The Great Tux Debate…Part 2

As I mentioned in an earlier post, B has been trying to make up his mind regarding the issue of tuxedo vs. suit. Well, I’m proud to say that we have finalized that decision! B, and his Boys, will be sporting black dress suits for the occasion. And hopefully, I can find some matching ties in our colors to tie them all together, since we’re not requiring them to all wear the same black suit.

Now, before you all freak out about the leeway that we’ve giving to our guys, let me explain. They will all be wearing plain black suits, no stripes, tone-on-tone or otherwise, are allowed. We figure that the venting and the number of buttons doesn’t matter as much, as long as they are similar, especially since my Maids aren’t wearing matching dresses or anything. And to be honest, I think that having them all wear different suits matches the Maids perfectly!

So we went suit shopping this past weekend. B had expressed an interest in buying his suit versus renting a suit for the big day, and since I DID get a new dress out of the deal, it’s only fair to get him a new suit. Plus, he doesn’t have one that he likes anymore, so this is a good reason to get one. We hit all the major stores for suits, but found the best deals at Men’s Warehouse. And wouldn’t you know it? They are running a BOGO sale right now, so he’ll actually get TWO suits out of the deal! SCORE!

B picked out a snazzy black Calvin Klein suit for his wedding suit, and a nice, patterned suit for the other one. With the big sale, this brings the price per suit down to under $300, which isn’t bad if you ask me! So, in looking at the suit that he picked out, and talking to the salesman, we found out some disturbing news.

It came about because I asked about the double venting that B’s jacket sports. I wondered about how it would look if he wore double vents and the others had single vents...the salesman assured me that it would not be too noticeable once you had the black pants on (B was trying the jacket on with khacki shorts, so I guess the salesman had a point!) and he also pointed out that the number of buttons wouldn’t matter so much either, since in most cases you just button the top button.

But this led me to ask about the one groomsman that we know doesn’t have a black suit and what the options are to rent. You know me, I was thinking if I could see the rental jacket side-by-side with B’s jacket to compare. And this is where the bad news come in...

They don’t rent suits. Just tuxedos.

Yes, Mr. Salesman, I get that, but some tuxedos look more like regular suits these days, so I can just select one of those to use for the rentals.

Not really, Mr. Salesman informs me. And by this point, he’s catching on that I’m “slightly” argumentative and says “let me show you.”

Yep, he was right. All of their jackets have a satiny lapel. ALL of them; which just ruins my vision of the guys that don’t already own a black suit being able to just rent one...hmmm. Then, more bad news...we notice the price on the rentals. Now, I knew that tuxes weren’t cheap to rent, but $160 for the cool ones? $199 for the ones that I really liked?!?! Jeez. That’s a LOT of money...I guess that the tux rental business finally caught on that if bridesmaids will pay $200 for their dress, why shouldn’t groomsmen? Anyway.

So then Mr. Salesman reminds us about the sale going on right now, and he offers the suggestion to have the guys buy their suits instead. Going in together on the sale, they could potentially each pay half price...which we all like to hear. We decided to take some time and talk to the Boys and decide with their input which route we should go from here. We ask Mr. Salesman to hold the two suits that B liked for 48 hours while we make up our minds. No problem.

Imagine our surprise when we call all the Boys and the two that don’t already own a plain black suit are more than happy to go in together on the great sale and get a new suit out of the deal. Because, I mean, let’s face it. You can pay $180 (after taxes and such) for a rental, or pay $20 more and OWN the suit when it’s all said and done...not so tough a choice, in my mind. But I know that it’s hard to ask outrageous things of our bridal party, and B and I have worked really hard to avoid asking for too much. I’m glad that the Boys were so willing to join in. Both of them are to go to their local Men’s Warehouse and get measured and find a plain black suit and get us the details. Then we’ll go in and buy them all, and they can send us the money and we can send them the suits for alterations. That way we get the discount pricing that they wouldn’t get if purchased individually. There’s still one last groomsman to hear from, but B is pretty sure that he owns several suits, surely one of them will be black.

So, I feel MUCH better having this decision made. And I like the direction that it’s going...now, I just need to find some cool ties that will coordinate with our color scheme and those Boys will be set!

Did selecting your groom’s attire go this easily?

Is it just me, or is it just easier for guys to all agree than girls? Even though my Maids were GREAT about it, I know that sometimes it doesn’t work out so.