Oh, wait... ME!
From the very beginning I let JD have free rein over the attire for himself and the guys. He is quite obviously the more fashion conscious member of our little family, and he would pick something much nicer than me. After all, it wasn't until recently (read as the last year or two) that I finally learned a suit isn't just a suit. Not only that, but it is nearly impossible to buy an unaltered off the rack suit without looking like anything but a sack of potatoes.Side note... one of my biggest pet peeves about looking at wedding pictures is seeing grooms and groomsmen in saggy, baggy, unatrractive suites or tuxes. YUCK!
Anywho... JD and I discussed and agreed on a nice medium grey shade for the suit, and that we wanted the ties to be the same color as the bridesmaids dresses. There ended my say so, and there entered the drama.
Mr. GQ decided that the groomsmen needed to purchase their own suits so that they may be properly altered and fitted. And, it's not much more expensive than it is to rent one of those nasty, who knows what's happened in it, sweat bags of a tux from some massive chain.
His first choice would have been a bespoke suit from Savile Row, but we didn't feel like several thousand dollars per suit plus multiple airline tickets and a several month timespan would really fit in with our plans.
Instead, we set out to Joseph A Bank, one of JD's top choices for fancy wardrobe purchases. They're always running some kind of super crazy deal like buy 1 get 50 things free (<--- obvious exaggeration used to make a point). One of JD's groomsmen used one of these similar deals to get his groomsmen's suits, so it seemed like a perfect option. Unfortunately, after a trip to Jos. A Bank in ATL we were told we couldn't get what JD wanted for less than a price that we'll just call way too expensive. Ouch.
Off to Mens Warehouse. They couldn't do it for less than an even more obscene amount of money. Strike 2. (JD has expensive taste)
Then we headed to the mall... Dillards and Macy's were the same story. Strike 3.
We wandered into JCPenny and actually happened to find a suit that we liked. With their new square deal thing they have going we would have been able to get the suits for the same price as renting a tux. Unfortunately, my "a suit is a suit" attitude was quickly overruled. I could tell by the look on his face that JD's soul was dying inside at the thought of wearing an off the rack JCP suit. Yes. My fiance' is a fashion diva and a coffee snob. And I absolutely love him for it.
After another trip back to the Valdosta JAB "just to see if they could do better than the one in ATL" we were pleasantly surprised. We met the lovely Skylar who seemed to make our dreams come true! We found a fabulous suit that came in the exact color we needed, and, with Skylar's 70% off magic, was EVEN CHEAPER THAN THE JCP PRICE. We left with great big smiles on our faces and plans to get everyone's sizes.Fast forward two weeks. We come in with everyone's sizes and are ready to make the order. Next thing you know, it's all fallen apart. Little did we know, the suit had been discontinued and only the sizes and colors remaining were available. Three of the six suits were unavailable. Without going into all of the many, many stressful details, let's just say I cried. Twice. We're talking big old ugly elephant tears.
Two hours later we left the store thinking that the store manager, Gerald, really did have superhero magical powers and that things were all better. However, as we pulled into the neighborhood we got the dreaded phone call. Something was wrong. We turned around and went back.
Finally, the nightmare was over. We ended up with the SAME SUIT that JD tried on at the first trip to Joseph A Bank before any of this even happened! However, somehow Gerald's magical superhero powers got the price back down to where we needed it to be.
We returned to Joseph A Bank at least 5 times (probably more) over the next month to get JD's alterations done, and to pick out ties and shirts for the groomsmen and my dad. Fortunately that part was MUCH easier. They had exactly the color and style that they needed. However, Mr. Fashion Guru had to speacial order his own tie online. Nothing off the rack for that boy ;)
So, all of the fashion really and truly is finished. The boys all have their suits. The girls all have their dresses. The moms are taken care of. The dads are taken care of.
Whew!
