Groomsmen/ Bridesmen outfits

This suit dilemma has been one of the things that has been keeping me up at night.

I had selected a suit for the men originally, but since one of my groomsmen/man of honor/bridesmen went out to get a suit on his own that just might not work, I have been on a search to see if I could find an even cheaper suit than the $200 suit I found and wanted everyone to get from Mens Warehouse or the slightly more expensive back up option at Banana Republic, so neither him nor the other boys of the wedding party have to worry about breaking the bank.

The suit he got is Sharkskin colored. He got it because it looks great on him... but it doesn't work for the wedding.

I understand that he got excited and wanted to help out, but I still don't understand why he would have gone suit shopping on his own or thought it was a good idea to buy a suit without talking to me. We did have plans to go shopping together. I am so confused. I suppose his heart is in the right place, but his spontaneous shopping spree has caused me so much grief. I have hurt his feelings, because he thinks I hate the suit and he is upset with me for wanting to make him spend more money, but what am I supposed to say to him without causing a fight? It could have all been avoided if he would have waited for me to find a suit that worked for everyone and that worked with everyone's budget. No point in being angry or upset about the past, I may as well try to figure out what I can do to fix the problem in the present so everyone can be happy in the future.

I tried to see if I could make it work, but it didn't look good... It is not very cream or sand colored as I had envisioned. It doesn't look too bad in the light, but it would stand out from the other men making the party and look mismatched. All of the men are supposed to look uniformed and they should all have the same suit. Rod and the other wedding party members that I consulted unanimously voted no for the suit. Which, since it is tailored and nonreturnable, put me in a difficult situation.

What's more is that it is expensive. I don't want to ask the other men to buy something of that price, and It has a cross-pattern which will look like tweed or checkers in pictures compared to the solids everyone else would have. Not to mention it is from a Canadian retailer, and it is made in Canada, so Rod's best man in New York will not be able to find it and will have trouble finding a replica.

I have been trying my hardest to find a solution and I've been to so many places, trying to think of other options to solve the problem and make this better.

My searches have found suits of similar prices (around the $200 mark) which I believed was decent before, but I had recently hoped to find something for $100 - $150 to make getting a suit that would work more feasible for everyone involved.

I considered renting a slightly lighter version of this from Freeman's (Directly from Freeman's, as there a location where I went to discuss options close by our condo, and the Freeman's that is offered through department stores--like through Tip Top's--are more expensive because the stores have to mark it up to take their cut).

The link to the suit is here
http://www.freemanformal.com/en/catalogue/index.php (flip through the catalog till you reach Destination 3888 on page 13).

The only issue is that it might be pricey to rent for a whole week, and it's a shade and a half lighter than I had wanted it to be originally. It's something that might be lighter or comparable to my dress in person, which makes me slightly concerned. It might work if Jon or one of the other members comes back earlier and returns the suits when they get back so it's only a few days rental as opposed to a week or two. But it also poses a problem for our best man in New York.

I have checked department stores for rentals and sales: Tip Tops has nothing of value, neither does Moores or Sears and some of the other places like Harry Rosen is just too pricey to ask all the groomsmen to suit up in.

Here's some of the other finds I had found.



Link to suit at Andrew's Formals http://www.andrewsformals.com/itemdisplay.cfm?itemnumber=357



This one is from David's formal wear which may have to be ordered online.



Jim's online

Also

http://www.letsgoformal.com/tan-destination-suit-p-19.html

Also this is another choice and the suit also reappears here if it's cheaper or better.


The first and last suit image are my favorites for the men. I figured it would be best to post my results so I can reference them later on and so I could also perhaps get some feedback to make my decision easier... and faster.

What would you do?