Getting the groomsmen outfitted is a practical part of wedding planning, but we don’t think it needs to feel like an administrative task.
At Empire Customs, we generally encourage the groom and his wedding party to visit together whenever schedules allow. Our showroom operates across two separate floors, which means we can provide a private experience for the group while everyone works through fabrics, styling and individual fittings.
Have a drink from the bar, spend time together and make an experience out of it.
More importantly, getting everyone in the same room allows us to answer one of the biggest questions wedding parties have:
What kind of suit should everyone actually invest in?
Start With What Happens After the Wedding
Looking great in the wedding photographs is obviously important. But when several groomsmen are investing in custom clothing, we also want to think beyond one day.
Many groomsmen tell us some version of the same thing:
“I want to look formal and stylish at the wedding, but if I’m investing in a custom suit, I want to be able to wear it again.”
That’s an entirely reasonable expectation.
During a group consultation, we generally explore three core directions.
1. Timeless All-Season Wool
The first is a classic all-season wool.
This is the traditional choice for someone who wants a polished wedding suit that can transition easily into business meetings, formal events, dinners and future weddings.
Colour can be adjusted to the wedding aesthetic, and not every group needs to wear dark navy or charcoal. Some wedding parties want lighter colours, richer seasonal shades or fabrics with a little more visual character.
A classic wool simply gives us an extremely versatile starting point.
2. Matte, Versatile and Luxurious
The second route was developed specifically around clients who want to use their wedding suit in several different ways.
We have a curated group of fabrics selected for their combination of colour, weight, texture and matte finish.
Typically, we’re looking at versatile shades such as navy, grey or black. The fabric has enough substance and structure to look excellent as a formal suit, but the matte surface helps the jacket transition into more casual environments.
That creates several potential looks from the same garment.
Wear the complete suit with a dress shirt and tie for a formal event. Later, remove the tie and wear it with an open-collar shirt. Dress it down further with a clean T-shirt. Or separate the jacket from the trousers and use it more like a sport coat.
This is what we mean by practical versatility.
A fabric that’s perfect for a very formal business suit isn’t automatically ideal as a casual jacket. Likewise, some lightweight or highly lustrous fabrics can look beautiful at a wedding but may be harder to dress down afterward.
Selecting the right colour, texture, weight and finish from the beginning gives the garment a much wider range of uses.
3. The Hybrid Tuxedo
The third direction is for wedding parties that want a considerably more formal appearance.
Our hybrid tuxedo allows the groom and groomsmen to achieve much of the visual impact associated with traditional tuxedo styling for the wedding while maintaining greater flexibility afterward.
Certain tuxedo-inspired elements can be designed so they can later be removed or modified by Empire Customs at no additional charge. The garment can therefore transition toward a more conventional suit after the wedding rather than permanently remaining a tuxedo that may only be worn occasionally.
For the right wedding, this provides an excellent balance: a highly formal wedding-day appearance without necessarily asking every groomsman to invest in a garment with only one purpose.
Custom Doesn’t Mean Everyone Has to Be Identical
The objective with a wedding party is usually visual consistency, but every person has a different body and sometimes slightly different preferences.
Each Empire Customs suit is individually patterned for its wearer.
Within the overall wedding-party design, there is also a significant amount of personalization available. Depending on the chosen look, options include:
- Lapel design
- Pocket style
- Button selection
- Shoulder construction
- Trouser waistband styling
- Shirt collar and cuff options
- Shirt-sleeve monograms
- Interior suit monograms
- Surgeon cuff details
- More than 200 lining options
- Fully custom-designed linings, generally available for $350–$500
This allows the group to remain cohesive while still giving each person a garment made specifically for him.
Fit Today—and Flexibility for the Future
Necessary fittings and alterations for the initial garment are included at no additional cost.
We also think about what happens several years from now.
Where appropriate, our suits are constructed with additional fabric within key seams. This provides an alteration allowance that can make it possible to let portions of the garment out if the wearer’s measurements increase in the future.
There are obviously limits to how much any garment can be altered, but building in reasonable allowance provides more flexibility than constructing the garment with no reserve whatsoever.
For a groomsman investing in something he hopes to wear for years, that matters.
Why We Like to Fit the Group Together
There are logistical advantages to having everyone together, but the atmosphere is equally important.
With two floors available at Empire Customs, the wedding party can have its own private experience. Everyone can have a drink from the bar while we compare the different routes, look through fabrics, discuss styling and work through individual fittings.
It also makes decision-making considerably easier.
Instead of the groom communicating separately with six different people about what shade of navy everyone should order, the group can see the fabrics together.
We can physically compare a timeless wool against a matte versatile fabric or a more formal tuxedo direction and discuss the advantages of each.
Once the group agrees on the overall direction, we take care of fitting each individual.
Wedding-Party Pricing
Wedding parties can also qualify for preferred group pricing.
The exact pricing depends on factors including the number of gentlemen in the party, fabric selection, timing and season.
Season can make a meaningful difference.
November, December and January are generally our quieter wedding-production months. Wedding parties planning far enough ahead can sometimes take advantage of more favourable group opportunities during this period.
As the new wedding season begins, production demand increases considerably.
Why Timing Matters for Groups
Empire Customs deliberately operates with limited production capacity.
Our production is owned and operated by us, and the same two cutters have been cutting and patterning Empire Customs garments since our early years. That consistency is something we value, but it also means we don’t simply add unlimited production capacity when wedding season becomes busy.
There is a maximum number of garments we can responsibly produce within a given period.
Once the new year begins and spring and summer wedding orders start entering production, available delivery windows can fill relatively quickly—particularly when a wedding party requires several suits for the same date.
For that reason, groups benefit from beginning the conversation early.
A Better Way to Think About Groomsmen Suits
The question shouldn’t simply be:
“What should all the groomsmen wear?”
A better question is:
“What can everyone wear that looks exceptional and cohesive at the wedding while still representing a worthwhile investment afterward?”
For some groups, the answer is timeless all-season wool. For others, it’s one of our matte, highly versatile fabrics. For a formal wedding, the hybrid tuxedo may make the most sense.
That’s what the private group consultation is designed to determine.
Bring everyone together, have a drink, compare the three directions and work through the options as a group.
The wedding is the reason we’re making the suits. Our goal is for it not to be the last time they’re worn.
