When and How: The Ultimate Guide to Planning Your Wedding Suiting

Congratulations on your upcoming wedding! Among the many decisions involved in making your day personal and everything you’ve imagined, selecting your style is a one of the biggest and most important choices. While suiting tends to be one of the last items on the wedding checklist, that doesn’t mean it’s any less important than flower arrangements and cake flavors. What you choose to wear will be in every photo and memory, and the suits will be one of the first wedding elements your guests will see, helping to set the feel and aesthetic of your wedding day. To help, we’ve gathered a few of our top tips and considerations for buying your wedding suit. 

Who needs to get suited up

When it comes to suiting your party people, think about who will be seen on your wedding day and how you will coordinate. The marrier, groom, groomsmen, groomspeople and any other wedding party members who prefer suits, parents, officiants, and ceremony readers are all in need of a suit–but that doesn’t mean everyone needs to be wearing the same color or style. If you’re looking to coordinate suiting across multiple genders, search for a company that offers suiting for any body. Regardless, you'll want to ensure your suiting is available in a wide range of sizes to look perfect on everyone in your party, and that comes in styles and colors that align with your preferences.

Q: Will you wear something different from the rest of the crew? 

We always recommend that the person getting married do something to stand out from the rest of the group. Whether it’s a bold choice like a custom suit in a unique pattern or color or simply a different color tie from the rest of the group, this change makes the marrier stand out at the altar and especially after the ceremony. 

In our experience, parents like to dress in something different from the groomsmen, often gravitating towards darker colors. If your wedding party will be wearing a bold blue suit, dress the family in navy. If light gray is the color for the groomsmen, charcoal is a nice dark alternative for members who will be in family photos. 

What to wear for your theme and the season 

Color and style is the top consideration when thinking about how to choose a suit for your wedding. It can be really helpful to scroll through instagram and Pinterest to gather inspiration and figure out what colors you and your fiance both agree on and gravitate towards. From there, order swatches from a few suit and dress companies to compare side by side. 

Q: What is your venue like and how formal will your event be? 

If you’re hosting a black tie wedding, your suiting attire decisions will be easy. Black tie weddings require tuxedos, but there are still a few decisions to be made: notch, peak, or shawl lapels, covered placket or studded shirts, hand-tied or pre-tied bow ties, shiny or matte shoes. For a unique twist, as the groom a velvet jacket or white jacket can be luxurious and allow you to stand out while still keeping in line with the dress code. However, we recommend the rest of the party stick with a classic tuxedo. Gifting your party people cufflinks, socks, or pocket squares are our top recommendations for black tie wedding gifts. 

Don’t think, however, that tuxedos are only for black tie weddings. Tuxedos can be worn for any formal event and it is perfectly fine for the wedding party to be dressed more formally than the wedding guests. But, when you’re choosing between a suit or a tuxedo for your wedding, your venue may be the key to this decision. Hotel ballroom, renovated bank, swanky speakeasy–these venues all scream for tuxedos to be worn. Industrial loft, garden, barn–you will likely sport a suit at these locations. 

Q: What will the weather be like on your wedding day?

While we can’t always plan for the perfect 75 degree partly cloudy day for our wedding, as much as we’d like to, knowing the season and temperature range for the location you’re getting married in is key. 

Spring, summer, and destinations with heat waves during the winter months beg for light fabrics and light colors. Tan, light gray, and dusty blue are always top picks and the great news is they’re also timeless colors. When it comes to fabrics, we’d stay away from wool for the warm weather as it is the least breathable option. Most breathable? Linen, however, can be tricky, as it's often true that “linen loses its shape the moment you look at it.” If you don’t mind a beach wave pattern on your pants as you dance the night away, there are great options for linen suits for weddings. At SuitShop, our suits are made from a synthetic blend that is both breathable and less likely to wrinkle. 

For cooler temps, the sky's the limit when it comes to color. While black, navy, and dark green are consistent cold weather choices, that doesn’t mean a light gray or tan looks out of place in the off-season. For fall and winter weddings, pair your color choice with a black or dark brown shoe and add additional accessories such as tie bars and pocket squares to your look. 

How to choose a suiting company 

Availability and reviews are a great place to start when picking out a suit company for your wedding. WeddingWire and The Knot are wedding websites that will let you scroll through reviews from previous married customers. Google and Reddit are also great places to check for reviews both positive and negative. 

While we love supporting local businesses, if your groomsmen are spread out across the country it might be really hard for them to make a purchase and ensure the suit fits well in advance of your wedding date. This is why a lot of couples are looking to online companies to suit up their group. From the comfort of their home, they can take a fit quiz, place an order, and receive their items without ever having to set foot inside of a store. 

Q: Will you rent or buy your wedding attire? 

When comparing wedding suit companies, compare prices and whether the price is to rent or to buy. If you have friends and family who you’ll be asking to make a purchase, get an idea of how much they are willing to spend. While renting is often the initial thought as it’s what men have done for years and years, it’s not always the most cost effective or convenient option. Especially if you and your guests will be traveling for your wedding, the return process for a rental can be tricky. All of these reasons are what sparked the idea for SuitShop - where you can buy your suit for the price of a rental. 

Q: How many people do you need to coordinate? 

Once you’ve chosen your colors and you’ve scoped out your options, coordinating your wedding party will be the next step and it should be easy. While some may think it’s simple enough to send out a text to each member of your wedding party with a link to the suit they’ll need to order, this leaves a lot of room for error. How can you be sure they’ll order in time? What if they order the wrong thing? Using an online tool like a wedding group coordinator helps you organize your look and your party people all in one place, lets you check in on their ordering status, and allows you to send out reminders on a regular schedule (set it and forget it) or whenever you feel like someone needs that extra nudge. 

When to order a wedding suit 

If you begin looking for your wedding suits six to nine months ahead of your event date, you should be in the clear no matter what company you choose to go with. Before making a final decision, place an order for yourself so you can test out the fit, feel, and process before passing on the information to your group. We recommend ordering your final look two to three months before your wedding date. This should allow for time for any necessary exchanges if the fit isn’t quite right the first time, as well as any necessary alterations such as the pant hem. 

If you’ve already taken a peek at the reviews for SuitShop, you’ll know our customer care team is available to help you however we can. Not sure what tie color goes with your wedding color palette? We’ve got you. No idea where to begin when it comes to sizing? Our fit experts are ready to get you suited up.