Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Hopefully things are starting to come together with the wedding planning. The date is set, the venue is selected, maybe the wedding dress has been chosen? Now it's time to start thinking about what the groom and the guys (or girls) in the wedding party should wear.
Here are 5 of the most important things you should consider before selecting your wedding suits or tuxedos:
1) Don't look like you're wearing a rental!
You want to look like the suit was tailored for you, not a borrowed rental, right?
It's usually pretty easy to spot a rental suit or rental tuxedo. First of all, there usually are not buttons on the sleeves of the jackets. Crazy, right? Yep, it's true. Rental stores like to assemble tuxedos as quickly as possible. Instead of using what's called a "vented 4-button sleeve" on the jackets, they settle for a "barrel, non-buttoned sleeve" to avoid having to move buttons up or down if a customer needs an alteration. Next time you attend a formal event, take notice at the jacket sleeves. If there are no buttons on the sleeves, it's most likely a used rental.
A second way to easily spot a rental is if you see those clunky adjustable buckles on the waist of the pants. The tuxedo rental industry tries to combine 3 sizes into one pair of pants to limit SKU's. For example, a 33 - 35 pants means that if you are a 33, 34, or 35 waist, you should all wear this one pair of pants. To make a single pair of pants fit such a wide spectrum of sizes, there is often a clunky buckle on each side of the waist. Granted, if you're wearing a jacket, you won't see this eye-sore. However, if you plan on removing the jacket sometime during the evening, you will reveal that you're wearing a rental. Avoid this novice move by investing in a brand new pair of pants that doesn't have the "rental buckles".
"Retail Grade Suits" (the brand new ones that you buy) will have the desired bells and whistles that you usually don't find in rental garments. For example, you will often have additional interior pockets and premium lining when you select a "retail grade suit"; rental grade suits will often settle for an inferior interior lining and also a limited number of interior pockets. If you're going to be James Bond for the evening, the extra pockets come in handy for your cell phone, cigars, mints, gadgets, etc.
Lastly, retail grade wedding suits are normally more comfortable than the rental grade counterpart. Rental grade suits have the challenging job of being worn 75+ times by other sweaty grooms before being discarded. That's a lot of dry-cleaning and wear-and-tear on a garment. To accommodate the high durability demand on a rental garment, preferred qualities such as softness and comfort are often sacrificed with a rental garment.
If you don't want to look like you're wearing a rental, there is a simple solution -- don't wear a used rental! ... :)
2) Don't panic a week before your wedding because you find out something's not right with your suit!
The last thing you want to worry about 1 - 2 weeks before your wedding is whether or not the groom's and groomsmen's wedding suits are going to fit (and look good) for the wedding.
When you rent a used suit (instead of purchasing a new suit), you are not in control of the timing situation. You cross your fingers and hope that your used rental suit looks good when it arrives a few days before your wedding. If it doesn't, the stress compounds quickly ...
There is an easy way to avoid this unwanted scenario -- Order your suits earlier (at least 4 - 6 weeks before the wedding if possible), receive them earlier, do any alterations (if necessary), and then hang those perfect-fitting suits in your closet at least 3 weeks before the wedding. <sigh of relief and feeling of accomplishment>
Attention Procrastinators: If you or your groomsmen waited until last second, BLACKTIE.com can still take care of you. Online orders are processed & shipped within 24 hours from our US distribution center.
3) Don't play Russian Roulette when it comes to the condition of your wedding suit!
Am I the 3rd person to wear this rented suit or am I the 93rd person to wear this used rental suit? How many grooms stood in front of their brides wearing this same exact garment?
Here's something to think about: When you see a jacket hanging on a mannequin in a rental store, do you think the store owner is going to showcase a brand new jacket on the mannequin or a used jacket on the mannequin? Obviously, the rental store owner is going to showcase a brand new jacket that shows no signs of wear and tear. When a customer rents that particular jacket style, what is the likelihood that they will be renting a brand new, unused jacket for the wedding? Well, it's very unlikely. There is no guarantee if you will be the 1st, 10th, 40th or 80th person to slide on that jacket. Wedding suits will show signs of wear-and-tear as they are passed down from one groom to another.
It really is Russian Roulette with your wedding look. Don't take the chance on renting a used rental! Invest in a brand new, unused wedding suit. The best part is now you have the option to purchase a new wedding suit at the same price (or lower) than renting.
4) Don't settle for just an ok fit!
When you own your suit, you have the ability to do your own preferred alterations. When you rent a suit, the rental company is usually only permitted to do a few very minor alterations to the garments.
When you own the suit, you can do any alterations that you'd like. Maybe you want to do a slight taper, maybe you want to let something out a little, maybe you want to add some minor detail like your name & wedding date embroidered on an interior label? It's your garment now; you can do whatever you want to it.
In summary, a perfect fit can be easily achieved when you OWN your suit; a perfect fit with a rental suit is highly unlikely.
TIP: At BLACKTIE, you have the ability to order your pants pre-hemmed. Although many customers don't require additional alterations, we still like to advise and encourage our customers that they have the option to bring their suits to their local tailors to do any minor tweaks to ensure a perfect fit based on their own styling tastes. For example, maybe you like your pants a little shorter than normal to show off those crazy socks? No matter what your preference, you now have this flexibility by owning your suit.
5) Don't break the bank when selecting your groom or groomsmen wedding suits!
Did you know you can buy a high-quality, brand new wedding suit at the same price (or lower) than renting a used wedding suit rental? Why would someone still want to rent a used suit if there's a better option?
Look amazing, eliminate stress, and feel confident while wearing your brand new wedding suit! Own the Suit ... Own the Room -- BLACKTIE.