What do you do when you are dressing out-of-town groomsmen, ring bearer and fathers, who live far from your wedding location? Of course you and your fiancé want your wedding photos to look uniform and classy! The good news is that the correct formal wear shop will be able to handle your bridal party very easily.
In recent years we have seen that the guest list often includes best friends, a lifelong friend, high school friends, and close family, who all may live far from your wedding reception or wedding ceremony location.
Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo often handles dressing out-of-town groomsmen, wedding party members, and attendees with ease. The following is a quick case study to show you how we helped a couple getting married in Philadelphia at the Lucy with their classic black tuxedos.
This was an extraordinary situation given each groomsman and family members’ locations. However, there was one component of their location that made this unusual. And with most things, the one component was not the only thing that complicated matters.
As you can see from the pie chart from below, we had members of the wedding party located in many different places. And yes, you are reading that correctly! Three of the 7 wedding party tuxedo renters were from Paris, France:
As mentioned before, Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo does ship hundreds of tuxedo and suit rentals to out-of-town groomsmen every year. This is about 8.5% of our total rentals. Below, you will see the breakdown of those that we ship to on an annual basis.
In-Store Pick-Up at Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo
The overseas persons needing formal attire pertained to the groom’s family.
The bride’s family was located here in the United States, however some of that party’s members lived many states away from the Philadelphia area.
First, let’s discuss the more common issue of having groomsmen located all over the United States.
Dressing Out-of-Town Groomsmen and Groom
As you can see, the other tuxedo renters, including the groom, were from other states far from our store. For the entire wedding party, this really was a destination wedding!
This situation is very easy to handle. Let’s start with the groom. Since he was making trips to the Philadelphia area to plan his wedding, he was able to come in to our store and get measured. We even offered him a free groom try on to see how he would look in his chosen tuxedo 6 months before his wedding.
We had the groom come to our store. That was the easiest way to make sure his chosen black tie look was what he wanted. To Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo, the most important thing is that the bride and groom choose the groom, fathers and groomsmen attire to their liking.
If the groom could not come to our store to get measured, we would have arranged to get him measured for free near his home, then send us his measurements via our online portal. We could have even arranged to ship him his tuxedo 4 – 7 days before the wedding to try on in advance to make sure all fit perfectly. However, in this particular case, we were able to measure him at Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo.
Closer to the wedding, the groom arrived in Philadelphia on Monday before the wedding and picked up his tuxedo on Tuesday. All was perfect and our French customer living in Florida was all ready for his Philly wedding. He left the store with tuxedo in hand and the next day he headed to Philadelphia with plenty of time to spare for his traditional wedding!
As for the groomsmen scattered all over the country, we were able to find them a professional and experienced formal wear store part of our tuxedo network to measure them for free. In order to find them a place to get measured, we request the groomsman’s zip code and find him a store close to his work or home.
He can then submit his measurements to us online. When we receive the measurements, we analyze the measurements for reasonableness and will call or text the groomsman with any questions. Most groomsmen prefer to text, and that’s why you can text our store’s telephone number!
Once we receive the groomsman’s measurements, we will send him an electronic invoice via text or email and an electronic rental agreement. The invoice can be paid online and the rental agreement can be signed electronically. No paper is involved. We try to make this process as seamless and convenient as possible.
It Gets Even More Convenient
If your out-of-town groomsmen are not coming to the Philadelphia area at least 48 business hours before the wedding, we arrange to ship him his suit or tuxedo rental for free. The rental will arrive at least 4 – 7 days before the wedding for him to try on.
Once the tuxedo or suit rental is received by the customer, we advise the customer to try everything on in a timely manner and let us know that it’s the perfect fit. Since we did not measure the out-of-town customer, we ask that he inform us as soon as possible if he needs any changes. Customers can call or text us, however, we found that the best thing is to speak to the person directly. This is the best way to avoid any misunderstanding.
We ship hundreds of our tuxedo and suit rentals every year and are very good at talking through any changes needed. The customer can take the entire rental we shipped him, including items that may be exchanged and return them after the wedding. There is no need to ship anything back.
We will have waiting for the customer anything that needed to be replaced when he gets to Philadelphia. Often times, for convenience sake, we give the replacement item to the bride, groom or another groomsman to give to the out-of-town groomsmen or guests.
After the wedding, the groomsman then gives his suit or tuxedo rental to a local person to return to our store. Sometimes, the best man or parents of the bride or groom collect all of the rentals and return them to our store. Each garment has a bar code on it so we know whose is who.
In this particular example of 7 renters, only one out-of-town renter needed something changed. He needed a larger vest. Everything else fit everyone perfectly. The person who needed a larger vest simply texted us! We got him a larger vest and gave it to the groom when he picked up his tuxedo on the Tuesday before the wedding. All worked smoothly as usual.
Now let’s discuss some other issues that are not as common but can occur on many occasions.
Typical Procedure for Overseas Wedding Attendees
We do not only dress out-of-town groomsmen, we have a lot of experience dressing wedding attendees who live overseas! We have dressed groomsmen, brothers and fathers from: Japan, France, Germany, China, Brazil, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Albania, Portugal, Ireland, and Britain!
Typically, overseas guests don’t come into town the last minute before the wedding. Because of the distance they are traveling, they often arrive several days before the wedding or even a week to ten days before the wedding. That is plenty of time to come to our store to get measured and for us to prepare the tuxedo for the wedding.
We request that the person come in as soon as he can to get measured so that we may prepare his suit or tuxedo rental. This is a very easy solution and works perfectly.
Dressing Out-Of-Town Groomsmen From Paris
Now with regard to this wedding party with the three gentlemen from Paris, France: this situation had a slight variation. Since the family doesn’t visit the United States often, they wanted to fly directly to New York and play tourist for a week and a half before the wedding.
The typical 3 to 7 days we have to measure wedding guests and prepare their tuxedo rentals disappeared due to a change of vacation plans.
So what did we do? We worked with the groom, who is also from Paris but lives in the United States. We had him arrange to have his father and two brothers come to our store on Wednesday to get measured. The wedding was two days later in Philadelphia on Friday.
We measured the brothers at 3 PM on Wednesday afternoon and the father at 7 PM on Wednesday. At 12:30 PM on Thursday, we had all three tuxedos ready for them to pick up. All worked out perfectly and they were on their way to Philadelphia for the wedding the day after getting measured.
While not as typical as measuring overseas guests 4 – 10 days before a wedding, Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo handles enough weddings that we always have a strategy to help all of your wedding guests.
Other Options for Oversees Wedding Guests
We do have other options in the rare case that the wedding attendant is unable to get measured on time when they come from overseas. Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo has arranged to get people measured locally in other countries. While this is not as common, it is a solution that has worked for us. We communicate with the overseas customer via WhatsApp or, in the case of a gentleman in Germany, he started an online chat with us on our website. Another great way to avoid international long distance charges!
We can advise the customer on which measurements and sizing we need and analyze the reasonableness of the measurements and sizing submitted to us. We see thousands of measurements every year and have a good idea of what are considered reasonable measurements given the person’s height, weight and other sizing information.
In the end, 98% of our customers who reside overseas come in several days before the wedding to get measured, giving us ample time to prepare a perfectly fitted suit or tuxedo. However, it’s a good idea to ask your local formal wear shop what other options they have to make all this come together for your groomsmen and fathers.
More Things to Consider for Your Tuxedo and Suit Rentals
All brides and grooms understand that planning a wedding is time-consuming. The final little details tend to really pile on at the end. Whether you are using a wedding planner or not, we highly recommend that you work with wedding vendors who make it easy to converse with them. That’s why Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo allows you to text our store’s telephone number virtually any time of day: 215-491-8500.
Our groom from Paris kept in constant contact with us by text messaging. He lived full-time in Florida, had groomsmen located all over the United States, had his father and brothers located in Paris and was getting married in Philadelphia. That’s a lot of logistical complications and that doesn’t even get into the time differences. The texting capability with Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo allowed him to communicate with us on his terms: whether it was 8:00AM or 9:00PM. We were always there for him.
Be sure your vendors have an easy way to communicate and more importantly, are responsive. This will reduce any planning stress that you may experience.
Brides and grooms do not need to be nervous about dressing out-of-town groomsmen and guests. It is a great idea to choose a store like Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo with processes and procedures to make sure everyone looks sharp on your wedding day, no matter where the person in your wedding party lives.
It’s important to ask if your bridal and tuxedo store is experienced in dressing out-of-town groomsmen and guests. A good way to ensure your chosen shop can handle out-of-town groomsmen and guests is to ask them what their procedures are to make sure they have a plan.
If this all checks out, we believe it would be more challenging planning your bachelor party, bachelorette party, and rehearsal dinner than dressing your close friends who live in other states!
A Beautiful Day in Philadelphia
So our bride and groom had a beautiful day at The Lucy in Center City Philadelphia. The event space is located on 231 S. Broad Street, Philadelphia near Locust Street. This is a perfect location to snap those quintessential Philly photos of City Hall when standing in the center island of Broad Street!
Olivier and Christie were married on November 22, 2024 and we could not be happier for them. He, with his classic black bow tie and she with a beautiful ivory wedding dress. This was truly a transatlantic love story and Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo was proud to be part of their formal event!
Our Contact Information
Have a question about our tuxedo and suit rental and sale offerings? Text us at 215-491-8500 or send us an message at your convenience; of course we will accept phone calls too. Our family business cannot wait to be part of your wedding!
About the author: Franco Salerno is co-owner and co-founder of Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo. Now in their 12th year of business, Franco has built a men’s formal wear department that rivals the big box stores. Committed to customer service, responsiveness, and accuracy, Franco and his wife Wendy have gained a reputation as true experts in the wedding industry. Their store offers wedding dresses, mother of the bride and groom gowns, and suits and tuxedos. Franco and Wendy reside in Warrington, Bucks County, PA just minutes from the store. Named for their two daughters Daria and Deanna, who also work in the business, Darianna® Bridal & Tuxedo was recently awarded as one of the 2024 Top 100 Small Businesses in America by the US Chamber of Commerce.