Wedding Blog

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We recently had a bit of a wedding dilemma. As he wrote earlier, Mr. Cherry Pie isn’t terribly fond of renting tuxedos. As a result, Mr. CP opted to have a custom suit made for the wedding. It’s a much bigger investment than renting, but he’ll get more satisfaction and much better mileage out of it.

With Mr. Cherry Pie in a suit, we certainly couldn’t have our groomsmen in tuxes. Aside from upsetting the balance, tuxes would just look out of place in rural Montana. Suits aren’t quite the status quo either, but at least they’re one step closer (and as close as Mr. CP wanted to get to casual).

The problem with suits is that they’re nearly impossible to rent. I know some establishments DO rent suits, but they don’t seem to be reputable national chains. Unfortunately for us, our groomsmen are spread across the country (Seattle, California, Oregon, & New York) and none of the rental places we found had the locations or availability that we needed.

Second, with rentals there’s the issue of pickup and return time. If we were responsible for picking up five suits (if there were no locations for groomsmen pickup), we’d have to get them over a week before the wedding because we are driving to Montana on August 30th for a little R&R. Then, we’re not returning until late September 8th and we fly out to Zihuatanejo the next day!

So Mr. Cherry Pie decided to talk to his guys about buying suits. He was a little hesitant, because he didn’t want to ask them to spend a lot of money on a NICE suit but he felt bad about asking them to buy a cheap suit. We talked a little bit about how much the bridesmaids had spent and what would be a reasonable request, and settled on requesting that the groomsmen purchase Pronto Uomo suits from Men’s Wearhouse.

Men’s Wearhouse offers a number of suit styles and colors at reasonable prices. We found several in the “2 for $500″ category that we thought worked well for our male attendants. We still felt bashful asking the groomsmen to spend $250 on a suit that they might not wear again, but they graciously agreed. Thanks, guys! [FYI: All things considered, this is still probably less than most bridesmaids spend on dresses/shoes/accessories/hair/nails/etc.]

Once we figured out what to do about suits, we talked color. Before Mr. Cherry Pie’s suit was in the works, I tried to get him to go the way of the beige suit that seems to be so popular in today’s destination weddings. For him, that was a big no. His suit is a charcoal grey with a subtle pinstriping, so we decided on a complementary grey Pronto Uomo suit for the groomsmen. I figure that if the day is hot, they can always take off their suit jackets for the ceremony to tone down the formality a bit, and use them as props in photos and when the evening gets cooler.

If you’re in the same boat as us, and having a summer wedding, you may want to consider asking your groomsmen to purchase matching slacks and similar white button-down shirts but forgo the suit coat. You’ll save money but end up with a stylish and coordinated look. In my opinion, unless you’re having a formal (or spring/winter/autumn) wedding, you just don’t need suit coats to have a dapper entourage.

Our groomsmen will be wearing burgundy satin ties (also from MW) to match our burgundy bridesmaids’ dresses. Mr. CP is considering a white tie for his suit & vest ensemble.

Has anyone else had the same suit dilemma? Did you end up renting, buying, or finding some other creative solution?