Gerber Daisy Dude decided that he wanted his 10 groomsmen, both our dads and [obviously] himself to buy suits instead of renting tuxedos. Let the saga begin!

Here is the process step by step for anyone else interested in exploring this option. With a large wedding party, this is not for the faint of heart…

1. Decide on overall color/style of what we wanted. We wanted a dark brown/chocolate “ensemble”. We didn’t really care about it looking really formal with a vest and the whole tuxedo-look.

2. Determine the cost for tuxedos versus suits. We realized that the particular tuxedo Gerber Daisy Dude wanted would cost $175 each. This did cover multi-day rental and Gerber Daisy Dude would get his for free, but it seemed pretty hefty for a rental. We were recommended to contact a JoS A. Bank by one of his coworkers. They were offering a Buy 1 for $199, Get 1 for $99 suit sale. That came to $150 per suit. Keep in mind that a suit only includes the jacket and pants and you have to get your own tailoring on top of that.

This is the Calvin Klein Tux we liked.

The bad news: There is still the decision and cost of shirt, tie and shoes.

The good news: In the end, each guy would end up with a brand new suit… a brand new dark brown/chocolate and stain/water/wrinkle/light-weight suit no less! Seriously, the manager at JoS A. Bank poured Snapple on the sleeve of the jacket and the liquid wicked right off! That’s the moment I was sold. The decision was totally in his hands.

(Jacket and pants from JoS A. Bank - only ours will be in brown check, not gray, and it will be a 2 button suit)

3. Make a decision. Gerber Daisy Dude ran everything by the guys and they all thought it was pretty cool that they’d end up with a suit after-the-fact (at least that’s what they said to his face). No one had been in a wedding before where they had to buy a suit so we thought we’d take advantage of that. After all, if guys had to do this all the time, they’d end up with a bunch of black suits, brown suits, etc. So we didn’t feel like it would be a waste. Most of the guys commented that they did not have a dark brown/chocolate suit so that also worked in their favor.

4. The manager at JoS A. Bank gave it to us straight. There were a total of 13 suits that she would have to find pieces for. She would need sizes ASAP so that she could contact stores and have the stores send the pieces to her. Within 24 hours all of the groomsmen and dads sent us their sizes and the search began! She definitely had to do some leg work and we ran the risk of her not being able to get pieces; especially during such a huge sale. The suit jackets were originally priced at just over $500 and the pants were priced at just over $200!!

5. I’m calling a “Saved By The Bell” TIME OUT! Now the saga begins. One of the groomsman’s jacket size was outside of their size range. DOH! They don’t make this particular suit jacket in his size. So we gave the suit swatch to this particular groomsman and he is going to a men’s clothing store in New Hampshire near where he grew up to find as close of a suit as the rest of them. He’s totally being a trooper and doing the extra legwork to make this all work out so we are very grateful for that. Some couples may think this was totally unacceptable and would have just quit. Not us! This has been a highlight in the process. If you knew the friend that this story refers to, it’s just hysterical. And this is all in good fun. It’s now just one of many random stories we can talk about for years to come!

6. Time to get the suits to each guy. JoS A. Bank is shipping the suits to their homes! How sweet is that!? So they will have plenty of time to get the suit tailored and make sure it fits correctly. Most of the guys have their suits by now.

7. What shirts will they wear? Probably an ivory color since my dress is ivory or the other option is to go with a darkbrown/chocolate shirt. That is up to Gerber Daisy dude to decide.

8. What ties will they wear? We are going with regular neckties. In some way shape or form, the groom, groomsmen and dads will have different colors.

With ivory shirts: Groom = Burnt Orange; Groomsmen = Blue (matching bridesmaids dresses B2 Bahama Breeze); Dads = dark brown/chocolate

With dark brown/chocolate shirts: Groom = Ivory; Groosmen = Blue (matching bridesmaids dresses B2 Bahama Breeze); Dads = Burnt Orange

9. What shoes will they wear? This is still a mystery to me. Since these guys will never be accused of being “fashionistas”, I find it hard to believe that they will be able to discern one brown from another. So, to leave it up to “just wear brown shoes” is probably not going to work out. There are way too many shades. Maybe they can just get away with some old school Reebok pumps… no??? I wouldn’t put it past Gerber Daisy and I to just surrender to that option.

I am VERY open to suggestions as to how to handle the shoes dilemma.

Gerber Daisy Dude may buy the ties and/or shirts for all the guys as his present to them. So that kills two birds with one stone.