Are you curious how you should be dressing the ring bearer for your wedding? You’re not alone! Many brides and grooms ask us this question. In this wedding planning blog, we will guide you with some ideas and common practices that we see on dressing ring bearers for weddings.
Common Ring Bearer Attire
In general, there are three or four approaches to dressing your ring bearer. The first and most common method we see is that the ring bearer wears the same exact suit or tuxedo that the groom is wearing. He essentially becomes a mini-groom. This includes the ring bearer wearing a miniature version of the same exact tuxedo jacket, pants, vest, shirt, shoes, bow tie or long tie, pocket square, studs and cufflinks. This allows the ring bearer to look different than the groomsmen and simultaneously tie into the groom. We see this method of dressing the ring bearer in 75% of all our weddings.
I Just Want to Be One of the Guys!
Sometimes the bride and groom want the groom to look different than everyone else, including the ring bearer. In that particular case, the bride and groom will often choose to have the ring bearer wear the same exact tuxedo or suit and accessories as the groomsmen. He just becomes a miniature version of the groomsmen! In many cases, the groomsmen’s accessories, long tie, bow tie and pocket square, match the color of the bridesmaids dresses. This is also a great choice and will allow the ring bearer to feel like “one of the guys” if he is dressed like them. We see this method of dressing the ring bearer 20% of the time.
Matching the Guys
What should you do if the same exact styles are not available in children’s sizes? Most of the 73 tuxedos and suits that we offer for rent are available from a 3 year old size up to a size 66 jacket. Not every designer makes all suits and tuxedos in children’s sizing.
Oftentimes you can dress the ring bearer in a very similar style and it will be hard to tell the difference. However, we highly recommend that you ask your retailer, before everything is ordered, if they offer the same suits, tuxedos and accessories in children’s sizes. This will prevent a lot of scrambling to find alternatives for the little guy.
What if the ring bearer is too small for a tuxedo?
Most tuxedo and suit rental sizes start at about a 3 year old’s size. This of course depends how large the child is relative to other 3 year olds. In some cases, we’ve seen large two year olds that looked perfectly fine in a 3B tuxedo jacket.
If the child is too small for a three year old attire, there are usually two choices: the first one is to see if he can wear just the pants, a shirt, a little bow tie, suspenders and little shoes. Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo has adjustable pants for children and we can often hem the pants to the proper length and make the little guy look cute as can be. Our only advice is to have the child try on fitting clothes at our store to make sure it will look proper.
The other choice is to purchase a toddler’s tuxedo with matching shoes! They typically come in age ranges: 6 – 12 months, 12 – 18 months, etc. Keep in mind this is a purchase and is not a rental. While purchasing a toddler’s tuxedo is a choice, we can honestly say that we have not seen many brides and grooms doing that for their weddings. We estimate about 1-2% of wedding parties purchase a tuxedo for the toddler ring bearer. The main reason is that it is challenging to manage a toddler to carry out his ring bearer duties! The other reason is the same reason many ring bearers rent their tuxedos or suits: because they grow so quickly that it will not fit them in two weeks!
When Should the Ring Bearer Get Measured?
And that brings us to another matter. Should you include a ring bearer in your wedding party and he is still at an age that he is growing, we highly recommend not to have him get measured more than 3 – 4 weeks before the wedding. Even being measured 3 – 4 weeks before the wedding, we’ve seen ring bearers grow an inch or two! That is no problem, because all we do is either re-hem the pants to a proper length or if he went through a complete growth spurt, we give the young man a new tuxedo in his new, proper size.
Another option for dressing a ring bearer that we’ve seen about 2 – 5% of the time is that the ring bearer wears something different than everyone. The bride and groom will choose a completely different tuxedo or suit being worn by both the groom and groomsmen. They want the ring bearer to stand out beyond just his size!
Must I have a Ring Bearer in My Wedding?
Finally, we do have about 15% of our wedding parties with no ring bearer at all. This is either a personal choice by the bride and groom or there is no one in the families of ring bearer age. Again, this is completely a personal choice. It’s your wedding and you are not required to have a ring bearer.
Make Some Memories
No matter how you dress the ring bearer, we must tell you that he, and the flower girl, often steal the show! So either way, choosing to include children in your bridal party will allow you to savor those photos for the rest of your lives!
Other Men’s Formal Wear Advice for Weddings
Are you contemplating how to dress the fathers of the bride and groom for the wedding? Then read one of our other popular blogs on how to dress the fathers: https://www.dariannabridal.com/blog/what-should-fathers-of-the-bride-and-groom-wear-for-a-wedding/
About the author: Franco Salerno is co-founder and co-owner of Darianna Bridal & Tuxedo, now in their eighth year in business. In that time, he built the tuxedo department into a force rivaling big box stores by providing expertise, caring service, and beautiful, quality formal wear. Personally invested in every transaction, Mr. Salerno provides customers with the utmost trust and confidence, assuring their wedding or formal event attire will be perfect. A native of Philadelphia, he currently resides in Warrington, Bucks County with his wife and store co-founder/co-owner Wendy, and their two daughters for whom the store was named, Daria and Deanna.