So, our current project is outfitting the groom and the groomsmen. I've seen several posts on blogs and the Weddingbee Boards about this topic. Primarily, they discussed their experiences with Men's Wearhouse. We looked there, however I think I have found a great alternative.
Let me rewind a bit. The decisions on what the men of our wedding will wear have been made by my fiance. I firmly believe that if he has to wear it, then he should get to choose. Much to the chagrin of his mother, he chose to wear a suit and asked his groomsmen to purchase new suits as well. We did this upfront so that everyone was aware of the cost.
Sam chose to wear suits because he felt they would be more accommodating to a variety of physiques. Also, the thought of getting married in clothes that don't belong to you really weirded him out. The more I thought about that the more I agreed.
So, last week we went suit shopping. We left the house all excited, with skips in our steps! There were two things that were important to us. 1.) Keep the cost down and 2.) Find suits that fit well
The first place we went was MW. Before our actual experience, MW was appealing because it is nationwide and has a huge selection as well as a good price range. Now, I know most of the negative experiences I've been reading about were because of tux shopping. However, word of warning....suit shopping was not much better. The minute we walked in the door, I felt accosted. Three sales people jumped on us and each offered differing opinions on style, color, sizes...all that. I was overwhelmed to say the least. So, poor customer service is my first complaint. My selection complaint was their selection. There are a few suits that they sell as a 2 for something rate, which would be great as far as cost goes. However, most of these suits did not come in my fiance's size or some of our groomsmen's sizes. (To clarify, my fiance is not the tallest of men and we have some groomsmen well over 6 feet in our wedding. We are trying to accommodate a wide variety of people.) So this narrowed down our choices to a few options, none of which grabbed either of us. After some pressure from the sales associates, we slunk out of the store with our heads hanging feeling really discouraged.
Once back in the safety of our car, I turned to Sam with a pout. Not what we had expected at all. Ever the optimist, he said "Let's try somewhere else! How about Jos. A. Bank?" So down the street we drove to JAB. We had quite the opposite experience there. The sales person was highly knowledgeable, she listened to our concerns and criteria. Then, she provided us with a few suggestions and let us shop by ourselves for a bit. This gave us time to feel comfortable and to think about what we really wanted. My fiance actually got to try on jackets so we could choose colors and styles based on what actually looks good on him. The BEST thing about JAB is they sell suit separates! What a great idea. Jackets and pants sold separately so things will actually fit everyone well. And they are affordable, cheaper than any options we were shown at MW. HOORAY! They have lots of fabrics and colors to choose from as well.
Sam chose the Business Express Suit Separates in a cambridge grey. It's a lightweight, comfortable fabric that can be worn year around. We really wanted our guys to be able to wear their suits again. We allowed them to choose between two-button or three-button jackets. That worked out perfectly because half of our groomsmen chose two-button and the other half chose three-button. Everyone is getting flat front pants.
This is the two-button jacket in Navy.
This is the three-button jacket also in Navy.
Hugh sigh of relief! I give MW a C overall: poor customer service and lack of selection. I give Jos. A. Bank an A: great, knowledgeable customer service; large selection of styles, sizes, and fabrics; and good prices.
It seems that a lot of people are choosing less traditional formal wear. What is your groom and groomsmen wearing? Has anyone used Jos. A. Bank for their wedding party?
2 comments:
Thank you for your post! My Fiance really wants to wear a suit but every where we went were not easy to work with and we had given up I am going to try Jos. A. Bank after reading this!
hey im just wondering where you guys got that tie in the first picture! the orange one
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