Weddingbee Blog

In addition to the three bombshells that glam up my side of the wedding party, Mr. Tartlet will have four handsome gents standing beside him as we say our I dos. All of our guys are incredibly laid-back, which led us to be inspired by this less formal, retro-chic look that seemed to compliment their personalities better than matching tuxes or suits would:

Image via Green Wedding Shoes / Photo by Jeff Wallace

It was a trying learning experience tackling the world of menswear because Mr. Tartlet can be very particular about his threads. After months of fruitless shopping, we went the made-to-measure route and purchased his slim-fit, three-piece, charcoal gray suit from a company called Indochino (the same one that the Cinnamon Buns used):

The lavender shirt in these pictures isn’t the one he’ll be wearing for the wedding, but he snagged a Groupon deal for a free custom-tailored shirt with the purchase of any suit and went for it in all its French-cuffed glory. Indochino offers a number of customizable options, such as the ability to specify the color lining for the suit jacket and vest (Mr. Tartlet chose an olive green in the name of post-wedding versatility). He also added a monogram to the inside of the suit jacket:

Purchasing the groomsmen’s clothes was easier once we found the right vest and suit pant set from Express. It’s not as apparent in the photo below, but up close the fabric has a linen-like pattern that adds dimension to the gray color, thereby satisfying Mr. Tartlet’s scruples about style:

Image via Express

Both pieces are fairly light weight, befitting our early Spring wedding. With the help of friends and family, I hoarded enough coupons to maximize savings not only on the vest and suit pants, but also dress shirts, ties, and socks. We’re gifting these outfits to our groomsmen, and are keeping our fingers crossed that their sizes haven’t changed all that much over the last couple of months.

Peter’s Best Man and brother, Alex, giving his best “Stephen Colbert/ USA Olympics game face.” Incidentally, he just ran the Boston Marathon and finished 160th overall in a field of almost 24,000 runners. Awesome? Yes.

Mr. Tartlet with GM Michael (who also happens to be BM Laura’s hubby)

My big brother, henceforth known as GM “bunnie” (the remaining GM is Mr. Tartlet’s other brother who shares the same name as my brother…it gets confusing)

Another challenge came in the form of finding something for Mama Tartlet to wear. The following were her criterion for a dress:

• No satin or taffeta fabrics are allowed
• No sequins
• No ruffles
• Sparkles in extreme moderation
• Straps are a must, and ideally the dress should have a cover-up

Mama Tartlet is very fashionable, but has an understated, “simple is best” style that can make shopping for formal wear a challenge. Originally she wanted to wear a lovely two-piece skirt/blouse set that I thought looked fantastic. But, other family members were mortified that she would even consider wearing a skirt (Papa Tartlet was especially agonized over her original decision). At any rate, my poor Mom got a bad case of the doubts, and thus the hunt for the elusive evening gown began. One afternoon as we tottered around the racks at Lord and Taylor, Papa Tartlet came striding up after 30 minutes of indecision with this slinky number in purple:

Image via Style Hive / Dress by JS Boutique (no longer available)

I unceremoniously shoved my protesting Mom into a fitting room, and after a few minutes of rustling and intermittent grumbling, she shuffled out with a dark look on her face and the following conversation ensued:

Mama Tartlet: *muttering* “It’s too revealing.”

Me: “Holy SH*T, you look good!!!”

Mama Tartlet: *glaring because of my potty mouth* “It wraps around my butt too much.” (she proceeded to poke at her bum to emphasize her point)

Papa Tartlet: (said with a HUGE grin on his face) “GREAT! Let’s get it!”

The dress was on clearance, which was the only way we could convince her to purchase it as a “Plan B” in the event that we never found another evening gown. The dress never did grow on her, and to make matters worse she went on a shopping strike in protest of the lack of options at “real” stores (Mama Tartlet hasn’t quite jumped on the online shopping bandwagon). I started browsing discount websites like Ideeli, Rue La La, and Gilt and came across this goddess-esque number:

Image via Ideeli / Dress by Tadashi Shoji (no longer available)

On an impulse, I bought it and guesstimated her size. The next time she came to visit, I pulled it out for her to try, and it fit her like a glove. It was simple, elegant, and had just a touch of va-va-voom with the asymmetrical neckline. Mama Tartlet is very internet shy, so I unfortunately have no pictures to share of her in the dress, but trust me–she looks incredible. In classic SYTTD fashion, she acquiesced that this was indeed her dress. Score!

How did shopping for the rest of your wedding party go? Did everything fall into place easily, or did you face some challenges along the way?