When did you book your menswear?

Im getting married 5 weeks today (eeekkk!), and i booked the mens wear about a month or so ago.

Started planning in Jan but have only just got round to it. If you get an idea of the actual suit you want eg, long coat or top hat and tails etc the colours can be picked much nearer the time and we paid a deposit of half the total amount for the suits (we hired 4), but all shops are different ours was a meas wear shop that also hac the franchise of 1881 i think its called wo are nation wide.

We booked mens suits 2 weeks back for our nov wedding

We popped into our Local 1881 at Greenwoods on Monday and they were so so so helpful!

He said that we needed to decide about 3 months before, get all the men measured so that they could be ordered to be here about 10 days before the wedding for a final fitting. The thing that sold them for me was that you can have the suits anything from 10 days before. I looked at Moss Bros and Youngs hire and you had to collect them on the morning - imagine poor OH having to do that on the morning of the wedding!!!

Hi Tracey,

Different shops book suits at different times. It just depends on the shop really.

Most shops book suit 3-6 months in advance. If you book 6 months in adavcne I am sure you will be OK for 90% of shops.

My shop is a little different we book really far in advance.

This is how it works in my shop (i am sure most shops will be similar):

1. Groom & Bride visit the shop for a consultation. Try-on different suits etc.

2. Pay a deposit to book the suits (we charge £30.00 per suit).

What you are actually booking is the quantity and style of suit, not the exact sizes and the colours of waistcoats and cravats can be finalised a bit later.

3. Over the next few months fit (confirm sizes etc.) the rest of the party. It does not have to be everyone at the same time. This has to be complete no later than 8 weeks in advance.

4. Over the last 8 weeks do any refits that the party would like to do. (wieght and size changes etc.)

5. Collect the suits a few days before the wedding, pay the balance and pay any security.

That is how it works at my shop but I am sure there will be variations from shop to shop. I would advise visiting a few shops before deciding which one to go with. The suits may all seem the same at first glance but customer service levels (and quality of suits) can vary massively.

Here is a link to the wedding suit guide I wrote on here ages ago. There are a list of questions to ask any potential wedding suit supplier. https://www.hitched.co.uk/Chat/forums/p/144847/2111818.aspx

Thanks

Marc

Thank you very much for your replies everyone- very useful!

I was thinking we'd book them about 6months before, its just listening to other people that panics me! I think I may stick to my original plan then, although I will start making some initial enquiries soon I think.

Marc- thank you very much, that guide is very interesting and helpful, I've saved it in my favourites to show OH (if he ever gets out of bed!). I'd be really interested to know your professional opinion on the colour combinations I mentioned above. The wedding colour scheme is purple with accents of lime green (sounds weird but honestly does look very striking). I think we'll bring the green into the menswear with buttonholes so its just a matter of working out how to incorporate the purple and trying to make the groom stand out a little from the other men in the wedding party.

H2B is big guy, he had originally thought he'd wear a prince edward style suit but when he tried a jacket on he looked a little ridiculous,like he had no legs! He tried the tailcoat on and looked loads better, really quite handsome so I think we're definately set on tailcoats.

Any more advice from anyone is greatly aprreciated.

x