Hi everyone!
Thanks in advance for reading and helping with this post. Tl;dr: my fiance likes steel blue so much that she chose it for her bridesmaids dresses, but still wants me to wear a steel blue suit. Also want to maximize ease and cost for seven groomsmen. What to do?
Here's the full story: my fiance really wanted me to be in a steel blue suit for our wedding (our wedding is a summer, indoor, Sunday afternoon, so a three-piece suit is appropriate I think). As it happens, she likes the color so much that she chose it for her bridesmaid dresses. I still want to accommodate her wishes, but it might create a bit of a faux-pas, since I might match the bridesmaids really well, while I'm not sure I can find a rental or cheap suit in steel blue for my seven groomsmen. I'm also wondering about the best option for them, whether it's renting, buying, or bringing their already-owned suit.
I think that there are three major options for color:
1). Ditch the steel-blue suit, and go with light grey. Great color for a summer daytime wedding, and it gives me and my groomsmen a lot of options.
-Men's Wearhouse can rent us all eight grey suits, including perfectly matched steel-blue vests and ties for the groomsmen
-I could also, instead, get a separate grey suit to keep, and either have my groomsmen rent their suits, or provide them with a cheap suit option to buy, and rent only the vest and tie from Men's Wearhouse
-I can also have everyone bring their grey suits, and again have the groomsmen rent their vest and tie. This looses coordination points, but wins major ease and cost points.
This might not be the best option, because my fiance doesn't think she wants to see me in grey necessarily, although she might like light grey better than dark grey.
2). Option two would be that I, the groom, wear a steel-blue suit like she wants.
The issue with this is that it will probably have to be purchased; I don't know of any rental option at any major tuxedo/suit rental site that has steel blue options. This means that I would have to either:
-Find a cheap steel-blue suit for my groomsmen to buy. This way, we match the bridesmaids, and I can be distinguished from the groomsmen by presence of a vest (or a jacket, if I have the groomsmen in just the vest and pants). This might work ok, but I haven't found anything that would look decent at a good price yet.
-Find a steel-blue suit just for me, and have the men rent, buy, or bring a blue suit (between navy and medium-blue). This would be relatively easy, but creates the faux-pas of me (the groom) matching the bridesmaids better than my groomsmen.
Finally, a compromise option:
3). Navy suits: my groomsmen and I wear navy suits. Although my fiance said she most wants me to be in a steel-blue suit, she says that any blue color would be nice.
-In this case, I would buy my own or rent a blue three-piece suit, and again have my groomsmen rent, buy, or bring their blue suits. I would be distinguished from them by presence of a vest (or jacket), bow-tie vs. neck-tie, and tie color.
This eliminates the possibility of any real matching with the bridesmaids, because steel-blue on blue would not look good (for the groomsmen's vest and tie, for example). However, it might be the easiest to pull off while avoiding a color that my fiance doesn't want me to wear.
My favorite option is the last one. It won't be as easy as the grey suit, and won't look as good (since my groomsmen won't really be matching the bridesmaids), but it's a compromise. I definitely want to lean towards my fiance's wishes (steel-blue), but I also think that this might be something she looks back at and regrets if I really look odd matching her bridesmaids and not her.
I'd really appreciate your advice, especially if you're a wedding planner or have a lot of experience/expertise in this area! Anyone's thoughts are helpful though! Thank you!
-Fred
