Diamonds are a Girl's BFF

Bring on the wedding jewels!  But first.....

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Suit Fail!

The groomsmen suit search is turning out to be a disaster.  Who knew that you can't rent grey suits or grey tuxedos?!?  Alright, that might be a little dramatic but the pickings are slim.  Almost everywhere either has a tuxedo in a light grey or nothing.  I thought we had a suit picked and prematurely crossed groomsmen suits off my to do list but now it looks like we are back as square one. 

I left Mr. Cucumber Sammie (mistake #1; love you sweetie) in charge of finding the suits since he has way more experience in this area.  He searched all your typical sites like Men's Wearhouse and Jos. A. Bank.  After a night of looking, he declared the suits found.  Men are so efficient.  We made an appointment to see the suit in person at Jos. A. Banks this weekend.

As it turns out even though we had an appointment to see the suit they didn't have it in stock.  The salesperson just gave us a book of pictures of the various rental options.  We were told that we would have to order it to be able to see it in person.  Call me crazy but that doesn't make a whole lot of sense.  Pressing on, Mr. Cucumber Sammie decided he liked the suit and we would just move forward with ordering it.  The suit in question:

The Lexington Stroller {Jos. A Banks}

The picture makes the jacket seem more purpley than grey but trust me it is grey.  The only obstacle with the suit is the pants are a lighter color and striped.  I am not a fan but apparently Mr. Cucumber Sammie likes them.  He conceded and agreed to get the pants in plain grey to match the jacket.  While researching this post I figured out they don't give you the option of plain grey.  Uh oh.

After some quick searching I found they have another grey suit.

Jean Yves {Jos. A Banks}

Mr. Cucumber Sammie originally rejected that suit because of the shiny fabric on the lapel.  We might have to reconsider though because this is looking like one of our best options.  Is it too nit-picky to say no to a suit because of a tiny bit of fabric?

We do have a third option which is to have all the groomsmen buy a matching suit.  I noticed that a lot of the big suit stores are having buy one get one free sales or 50% off.  That might put some of these suits in the same price range as renting a tux.  But they get to keep it, bonus!  I could collect all their measurements and we could purchase all the suits at the same time to ensure matching.

I need your help!  Do I go with:
Option 1. The lexington stroller; the suit Mr. CS originally picked and I just let it go about the stripped pants?
Option 2. The Jean Yves; try to look past the lapel and hope I won't even notice it on the wedding day?
Option 3. Purchase suits; deal with the hassle of getting all the measurements and reimbursement but will probably have the best grey suit?

Please help!

LEGEN-wait for it- DARY

Thankfully groomsmen don't need as much time for attire as bridesmaids because we have been moving slowly on this one.  There used to be only one option for guys at a wedding.... the rental tuxedo!  I am so excited that Mr. Cucumber Sammie can have his pick of outfits now and doesn't just have to stick with the tux.

We could go with just vests:

Yes to Khaki {Image via Wedding Window/Photo from Shyla Photography}

Very Dapper!{Image via WedLoft/Photo by Megan W}

We could go with sports jacket over tan pants.  I think this look is adorable but it doesn't really fit Mr. CS, his groomsmen or our venue.  Oh well.

Love that orange tie {Image via TheKnot/Photo by Blue Daisy}

In the end though we decided to go with a grey suit.  A suit is more casual than the tux and I think grey is more of an early fall color than black.  Plus grey is one of our wedding colors... bonus!

Too Light {Image via Trend Setting Wedding/Photo by Red Ribbon Studio}

Just Right ({Image via TheKnot/Photo by Elizabeth Messina}

Originally we thought about having all the groomsmen just wear a grey suit.  Then we realized all the different color variations of grey (who knew?) and thought about having them all buy grey suits.  I have know a couple of brides who have done this; gotten all the measurements, gone to one of those buy 1 get 1 suit sales and just picked them all up to be reimbursed later.  We thought about doing that for a while but in the end we decided it would be easiest for Mr. Cucumber Sammie to buy his suit and the rest of the groomsmen to rent one.

So we were off to find a suit for Mr. CS!  On Memorial Day weekend we hit up the Premier Outlets hoping to capitalize on their huge sales.  With stores like Brooks Brothers, Burberry, Barney's Factory Outlet, and Off Saks we knew we would find a quality suit.  And what do you know, the first store we went in Mr. Cucumber Sammie found his suit!

Just like this.... only more handsome{Brooks Brothers}

He is getting a two button grey suit from Brooks Brothers.  It was originally about $400 and he got it for the low price of about $200.  Winning!  He won't tried it on for me because I think he is secretly keeping his wedding day outfit a surprise too.

Coming up... the joys of trying to find grey rental suits.