Weddingbee Blog

Not all suits are created equal.

This is something I have learned through planning our wedding. I used to think that all men’s suits were pretty much the same. I mean, a suit is just a jacket, shirt, tie, and pair of pants, right? How much variation can there really be?

The answer, as I quickly discovered, is: a lot.

First, there’s a plethora of colors to choose from. Suits aren’t simply limited to black; in fact, the time of day a wedding takes place can even dictate the most appropriate color (and style) a groom should wear. Here are just a few of the options today’s grooms have:

Traditional black suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Kellie Kano Photography / Suits by Hugo Boss

Light tan or khaki suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by SMS Photography / Suits by Men’s Wearhouse

Dark chocolate brown suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Jonathan Canlas Photography / Suits by Hardwick Clothes

Gray Suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Courtney Matevey of Green Apple Photography / Suits by Jim’s Formal Wear and Mr. Tuxedo and Bridal

Light brown suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Courtney Dellafiora / Suits by After Six, Norman’s Tuxedos

White Suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Jeniva Photography

While many brides restrict their wedding-dress color palette to various shades of white (though apparently most brides today choose ivory to prevent their dresses from looking too stark white in pictures), grooms clearly have a lot of choices when it comes to the color of their attire.

In addition to all the colors available to grooms, there’s also a variety of styles. Since I’m still very much a suit novice, my descriptions of these styles are simplistic at best. Please excuse any lack of appropriate terminology.

Basic Suit (i.e., pants, coat, shirt, and tie)

Image via The Knot / Photography by Carli and Joe Felix of ShutterLove Studio

Formal Tuxedo Suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Captivated Images / Suits by First Class Tuxedo

Morning Suit

Image via The Knot / Photography by Heather Fowler Photography

Some of the more formal styles are certainly a lot of fun, and Mr. Parasol fondly remembers wearing a dapper morning suit when he was best man in his father’s wedding at the ripe old age of fourteen. But since we’re aiming for a more casual wedding, he decided he wanted something a little less formal, something he could feel comfortable celebrating in for several hours. Though morning suits with top hats can be pretty fun!

Mr. Parasol and I ended up discussing his suit options for a very long time, probably more than we discussed my dress. He’s actually very picky about his suits and, for some reason, once I started researching suits, I had more opinions than I had expected. We went back and forth so much that part of me wanted to throw him in something really crazy, a la Paul Rudd in I Love You, Man.

Image via Rotten Tomatoes / Film by Dreamworks/Paramount

I mean, who doesn’t love this suit? Paul Rudd looks like a really awesome rock star! It’s so crazy that it just works. And he looks so sharp.

After much researching, thinking, and discussing, the first thing Mr. Parasol and I decided was that we wanted him in a gray suit. He decided that black was just a little too stark and formal for him, white and tan too informal (and a little girly—his words!), and brown too old-fashioned and a little boring. For him, gray was perfect.

But finding the right shade of gray has been a serious challenge. A lot gray suits are too light for him, like these:

Image via The Knot / Photography by Kimberly Teichrow Photography

Considering that we’re having the wedding on an evening in the middle of September, this color is just too light, and these suits definitely look more summery than what we want. We quickly decided on charcoal gray, something closer to this:

Image via The Knot / Photography by Heather Cook Elliot Photography / Suits by Banana Republic

This color is perfect for Mr. Parasol! And it’s much more appropriate for our wedding.

Now that we had pinned down a color, it was time to start thinking about style.

For a while, I was really anti-jacket. Mr. Parasol loves vests and looks amazing in them, and I thought it would be fun if he just wore a really nice vest. Plus, if we got him an awesome vest, why would he even want to cover it up with a jacket? I think guys look really smashing in vests, and I was totally inspired by pictures like these:

Image via Ruffled / Photography by Ryan Price Photography

Image via Ruffled / Photography by Geneoh Photography

Image via Ruffled / Photography by Lizelle Lotter Photography

But Mr. Parasol remained adamant: he wanted a jacket. A vest and a jacket, but a jacket nonetheless. As much as it was difficult to let this “vision” go, ultimately it’s his decision and I want him to be totally happy in what he’s wearing on our wedding day. Plus, he said he wants to take off his jacket for the reception so that he’s more comfortable, so I’ll still get see plenty of him in his vest.

In any event, I went on a hunt to find the perfect three-piece suit for Mr. Parasol. It didn’t take long for me to find exactly what we were looking for, and in the most obvious of places, no less: Weddingbee! Here’s the most amazing suit from MissDareDevil’s April wedding:

Photo by Clane Gessel Photography

Photo by Clane Gessel Photography

The minute I saw this suit, I knew it was perfect. It’s charcoal gray, has an amazing vest, and I love the pinstripes. It has everything that Mr. Parasol and I are looking for. A little more digging revealed that this stunning suit is by Tommy Hilfiger and can be purchased from Macy’s for more than 50% off the original price. It seemed almost too good to be true, so I quickly emailed Mr. Parasol some pictures to see what he thought. I tried to contain my adoration for this suit since I wanted it to be his decision, but within minutes he responded by saying that he absolutely loved the suit and wanted to get it. Needless to say, I was thrilled!

Now that we’ve chosen his suit, I cannot even imagine Mr. Parasol wearing anything else. Though I still love the vest-only look, and I’m glad that Mr. Parasol still plans on taking off his jacket for most of the reception, I know that he is going to look so unbelievably handsome on our wedding day, jacket and all, and I cannot wait to see him.

What type of suit will your fiancé be wearing for your wedding? How did you research and decide on his suit?