Wedding Supplier Tips | Menswear
We all know that one of the biggest elements of wedding planning is for the bride to find the dress of her dreams, but from I’ve found from experience, that when the same attention is paid to the groom and the other gents in the wedding party, it really makes a big difference. Whether it’s tails, a tux or a lounge suit, the chaps should have equal opportunity to look their best.
Nowadays, the choice of wedding tailoring for men is much more diverse, so it doesn’t need to just be ill-fitting tails and top hats like you’ve seen in your parents’ wedding photos. A set of well put together clobber will make all of the gents feel more confident, and you can go for the cut and colours you really like – after all it’s important to feel really comfortable on the big day!
Anthony Formal Wear have long been established as the front-runner of providing top notch wedding attire to gents across Essex and beyond, and they’ve kindly taken the time to chat through some burning questions when it comes to mens tailoring, including what they believe to be The Ultimate Wedding Suit!
How long have you been providing menswear?
We have been a family company for 51 years, opening in 1968, and we are now on our third generation of family working in the shop.
What’s your top tip for wedding couples, when choosing menswear?
The best advice we can give to the bride and groom, is not to let anybody else tell them what to wear. It’s their special day and they should both be wearing what they want to wear and what they feel comfortable in. Sometimes too many opinions from friends and family can persuade a groom to wear something he didn’t particularly want.
In your experience, what’s the most common misconception about hiring/buying wedding suits?
A lot of people who are considering suit hire think straight to bigger companies with cheap and baggy suits. Once they come into our shops and try on our suits, they realise quite quickly that we’re not like other companies; a more personal service and modern styles of suits and accessories can change people’s perceptions on hire suits.
What trends did you see in 2018, and what do you anticipate for 2019?
Over the past few years we’ve seen a lot of navy and royal blue suits being worn for weddings and we don’t think this is likely to change for the foreseeable future! However, the waistcoats and accessories being worn underneath the suits are starting to change, with a lot more double breasted waistcoats being ordered for the coming year.
What’s your current favourite look for grooms on their wedding day?
There’s a unique look that we really like here, that we’ve adapted and made our signature look – we call it the Ultimate Wedding Suit! It consists of a navy suit jacket, coupled with a grey waistcoat in either a scoop (horseshoe) or double breasted style, with either navy trousers to match the jacket or grey trousers to match the waistcoat. Pair this with a classic polka dot tie and a pocket square, plus a well-tailored cotton shirt, and the Anthony’s Ultimate Wedding Suit is complete (see examples below).
Finally, who in the public eye would you love to style, and why?
There are a lot of gents that we would like to have the chance to style, but if we had to choose one, it’s got to be local boy David Gandy – we have a big man crush on him here at Anthony’s! He’s already one of the best dressed men in the world, but a chance to make a suit for such a style icon in the fashion industry would be an opportunity that we would love to grasp with both hands.
Anthony Formal Wear have stores in Billericay and Colchester, providing suits for occasion hire, alongside bespoke (made to measure) suits and accessories to buy. They also offer wedding outfit personalisation and embroidery, and you can check out their gorgeous tailoring via their website HERE, and on the socials here FACEBOOK / INSTAGRAM