Tuxedo or Suit for Your Wedding? How a Groom Decides

It is the question we hear most often from grooms in the first ten minutes of a consultation, and it is usually asked a little apologetically, as though there were an obvious answer that everyone else already knows. There is not. A tuxedo and a suit are two different garments made for two different kinds of evening, and the right choice depends on the wedding you are actually having rather than the one in the photographs.

Here is how we think it through with a groom at 221 Culver Blvd, and how you can think it through at home.

What a tuxedo actually is

A tuxedo is evening dress. Its defining feature is the facing: the lapels, and usually the covered buttons and the stripe down the trouser, are finished in silk, satin or grosgrain so that they catch the light. The jacket is almost always black or midnight blue, the shirt is white with a turn-down or wing collar, and it is worn with a bow tie. It is a uniform in the best sense, which is why a room of men in black tie looks so composed.

A suit has no facing. The lapels are cut from the same cloth as the rest of the jacket, which means it can be any colour or weave you like, and it is worn with a long tie or no tie at all. A suit can be as formal as you make it, but it starts from a different place.

The dress code decides, if there is one

If the invitation says black tie, the groom wears a tuxedo. Full stop. Asking guests to dress formally and then arriving in a navy suit reads as a mistake, however good the suit is. If the invitation says black tie optional, the groom should still be in a tuxedo; the option is for the guests, not the top table.

If the code is cocktail, formal or simply unstated, you have a genuine choice, and that is where the rest of this piece applies.

Time of day

Black tie is evening wear. The old rule is six o'clock, and it is a good rule. A ceremony at two in the afternoon in a garden in Pacific Palisades, with photographs in full sun, is a suit occasion. A tuxedo in daylight looks like it has arrived early for a different party.

If the ceremony is in the afternoon but the reception runs late, most grooms choose a suit and keep it on. A few commission both and change between the two. It is more than most people need, but for a wedding that starts at four and finishes at midnight it is not unreasonable, and we can make the two garments to share a shirt and shoes.

The setting

Beach, vineyard, backyard, ranch: suit. A tuxedo on sand looks uncomfortable even when it is not.

Hotel ballroom, private club, a formal dinner in a historic house, anything with a seated meal under chandeliers: a tuxedo is at home and a suit, however fine, is slightly underdressed.

Churches and temples sit between the two, and the time of day usually decides.

What she is wearing

This matters more than grooms expect. A floor-length gown with any formality to it, particularly in silk or with a train, is balanced by a tuxedo. A tea-length dress, a separates look or anything described as relaxed is balanced by a suit. You do not need to match; you need to be at the same level of occasion. Ask her. She will have an opinion, and it will be the right one.

The groomsmen

A groom in a tuxedo with groomsmen in suits looks deliberate and handsome. A groom in a suit with groomsmen in tuxedos looks like he lost a bet. If the party is going to be in black tie, you are too.

If you are commissioning for a wedding party, the house discounts groomsmen's garments by twenty per cent, and we would rather measure everyone in one sitting than five. The wedding page explains how that works.

What you will wear it for afterwards

This is the practical argument, and it is a fair one. A bespoke navy or charcoal suit is worn fifty times after the wedding. A tuxedo is worn at other people's weddings, at a gala or two, and on New Year's Eve, which for most men in Los Angeles is perhaps three or four times a year.

Both are good value by the standards of the trade: a fully canvassed bespoke tuxedo starts at $1,795, the same as a two-piece suit, and both come with unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations. But the suit works harder, and if the budget runs to one garment, that is a reasonable thing to weigh.

Our honest view: if the wedding is in the evening and the setting is formal, commission the tuxedo and enjoy it. You will be glad of it every time black tie comes round, and a tuxedo made to your pattern is a very different garment from a rented one. If the wedding is in daylight or outdoors, commission the suit and make it the best suit you will ever own.

The middle ground that does not work

Grooms sometimes ask for a suit with satin lapels, or a tuxedo in a colour, to split the difference. We will make whatever a client wants, and we will say what we think first: these usually read as neither one thing nor the other. A dinner jacket in ivory or a deep bottle green is a legitimate variation on black tie and can be very handsome. A grey suit with shiny lapels is a costume. If you want the tuxedo's drama without the uniform, the ivory dinner jacket is the way to get it.

Timing

Whichever you choose, the calendar is the same. Six months before the wedding is ideal, three is comfortable, and six weeks is possible as a rush at a surcharge. Imported Italian and English cloth, which is what most grooms want for a tuxedo, takes six to eight weeks to reach the atelier in Brittany and be made up, so do not leave an imported tuxedo to the last two months. We have written about when to order a wedding suit in more detail.

The first consultation takes an hour and costs nothing. You will meet Robb or Ben, look at cloth with prices in front of you, and leave with a clear answer to this question for your particular wedding. Book a consultation, or call 310-503-3592.

Questions we are often asked

Can the groom wear a tuxedo if the guests are in suits?

Yes, and it is a common and good choice for an evening wedding without a stated dress code. The groom is meant to stand apart. The groomsmen can be in suits that echo the tuxedo's colour.

Is a midnight blue tuxedo acceptable, or does it have to be black?

Midnight blue is the older tradition, not the newer one. Under artificial light it reads as a richer black than black does. It is entirely correct for black tie and we make more of them than true black.

Can I wear a long tie with a tuxedo?

You can, and some do. We would gently steer you back to the bow tie. The tuxedo is built around it, and a long tie with satin lapels tends to look like a shortcut.

How much does a bespoke tuxedo cost?

From $1,795 for a fully canvassed, fully bespoke tuxedo in domestic cloth, with unlimited fittings and a year of alterations included. Finer mills run from $2,995. The making is identical at every price; only the cloth changes.

What if the wedding is black tie but it is outdoors?

Then it is black tie. The couple have chosen the formality, and an evening garden lit for a dinner is a perfectly good setting for a tuxedo. Choose a lighter-weight cloth and tell us the venue so we can advise on the lining.