wardrobe for my groom

the process of getting mike to look for and choose a suit was a huge struggle for me. i knew he wanted to wear a gray suit, and possibly a vest. after visiting men's warehouse over a year ago and being seriously unimpressed by the selection and even a little annoyed by the pushy demeanor of the sales associates (no, just because you don't have a modern cut gray suit does not mean we are going to change our minds and rent tuxes - thanks though!) mike lost interest and stamina in the hunt.

at first we were just so frustrated that no one rented suits since the modern man seems to be trending this way for special events -million dollar idea - why doesn't this exist?!

i found myself shopping for him online and holding onto my research until it had been long enough since the last suit nag (yes rationing my nagging - a great start to a marriage). we looked at zara, we looked at h&m, we looked at banana republic, express, and j.crew. the problem was this; we needed something affordable enough so that we could ask the guys to buy their own suits without putting them out too much. i was pushing express hard (they have these cute vested suits, and we still might go that route for the guys) and getting the guys their suits was one of the last giant check marks on our wedding to do list.

a little more than a week ago we went to express to try it in person - and it was cute - really cute - i thought we should walk out of the store with it and when we didn't mike finally said something that made me feel like an idiot and just embarrassed for not being more sensitive. he said that he wanted to marry me in something special. what a self absorbed bride? i have the balls to buy TWO dresses to feel and look good but i want him to settle so i can get it over with? how narrow minded of me. he wants to look like don draper. he wants to feel put together, sophisticated and sexy, and of course i want him to feel all of those things too.

the magic in this story is that the following day we went to check out j.press in harvard square - a coworker had recommended it to him after her husband found his suit there.

we enter j.press - a sea of ties, nautical themed belts, blazers with customizable harvard details and actual authentic nantucket reds. the boutique shop has been around for over a hundred years and dressed countless presidents while in office or still in their studies at the university. with very little information - color, time of year - the associate walks to a rack at the back of the store and pulls

out the perfect suit. modern, beautifully made, a gray that is not too dark and still not too summer for our september wedding, and trousers with a flat front. we finally feel like we are being taken care of by someone who knows what they are doing. as soon as the jacket went on, even over his green tootsie pop owl t-shirt i knew it was the one for him. i could tell he felt good in it and he felt like it was special enough to marry me in, a universe away from the others we had tried in the last year.

while the tailor fit him i checked out the accessories and found a tie that is just too perfect for our color scheme and overall aesthetic and mike loved it too. it has our orange, the blue to balance it, and even the cream to match my gown. we just bought one but i think we are going to go ahead and buy them for the other 3 guys as well. and now that my groom is squared away we are thinking that to save costs for the groomsmen we are going to have them just get a vest and slacks (possibly the express option above,) i think it will look cute for our rustic outdoor wedding - i love a guy in a vest with his shirt sleeves rolled up!

did any of you have a tough time finding the suiting for your grooms? if so how did you solve the problem?