable plan.
Since we weren’t thrilled with the service at the MW we visited, we took a shot at a local tux shop — Iacobbucci Tuxedo Rentals in Morton, PA. A staple of Delaware County, it is not at all glamorous but I am pretty sure this is where all of the prom-dates-of-Cupcake’s-past got their tuxes, and my dad still rents tuxes from here when he needs them, so I figured we should check it out. While we were there we just happened to ask about renting suits…. and guess what? They do! We cracked the menswear myth!
Not only do they have a simple black suit that they rent, but it is only $65! We were shocked, and very excited. For the suit and another $25 for shoes, it will cost each of our groomsmen only $90 to rent their attire. We checked out a sample jacket, and it was indeed a simple black suit, but not bad at all.
I also happened to call another local tux rental shop yesterday — B. Gross Menswear in Media, PA (don’t mind the hideous website) — and they also rent a black suit. Their price is a bit higher at $99, plus another $20 for shoes, but we are going to go check it out this weekend to see if the suit is any nicer and perhaps worth the higher price.
Mr. Cupcake will now buy himself a spiffy, dapper black suit that will be tailored to fit him, so he will coordinate with the groomsmen but stand out a bit (as he should!), and, most importantly, feel handsome and spectacular on our wedding day. The guys will also wear white suspenders and the ties we bought them, along with a teal pocket square and bouttoniere.
Are your guys wearing suits or tuxes? Has anyone else had any luck with renting suits?
I think it is so silly that most places do not rent suits…
I have found a couple places in Pittsburgh that do. We are having the GMs wear any gray suit and only one does not already own one, which is good.
b gross is media is a wonderful store!!! a bit pricey, but you definately get what you pay for… make sure to ask for Bruce (he is the original owner’s son, and im pretty sure he owns it now too)… they also make custom suits with is what we are doing for mr R. More pricey, but he will wear it over and over again and it is fit perfectly to his body… they also have a new womans sectiond — wayy too much $$$ though!!!
We decided to use MW tuxes for the convenience of it - its centrally located and my dad in PA can be measured there and pick up his tux here in RI/MA. We’re using the Calvin Klein black tux, a simple classic black suit. They said without getting the tie/vest combo and just a white shirt and shoes, we’d get $20 off plus $20 off because I bought my dress at David’s Bridal - it all made sense. We just have to pick out ties - I hate the tux look, too!
We wanted suits too! And then I fell in love with the brown tux idea and thought it would have to be a tux then (in order to get the brown). Not so! Imagine my surprise when I walked into Tuxedo Den in Sacramento, CA (they’re only located in CA and NV, i think) and they had a chocolate brown SUIT on display! It even comes with brown shoes and socks, etc. all for approx. $115 to rent. I think the menswear-wedding-world is finally coming around 
We are havign our men wear navy suits. We can get some nice ones for the cost of renting a tux and they can reuse them. We will probably also offer them the option of wearing a navy suit they currently own, subject to approval on color and style (no 1970’s suits). We will be gifting them ties and shirts and they all have a nice pair for thier own black shoes.
We also had the same feeling — we wanted suits (my dress was t-length and so everything needed to be slightly less formal) and I just don’t like tuxes either!
Might I suggest you look into a custom suit for Mr. Cupcake. A good tailor can make something to fit him perfectly instead of having something in a general size tailored to fit him better. It’s only a bit more expensive than buying a nice suit and having it altered and depends largely on the fabric you choose.
Mr. Onion and his best friend really enjoyed the entire process (1/2 the suit was his wedding gift from his best friend/GM). See my post with details if you like - http://www.weddingbee.com/2007/07/17/custom-suit/
Because so many of the groomsmen are scattered up and down the East Coast, we’re doing understated tuxes from MW with navy vests and long ties. A nice surprise was being able to gift my dad with the free rental (given that he’s paying for most of this, we thought he would appreciate it most) as we’re going to get a suit for the boy–he desperately needs one that’s tailored to him (all of his current suits are consignment store specials from a great thrift store in Wynnewood, and while they are in great shape, none of them were quite right for the ceremony). An added bonus is that he will likely finish grad school within the next year or so (knock on wood!) and will need a new suit to go to interviews, so it works out well. Besides, my dress is very understated, so we’ll look more cohesive if he’s in a suit rather than a tux, and he’ll be wearing a navy and white striped tie and a pretty white linen pocket square from J.Crew that I inisited upon after seeing Robert Downey Jr. rock one in Iron Man.
Absolutely - suits! FI is quite tall (6′6″) and although he is pretty slender, he has broad shoulders. Most off-the-rack stuff fits him like it came from the Goodwill. He has a fantastic new Hugo Boss suit from Nordstrom, tailored to fit per-fect-ly, and he looks soooo good. As the other guys are all architects and investment bankers, they already had sharp grey suits (and FI always felt a little left out). Now he has two - although he doesn’t know yet - by the time we picked up the tailored suit, the other style and color that he loved had been marked down, so I bought it for him as a wedding present.
Yep, suits! My fiance is wearing a purchased sand-colored suit to go with our southwest wedding theme and colors. We are keeping things casual, so some men in our party are wearing their own tan suits, but at least one is renting a tan suit from a local tux shop. It was no problem finding one, but maybe we just got lucky!
We’re doing gray suits. I have called every place in town I can think of and no one rents suits around here tho. 
They are a little more expensive and we feel guilty about having our grooomsmen pay the extra so we’re just gonna chip in and pay for half of their suits. I have to work extra overtime for it, but having a suit was the one thing Eric wanted so badly there’s no way we could go without. Plus like you said.. us girls get to have our dream dress that makes us feel beautiful, why shouldnt the guys be able to have something they feel amazing in too!
I wanted to do suits, too, for practicality’s sake. I mean, pretty much every guy is going to need a nice suit at some point, so I thought it would be nice to have everyone buy a nice black suit of their choosing. But this is apparently heresy to my fiance - he wants a tuxedo and everyone else is wearing one too! Heck, my fiance wants to go all out with tails and a top hat for him. And I figure what the heck, it’s his wedding too. If tails and a top hat make him happy, then I’m happy (but if he gets the spinning bow tie that he wants, so help me god, there might not be much of a wedding night! 
)
We decided to do suits as well. A good place for designer suits is ebay, we got a suit for 400 dollars with a 1985 dollar price tag on it. It’s a super suit!
Miss Cupcake, I love the ties you bought for your groomsmen and haven’t been able to find them. My wedding colors also include teal, but I don’t want to have the groomsmen look to matchy. If possible, would you please give the SKU number for the ties?
We want to rent suits too! Anyone know of a place in Ohio? Close to Columbus? Thanks!!
Hey there! Great find! Any tips on finding suspenders? I’ve looked around but they’re kind of expensive?!?
@Miss Coconut: Mr. Cupcake just corrected me, we’re actually getting them black suspenders, not white The first tux place, Iacobucci’s, said that suspenders would come with the suit rental, but I’m not sure if this is the case everywhere. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
@Mrs. Onion: That is a great idea! I brought it up to Mr. Cupcake….. however, he’s getting his suit at the same place where his late Grandfather used to get his suits, and he is very sentimental like that, so he is going to stick with that plan…. I guess we’ll just make sure they do some extra good tailoring
I love the suspender idea!! I wish I could have convinced the boys to take that route!
Does anyone have pictures of their groom & groom’s party in khaki’s and navy blazer? I’m still trying to decide if this is the wya I want to go (it’s going to be a summer, July, wedding)
Mrs. Cupcake, Philadelphia
Age and Occupation: 27, Graphic Designer
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 29, Construction Project Manager
Engagement Date: February 10, 2007
Wedding Date: September, 2008
Blogging Since: December 7, 2007
Venue: The Desmond Hotel in Malvern, PA
About Me: Mr. Cupcake and I hit it off at a Halloween party and immediately began a long-distance relationship. After two years, he moved to my neck of the woods, and a year and a half after that, he proposed at the “place we fell in love.” I am a true perfectionist who enjoys designing and creating more work for myself, so wedding planning is my perfect outlet. Mr. Cupcake and I are both old souls, and we hope to weave that aspect of our personalities into our wedding day.
Congrats, Miss Cupcake–what a find!
We are not doing suits (well, except for the groom, who will be buying one since he can wear it again), but the groomsmen will be wearing navy blazers & khakis. We had originally thought about trying to coordinate color, button styles, etc. by renting the blazers, but I have looked high and low and cannot find anyone who rents them. I couldn’t even find a menswear store that rented suits.
We eventually decided that despite the many variations of the standard navy sportcoat, most of our guys already owned one and we didn’t want our guys to have to buy something else that they didn’t necessarily like or need. So we told them to wear their own and I’m just going to let it go. As for khakis however, we chose a brand, style, and color, and asked them to all order the same thing to cut down on the potential for variation.