WAY OT: Suits for wedding

Submitted by WolverineNick on
Hey everyone, I am getting married this fall and was wondering what the best option is for groomsmen suits, buying or renting? I remember at one point on the board someone had posted that a Michigan grad had a startup that specialized in suits to buy for wedding parties. Is anyone aware of this and what did you do. Thanks!

GoWings2008

June 4th, 2017 at 9:24 AM ^

Ultimately, I think it all comes down to budget. I have a friend that splurged on a custom made suit and his groomsmen did the same. That way they have clothing that will last longer than just one weekend.

pz

June 4th, 2017 at 9:33 AM ^

The startup is SnapSuits (www.snapsuits.com), and I've heard good things. It does seem pretty involved, but I'm sure the product is good.

ASOS is also a good option if you're looking for inexpensive and fashionable... honestly, the suit winds up costing about the same or just a bit more than a rental. I bought the suits for groomsmen as a gift and it was a great way to go.

misterzolo

June 4th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^

I'm in a wedding where we're using Snapsuits. I just ordered mine this week, so I'm not sure about the quality or the success of the process.



But if it costs between $100-$200 to rent a suit for a wedding, why not purchase one from some Michigan Grads for $250?

GOBLUE4EVR

June 4th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^

the rental option for your groomsmen simply because a lot of people don't have a few hundred just laying around to buy a suit with... men's warehouse is fantastic for tux rentals...

egrfree2rhyme

June 4th, 2017 at 7:11 PM ^

Yeah but renting a tux costs like $200 anyway.  I've been in 3 weddings and had to rent a $180 or $200 tuxedos each time, and a $200 tuxedo rental doesn't even look especially good.  I would have way rather bought a suit that I could keep for that price.  

M go Bru

June 5th, 2017 at 8:03 AM ^

Bought a black suit for $200 last year at a Sam Michaels Menwear and Presidents Tuxedo, in Farmington Hills on 12 mile. Bought a shirt and cumberbun set for under $30 from JCPennys online this year for prom and graduation.

He's already worn the suit on at least 5 semi-formal / formal occassions, 2 homecomings, 2 proms and graduation.

He has the suit now with free future alterations.

Being the groom you can probably get a free rental for yourself as part of the rental deal for the whole wedding party.

brad

June 4th, 2017 at 9:26 AM ^

Long term, asking them to buy the suit would be better. But if you do that, you should give them a say in the suit type, color, style, cost, so you may set yourself up for an impasse there.



Anecdotally, I bought the suit that I got married in and wear it every now and then. I'm glad I own it.

Night_King

June 4th, 2017 at 9:29 AM ^

It depends on if the groomsmen are willing to spend a little extra to purchase the suits. 

For my brothers wedding we chose to buy custom fit suits (not tuxedos) for $200 and I've worn it about 5 times already after the wedding. Can't go wrong with a custom fit black suit.

Renting would have been only about $40 less and obviously I've gotten my money's worth by wearing it a few times already. 

champ009kd

June 4th, 2017 at 9:37 AM ^

It's all based on budget. I wear suits for work, so I opted to have my groomsen buy something rather than rent. 

 

Lowest Cost: Combatent Gent. Just order WELL IN ADVANCE. Suits can take about a month, but I own other items from them that are great. 

 

Midcost: J.Crew Factory. If you catch a sale, you can get suits for $175-215, depending on what color and fabric you're looking at. Ships fast, and if you're in a populated area you can probably drive to one of their outlet mall locations. 

 

Higher cost: Suit Supply. Great suits, but not great for every body type. Not sure how you feel about tight pants or pants with no break. 

 

Macy's: You're basically just shopping off the rack and taking advantage of their sales and promo codes. 

 

Nordstrom: They have a great in house brand. They tailor on site as well. Could end up costing about $400 though. 

 

If you're desperate: Men's Wearhouse or Jos A Bank. Not sure how old you are or what your style is like, but I hate these places. Overpriced, poor quality shit. Huge range of sizes though. If anyone in your party needs a 50 jacket or larger they're probably the best place to accomodate you. 

codeBLUE11

June 4th, 2017 at 10:42 AM ^

Second this. I have a Combatant Gent suit and it is GREAT quality for the price. I have the slim fit suit, and it was a very modern, nice fit out of the box. Just had to get a bit of tailoring done and it fits like a custom suit at a fraction of the price. They can be kind of slow so do some research of others who used them for wedding parties and make sure you order them well in advance.

acnumber1

June 4th, 2017 at 12:20 PM ^

Curious:

Why did your wearing suits for work have a bearing on whether or not your groomsmen would buy or rent? Wouldn't their wearing suits for work be more of a factor? Or is that what you meant?

Lots of good details in your post.

champ009kd

June 4th, 2017 at 1:33 PM ^

Nope, I meant me. If we're forced (by my now wife) to wear the same thing, I'd rather pay $200 for something I could wear again, and again, and again. Renting a tux or suit made no sense for me. --In this instance, I couldn't care less about what my groomsmen want or do. This was literally the only thing I truly had decision making ability on for the wedding. And even then, her wedding colors dictated what I'd be wearing. 

 

CalifExile

June 4th, 2017 at 4:34 PM ^

They do offer some expensive suits. (I'm shocked to see the suits in the "Reserve Collection" list at over $1,000). Don't buy those. Buy a $350 suit when they offer "Buy 1, get 2 free" and you're getting a good price. They have a professional look and they last - long enough that you can wear them until they go out of style and then again when they come back in.

Craptain Crunch

June 4th, 2017 at 9:43 AM ^

Make it special by having them wear a Michigan jersey, khakis and Michigan hats. You wear a michigan uniform and your bride dressed as a cheerleader. 

It will be a wedding all will remember. 

coldnjl

June 4th, 2017 at 9:44 AM ^

Offer to cover part of the difference in the cost of a custom suit over that of a rental and have that be their wedding party gift...You don't need to spend more than 500$ on a good suite.

BeatOSU52

June 4th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^

If you happen to be in the Grand Rapids area, I'd buy from a place call Woodland Tailoring . It's as cheap as renting and the guy there knows what he's doing and quality is good too

jblaze

June 4th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^

Most of my friends already owned black suits, so I had them all wear that and a white shirt with a specific tie that I bought and gave to each of them to match the "wedding colors". It's easy for them and back then all suits looked the same (the skinny lapels weren't in style then).

Otherwise, I'd ask them to rent. Some people are very picky about their suit choices and may already have the "grey" suit you want them to buy.

MIMark

June 4th, 2017 at 9:50 AM ^

Our wedding colors were red and black. So normally the groomsmen and bridesmaids are on the hook to buy or rent attire. We decided for something different.
Every guy has a nice black suit, so they all wore their suits and I bought uniform red ties. And every girl has no shortage of black dresses, so the bridesmaids all wore black dresses and my wife provided some red accessories. Of course as it turned out, the ladies all went out and bought black dresses anyway ....
It was a way to lighten the load on our closest of friends. After all, they've already put up with us, isn't that a tall enough ask?

In reply to by Joseph_P_Freshwater

MIMark

June 4th, 2017 at 10:15 AM ^

Upvoted.

My wife is Chinese and red is a traditional wedding color. So the best color to go with red is black, IMO. So myself and the groomsmen had black suits, white dress shirts, and red power ties. Looked like a board room.