How To Rent A Tuxedo

This How To Rent A Tuxedo post is written by Pete. For all his posts, check out this link.

So it's tuxedo time, eh? Rest easy fellas, for us, renting a tuxedo is a ridiculously simple, assembly line type process. It's actually safe to say that the whole tux acquisition experience is probably the complete opposite of what your bride is going to have to go through in order to get her dress. For them, it's a months-long process of going to (seemingly) hundreds of stores, where they try on several thousand dresses, and not liking any of them for one reason or another, then eventually finding one she thinks she likes, only to find out that it's either too expensive or, by the time she actually decides she wants it, finds out the store she found it at no longer carries it.

For guys it pretty much goes like this: 1. Find closest Men's Wearhouse 2. Get tux.

(Lisa's note: You can go somewhere other than Men's Warehouse, but we went there. A Bride On A Budget has no affiliation with MW and didn't receive anything for this post. This was just our experience and we can only write about what we know!)

It, literally, took me 25 minutes. The hardest part was getting my groomsmen to remember to order their tuxes before the cutoff date. You know, that one bum ass friend who's such a procrastinator that, at 36-years-old, still hasn't even gotten around to getting a job. Every time you call him to remind him that time is running out to order his tux, he tells you: "Oh yeah man, don't worry, I plan on doing it today" or "I get my unemployment check on Friday, I'll pick it up Saturday morning. Don't worry, I'm on top of it." You know, that guy.

So let's zoom in on the process and take a closer look. The first thing a guy has to do is drive to the closest Men's Wearhouse and pick a color. You basically have three choices: 1. Black, 2. Gray, 3. Khaki. Basically just pick the one you like most or hate least. (At our store, khaki only came in suits, not tuxedos, leaving you with two choices.) Many times, the location of your wedding and the time of year it's happening determine the color. We got married in June by the beach, so I opted for light gray with wisteria accents (vest, pocket squares, and ties) and kicks.

Once you decide on the color, you get measured, choose your other accessories (cufflinks, buttons, shoes) and that's it. The cashier hands you a receipt with your confirmation number on it, the date you need to come back to try on the tux to make sure it fits correctly (generally, it's two or so days before the wedding), and a group number for your groomsmen. They will give that group number at any Men's Wearhouse and will get the exact tuxedo you picked for your groomsmen.

After the standards are picked out, you can customize your outfit in any number of ways, if you want. Men's Warehouse sells all sorts of accessories. I planned on ordering custom-made gray and wisteria Converse All-Stars, so I picked up a pair of black, gray, and wisteria argyle socks to add some fresh pop to the whole production. I also added a matching fedora (with feather). It was my grandfather's from way back in the day, and it happened to match my tux nicely. I was going to rent suspenders, but decided not to because they'd be just one more thing I'd lose and wind up having to pay for.

When the day came for me to pick up my tux, it was as easy as running in and out. For the most part, the sizing was good. The pants were just a tad long, but I think that was just a matter of preference. For some reason I'm a pain in the ass when it comes to two things: kicks and pants. If I followed my instinct on this one, I would have had to go back and forth to Men's Wearhouse another seven or eight times before I was satisfied. I totally wasn't in the mood for all that, so I just took them as they were.

As far as I know, my groomsmen's experiences were the same. They walked in, gave the group number, and went through the measuring process. In my experience, Men's Wearhouse did a great job and appeared to have the whole tux selection process down to a science. Overall, from start to finish the process was super easy and straight forward.

BRIDAL BABBLE: What was your tuxedo rental experience like?

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