Wedding tuxedo - Input on plan requested

Hey everyone, I appreciate the resource this forum has been so far!

Here's where I'm at. Getting married this July, ceremony begins at 6pm and reception will last all night. I'm wanting to wear a tuxedo, and the bride and her mother both have to have all the groomsmen wearing the same thing, non-negotiable. So we'll be getting rentals from Men's Wearhouse/Jos A Bank for them. That'll be the black tuxedo Black by Vera Wang. All will wear cummerbunds. Bride thankfully hates the idea of any of the guys matching colors with the girls, so we can do whatever accessory color I'd like (black).

https://www.josbankformal.com/prestyled-look-detail?id=5279&order=0&occasion=wedding
Black by Vera Wang

1) How does a groom stand out if the groomsmen are in rental tuxes? Ideally I'd want all the guys to wear black bowties...but that's what I would want to wear as well...Bride thinks they could wear ties and I'll be in a bowtie, seems like a decent idea to me since the rental tuxes aren't classic anyway...

2) I think I should buy even a lesser-quality tux so I can have it tailored. I'm the one who needs to look the best, so that's my mind's justification for rentals for the other guys....is it okay if I have a different style of tux than my groomsmen? I mean I could use the free rental I get from either store and match everyone, but then I can't have it tailored. I also get a $650 voucher from both places for a discount on retail-priced tuxedo, so I was thinking I could use that to get an inexpensive tuxedo, but I'm confused if it's okay that mine would be peak lapel, other slight variances compared to the rentals for my groomsmen.

3) I can't find a good deal at either store even with my voucher since it can't be used for things on sale. Also a customer rep said I can't use the voucher until 14 days before my wedding. That seems not nearly enough time for my to be comfortable with. They don't have single button/peak lapel as far as I see. So I don't know if this voucher helps at all.

4) Random question, I didn't think about vests much, so cummerbund seems best. However, I HATE how I look when I'm dancing without a jacket but still wearing a cummerbund. Upper body proportion is way off with so little of my shirt remaining visible. Can I be in a tuxedo without a cummerbund/vest? That would be ideal...

What should I do!? Part of me just wants to get the rental and hope it looks decent but then I think about all that's going in to the wedding, money spent on her dress, and I'd like to look good.

I know this is a popular topic, but things change and options change and I really want some help! Thank you!

1. I'm sorry to hear that all the groomsmen must look identical (the dangers of giving women too much control over a wedding). Long neckties and tuxedos are a faux-pas. My suggestion, make yourself stand out with the details. It's perfectly fine to have a different style lapel, a different style shirt, some nice cufflinks, etc.

2. Standing out by buying a cheaper tuxedo than everyone else will make you stand out in all the wrong ways. Perhaps you would like to share your budgetary constraints? In any case, tailoring will be a must.

3. Men's Warehouse and J.A.B. both offer inferior products, generally speaking. There are inexpensive alternatives that are far superior. Of course, if you are renting it's probably fine, but if you personally are going to buy your tuxedo and use it further, I'd steer clear. But again, I don't know your budget.

4. Hopping about without your tuxedo jacket is also a faux-pas. I realize that this will likely not stop you, or anyone else, from doing it, but the reason you don't like how you look when you are wearing a cummerbund without the jacket is because you aren't supposed to wear a cummerbund without a jacket.

Cheers to you for wanting to look good at your wedding. This is not unachievable, but just like your fiancé's dress, it will cost some money to do right.

Thanks for the quick reply, Caustic.

1) Great ideas, thanks. We'll stick to all black bowties and I'll hopefully subtly stick out in a good way after everything else is taken care of.

2) Hmmmm, yeah. I guess I had it in my mind that the rentals would be inferior no matter what I purchased but that might only be true for the fit, and not necessarily the quality. I haven't set a budget, but my initial all-in cost estimates were hopefully to be around $500-750. I don't have anything already that could pass as part of the ensemble, and also don't plan on using it more than once a year in the future which is why it's hard for me to justify. But yeah, her dress was expensive and will look amazing so I should probably be a little flexible.

3) What if I bought this:

http://www.menswearhouse.com/mens-s...eph-abboud-black-modern-fit-tuxedo-33T133T210

The Joseph Abboud tuxedo and obviously had some really quality tailoring here in Houston. I could then switch the groomsmen all to this as well so there is no chance of me sticking out in an inferior tuxedo (even if they are all not great quality). That seems to be the better play, right? It's a two-button design but at least it's peak lapel. Plus I could use the voucher on this and only pay the $100 difference off retail, which would leave me a ton of room to pay for the best tailoring and some great accessories if it's worth splurging on any of those (research there hasn't started).

4) Yeah, pretty much every wedding I've been to has been a ton of dancing (not ballroom, formal dancing) and everyone pretty quickly loses their jackets. Might not be right, but how would I look my best without a jacket?

Thank you so much for the help!

Let me just say, I wasn't suggesting looking for expensive rental tuxedos. Chances are they won't look terribly good no matter what you do unless one of your groomsmen magically fits it perfectly. So no point trying to throw money at something that will only look so good.

$750 is really cheap for all the groomsmen plus yourself. I would think about extending this if you can. If you can't then obviously you have to do what you have to do. Again, I personally wouldn't buy anything from Men's Warehouse. If you can make this work with your price constraints, consider Suit Supply's tuxedo package...

http://us.suitsupply.com/en_US/campaign?c=eveningwear

Obviously this is more than you would spend on the Men's Warehouse tux, and if you will only use it once a year that certainly is justifiable to consider before you purchase.

Just because everyone doffs their jackets does that mean you have to? You are the groom so you set the tone for the behavior of all the men. My best advice is to maintain your jacket. If you must take it off and you cannot find a tuxedo that comes with a vest, I suggest wearing neither vest nor cummerbund. Strictly speaking not having a vest or cummerbund is not "correct", however it is common to wear the shirt alone.

The $750 was what I'm ready to spend just on myself. The rentals all will be about $180 for each of the groomsmen for that Vera Wang or Joseph Abboud, and they will be paying that themselves. Everyone paying for their own rental is how it's been done at all the weddings I've been in, so it'll be fine but I'll feel a little bad. That tuxedo package at SS actually does look great, and seems like a good deal if I can find a tux there I like.

Ignoring how the groomsmen end up looking, would my plan of having them all rent the Joseph tuxedo and buying the same one for myself, then having a ton of money for tailoring and accessories be my best option? Or do you think that no matter which rental the groomsmen get I should look at the SS tuxedos which wouldn't match perfectly to the rentals but be better quality?

bd6845 said:

Ignoring how the groomsmen end up looking, would my plan of having them all rent the Joseph tuxedo and buying the same one for myself, then having a ton of money for tailoring and accessories be my best option? Or do you think that no matter which rental the groomsmen get I should look at the SS tuxedos which wouldn't match perfectly to the rentals but be better quality?

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I would suggest against the first plan. Spending a ton of money of tailoring a mediocre garment doesn't make sense. If it were me, and if I wanted to stand out from the groomsmen, I would definitely get the SS tuxedo and let the groomsmen wear the available rentals. The difference in quality will probably make you stand out (in a good way) even without any tailoring. With proper tailoring it will look even better. The only trick will be to get the proper size unless you have a SS store nearby you can actually go to. Pay attention to the measurements on their website. They aren't perfect, but they are close and will give you a good idea of what size to order.

There's a SS store in Houston that I've bought a suit from. That's not a problem.

What will I do with this suit voucher I get?! Haha...The frugal side of me feels bad for not utilizing that voucher or the free rental for myself. But I think it'll be worth it to spend less than $1k and have something that looks great.

Give the voucher to your best man as a gift.

http://www.kentwang.com/suits/tuxedo.html

Somewhat out of your range, but it's full canvassed. And with the right fabric pick--and good tailoring of course--you'll be just as comfortable dancing with jacket on.

^ PS. It's MTM, so tailoring is included in the final cost.

So what am I getting for the extra price paid on the SS Tuxedo vs the Joseph Abboud? I am going to go try on the SS tuxedo, but I think the Kent Wang would be too expensive considering that price doesn't include anything but the tuxedo itself.

Both are wool tuxedos, so isn't the material going to be pretty similar? The style features of both aren't necessarily perfect in every way. The abboud is two button and the SS tuxedo's lapel looks too large for my taste, but it may be more 'correct.' Can a tailor get the abboud to fit me well as long as I have the shoulders well-fit? Can tailors make pants more slim throughout, if the thighs are too baggy?

bd6845 said:

So what am I getting for the extra price paid on the SS Tuxedo vs the Joseph Abboud? I am going to go try on the SS tuxedo, but I think the Kent Wang would be too expensive considering that price doesn't include anything but the tuxedo itself.

Both are wool tuxedos, so isn't the material going to be pretty similar? The style features of both aren't necessarily perfect in every way. The abboud is two button and the SS tuxedo's lapel looks too large for my taste, but it may be more 'correct.' Can a tailor get the abboud to fit me well as long as I have the shoulders well-fit? Can tailors make pants more slim throughout, if the thighs are too baggy?

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Suffice it to say, the SS is a whole step above the JA (half canvassed vs fused), and the KW is another step higher (fully canvassed vs half). But I get the sense you don't want to pay for high quality. In which case go for the Mens Wearhouse tux. A tailor should be able to achieve reasonable fit, even on slimming the pants legs (but only on the inseam, since we're talking tux paints). Go with MW + get a good tailor (not inhouse) and you'll look fine. It probably won't be comfortable enough to dance in though.

bd6845 said:

but I think the Kent Wang would be too expensive considering that price doesn't include anything but the tuxedo itself.

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Yeah I thought we were comparing apples to apples. You are staring about probably at least an additional 300 for accessories, shoes included.

Hm yeah 1200 seems a bit much. Just curious, what do guys do when they want everyone to be in tuxedos but don't want rentals? Do people actually have all their groomsmen either wear their own tux or go out and buy one? I guess since we are all young I just don't expect any of my friends to own a tux.

Well, if you don't want to rent, then there really isn't any other choice but to buy. If a guy had his own tux, then he would just wear that. Hence, it was historically the case, from what I've read, that wedding parties didn't match outfits since people just wore their own clothes.