Suits - Who pays?

Welcome to hitched!

This article on 'Who Pays for What' might help you out...

/wedding-planning/budget/who-pays-for-what

Fran

I've got the same opinion for suits as for bridesmaids dresses. We asked them to be a part of our day and are making a certain level of demand about what they have to wear. I feel it would be unfair to ask them to pay for something that we're insisting they have!

I've been to a couple of weddings where the wedding party have been asked to pay for outfits. One family (quite well off) were fine with it as they realised it lifted a burden from bride and groom, but the other family were struggling just as much as the bride and groom and found it difficult which caused a bit of tension.

It's up to you at the end of the day! If you can afford to pay and are happy doing so, then fine, but if not, at least make sure you're groomsmen can afford it themselves!

Hope that helps! :-)

We're hiring rather than buying suits, as I don't think most of them would re-use morning suits, and like Spring Bride 85 they're coming from our budget.

Fran's "Who Pays for What" article is a decent start, but is a.) traditional and may not reflect your circumstances and b.) rather short on the details, as it only covers a few items!

Id say it depends on your relationship (or your OH's) with his gents - are they the sort who would willingly chip in? And do you have any idea of their budgets? If you are going to ask them to pay for a new suit, then I would suggest giving them some say in which one it is, so that they don't end up with something they'll never wear again and resent you for it.

We're buying the suits for our best man and ushers. We figured by the time we've splashed out on hiring plus all the faffing involved it'd be easier to just buy them.

We've chosen standard high street suits that they'll wear again and again though.

We bought the suits for the best man and usher. I think that asking them to pay would be the same as asking a BM to pay for her dress... you tend not to unless you don't mind not having a say in what they wear.

We decided to buy rather than rent too as there was little difference between renting a suit and buying one from somewhere like Next, and then the guys could keep their suits after. This obviously isn't an option though if you're going for tops and tails.

We also paid for their new shoes and their ties although I don't think it's absolutely necessary to offer to pay.

The only thing we didn't pay for was their shirts.

Personally I think the bride and groom should pay. We hired our suits but bought them all shirts and ties. They just wore shoes they already had.

For me, if you are choosing, you should be paying. It can create a lot of tension when you start asking people to pay for outfits that you are dictating.

We budgeted to hire everyone 3 piece suits (about £60 each from debenhams) but in the end my dad bought his own because he wanted Ted Baker, then OH dad bought his own, we weren't bothered about everyone matching so we said to the best man and ushers - if you have a blue suit already wear it, otherwise we will hire you one - one of the ushers has a lovely blue suit that he is going to wear, and the best man and other usher (my brother) have now said that they will buy their own. We never asked anyone to buy anything they have all offered, we are letting them have free choice of the one they want, as long as it is blue and we are buying their ties and accessories.

It is a bit cheeky to ask them to pay, especially if it is £200+ and they will already no doubt be spending money to attend the wedding & stag etc.

We are hiring 5 suits from our budget, just as we also have paid for the 5 bridesmaid dresses. I know if I had asked them to be a part of our bridal party but buy their own outfits, they would have, but some may have struggled financially and they wouldn't have necessarily worn what i'd choose.

Thanks for the replies. We were thinking that we would buy suits to everyone keep again and ask them to buy there own shoes. So think we will stick to that idea.

We have given ours the option because we're really struggling with money. We don't mind if everybody is wearing their own suits or matching OH