Custom suits for the groom and groomsmen

Ah! Ok, good idea about the groomsmen renting or buying from MW while FH does custom. We have 2 tailors (both recommended by friends who regularly do custom suits) that quoted us a very reasonable amount that was cheaper than the tux FH is renting for the other wedding now. But great point about the convenience for the groomsmen!

Thanks!

Well, I guess it depends on your preference. My FH was asked to pay $250 for a Tuxedo rental to walk his aunt down the aisle. I thought that was pricey and it wasn't a perfect fit. The tuxedo was "box-y" and made him look short. His friend actually suggested a tailor with a reasonable price. The custom made suits can cost from $199-$400 depending on the fabric used. I'm sure, they wont have silk lining and all that jazz but, most rentals don't anyway.

I personally would choose a well fitting suit that you can reuse over a rental. Besides, who wants to worry about returning the suits the next day with a hangover?!

FH decided he didn't like the boxy look of tuxes, so he and our groomsmen are buying suits. They are not custom though. We found one at the tux store (also sells suits) in navy and all the guys are getting the same two piece suit. They are also getting the same dress shirt. FH is paying for their hankies and ties. The two piece suit and the dress shirt add up to about what a tux rental would've been, but they get to keep the suit.

If your FH really wants a custom suit, maybe see about him getting on made and then having the gm buy matching suits that aren't custom. That should save them a little money, but they will still get to keep it afterwards. And they suits will fit better than a tux rental, since they can get them altered to fit them.

I agree that a *custom* suit is not the same as purchasing a suit instead of renting a suit or tux. DH and his GM bought suits. They waited for the buy 1 get 3 free deal at Jos. A. Banks. Let the manager know what you're planning to do and most likely they will work with you (for example, we needed 9 suits so he left us buy the 9th suit at the sale price). Most men know what size suit they wear; if not, they can easily go into any men's wear store and get measured- you just need the measurement sizes to order. I would suggest making sure you have all the sizes BEFORE you look. That way, you can make sure that the suit you like actually comes in the sizes you need- we had to pick another suit from DH's first choice because it didn't come large enough for one of his GM. Ordering it to their measurements should get it pretty close with minimal or no alterations needed!

You can have all the guys get together to place the order OR to make it easier, my husband just put all the suits on his credit card and then the guys paid him back. They can ship the suits to the same store or they can even ship the suits to a store more local to each GM if you have any who are out of state. Each GM was responsible for the cost of their suit and the alterations (minimum $10 to hem the pants, they came unhemmed). DH chose the type of hem he wanted the guys to have. The cost came to about the same cost as renting a nice tux (DH spent the same amount on a rented tux to be in his friend's wedding last summer). DH had his custom tailored- as you can see in the pics, he is pretty short (5'7") but very broad, so of course in addition to the pants being hemmed, he had his pants waist, coat sleeves and shoulders tailored.

DH had the GM wear their own shoes, to save money, but they did rent shirts and vests. White shirts are not just as simple as white shirts lol - there are different fabrics, some are thicker/thinner than others, the spread of the collar can be different, some guys' shirts may be more pure white or ivory, etc. so we went that route so there would be a uniform look. DH gifted the guys their socks, ties and pocket squares.

That's such great info, everyone! When we think of custom we are talking about everything from scratch rather than buy and tailor. The two tailors we were recommended work for stores that make custom suits (you get to pick everything like buttons, etc) and both were quoted within $50 of each other. The tux FH is getting for an upcoming wedding will be closer to $350 since the couple wants a certain kind and then we're adding hemming and tux rental shoes. Seems wasteful for one day but I guess it makes sense for convenience. Good to know everyone's thoughts!

@Anna love the pictures!!