For grooms, the wedding suit is nearly as important as the bride’s dress. It’s your chance to wear something really special, that makes you look and feel amazing. This is the biggest day of your life, after all.
While the suit you choose will play a big part in this, it’s also crucial to get the right fit. This means leaving enough time for alterations, so there’s no rush, stress or last-minute mistakes due to the time pressure.
But how long before the wedding should a suit fitting happen, and do you need more than one appointment?
Why Timing How Long Before The Wedding Suit Fitting Happens Matters
Wedding planning is all about good timing, as everything needs to be booked and arranged in advance, and in the right order.
The same goes for suit fitting. It needs to be planned and slotted into the overall schedule, and done at just the right time.
Do it too early and you may find that you’ve changed your mind about the style, or your body shape has changed. On the other hand, if you leave it too late, you could face limited tailoring options, limited tailor availability, stock issues and no time for alterations.
All of this can cause a huge amount of stress, which is not what you need in the run-up to your wedding.
Too Close, Not Enough Time
Too late is arguably much worse than too early when it comes to suit fitting. You may find that you simply can’t have your chosen style, and your options are limited to off-the-rack suits as there’s simply no time to create something unique, just for you.
This might mean you miss out on those personal touches you’ve been looking forward to, such as custom embroidery, a bold lining choice or monogramming.
The main impact though may be on the final fit of the suit. Ideally, you should have multiple fittings so that every last detail can be checked, from the length of the cuffs to the fit around the chest.
If it’s too close to the wedding and all of the tailor’s appointments are booked up, you may not even be able to squeeze in one fitting. This means that you’ll have to hope and pray that the suit fits properly.
Too Far Away, Body Changes
It’s a great idea to be organised and get essential tasks ticked off your wedding planning list. But you’ll just need to be careful about booking your suit fitting a bit too early.
One of the potential hazards is a change in body shape. Perhaps you’ve been hitting the gym ready for your wedding, for example. This could mean your perfectly tailored suit doesn’t fit properly, so you may end up paying more for alterations.
The Ideal Suit Fitting Schedule
To avoid booking your wedding suit fitting too early or late, you might want to have a particular timeline in mind. Below is an example of a timeline that most grooms-to-be use to schedule their suit fittings:
- 8 months before the wedding – Start getting inspiration
- 6 months before – Start trying on suits and getting measurements taken
- 3 months before – First fittings
- 6 weeks before – Final adjustments.
8 Months For Inspiration
Around 8 months before the wedding is a good time to start thinking about your wedding suit, including what kind of style and colour you’d like. Talk to your partner to set a theme and colour scheme, and perhaps start building a mood board. You can add fabrics and colour swatches to this, which can help you choose a suit.
At this stage, it’s also a good idea to start contacting tailors or suit hire companies to find out about availability.
6 Months For First Impressions
At the 6 month mark, it’s time to start trying on suits. Decide whether you want to buy or hire one, and then start shopping!
You’ll want to narrow your choices down to one or two potential options, and get professional measurements taken too.
For bespoke or made-to-measure suits, this is when you need to make a commitment, so that production of the design can begin.
3 Months For Fittings
Around three months before the wedding, it’s time for the first proper fitting of your suit. You’ll get to see how the suit is shaping up, and be able to assess the comfort, freedom of movement and overall look.
If there are any issues, even very minor ones, this is a good time to flag them up.
6 Weeks For Final Adjustments
The final step happens around 6 weeks before the big day, when it’s time for a final fitting. This is a really important appointment, as it’s the last chance ahead of the wedding for adjustments to be made. Leave it any later and there simply won’t be enough time.
Your suit can be tweaked, adjusted and fine-tuned, with your tailor checking details relating to waist tapering, cuff length, leg breaks and shoulder structure.
You’ll also get the chance to try on the full ensemble altogether, including shirt, tie, shoes and any accessories.
After this, you can collect your suit around 1 to 2 weeks before the wedding, which gives you one last chance to check that everything’s perfect.
