Suits Focus

The bride should outshine everyone, but the groom should look his best too. And increasingly, grooms are choosing conventional suits over morning suits.

By Nick Bradshaw

Unless you plan everyone in your wedding party to get dressed in Star Trek or Star Wars outfits (please don’t), one time when you’ll definitely be expected to wear a suit is your wedding day.

You can always rent (or buy) a traditional morning suit, but unless you’re a serial bridegroom you’ll only get to wear it the once.

We live in budget-conscious times and this may be a factor in why there’s been a move away from this tradition and towards wearing a standard suit. That said, as it is a ‘special day’, the suit you wear should be a new one and one that you’ve spent a little extra on.

“We are finding that the modern man is looking for a slim-fitting suit, providing that they have the physique,” says Donal Leavy of Dublin specialists Suitable Company.

“There has definitely been a move away from the traditional morning suit or dress suits and towards a plain simple clean look. There’s no real difference to what men are buying as business suits and what they’re buying for their weddings these days.”

Practicality

“Practicality and frugality are definitely the order of the day. Men want a suit that they can wear afterwards.”

Donal says that the current recession has caused some savvy price-conscious grooms to think ahead when it comes to buying in bulk for all the men in a wedding party.

“Some men are coming in six months in advance of their wedding in order to get their suits in the sales,” he says. “This is ideal if there are four or five men in the wedding party. We can do a pure wool suit in up to ten plain colours from €195.

“If only one or two men are in the wedding party we find that they go for the made to measure service, which costs from €495. Again, they’ll predominantly opt for plain colours, maybe with some extra detailing to add that special touch.

It all sounds fairly straightforward, but as with everything there are things that should and shouldn’t be done.

Donal puts us straight: “If you want to avoid stress, give yourself plenty of time to find the right suit – in particular hard-to-fit guys need to be sorted out good and early.

“Pick lightweight cloths if the wedding is abroad. We suggest 235gm weights for if you expect the temperature to be above 25C.

“Avoid fussy detailing on the suit or on your ties. Most of all, remember that in a wedding party it’s the groom’s suit that sets the game. He should always be dressed in a block (a style and shape of suit) that suits him. The others can have their suits altered to fit in with him.”

Suitable Company, 43 Lower Stephen's Street (on the corner of Drury St car park), Dublin 2. Tel: 01 633 7318. They are currently running a half-price sale. More details at www.suitablecompany.ie