Stroller suit-advice please!

[Alex tweed]

Hello all,
I'm getting married next year and I'm thinking about wearing a stroller for the ceremony and a dinner suit for the evening. Both will be bespoke. In order to keep down costs a little I'm thinking of morning trousers, grey or silver waistcoat, White shirt, silver or grey tie, with the jacket from the dinner suit which will be midnight blue SB peak lapel.
Could you please advise/ give feedback on this and also any slightly different cloth for the morning trousers.
Many thanks

[Concordia]

Satin and midnight blue won't work for a daytime jacket.

Instead, do you have a very dark grey (or black) suit that you can cannibalize for the project?

[Alex tweed]

That was my main concern, I don't have any without stripes. I may have to have a plain black jacket made too.

[rodes]

Alex, Goodness knows I like the stroller. Half of my posts are intended to advance it. I have two very dark,oxford,gray DB suits as matching trousers double the use. One is 10 ounce Minnis fresco for warm weather and one 13 ounce Dugdale herringbone for cold. I wear mine with POW check trousers,however a subtle houndstooth would be better for the groom. You can not go wrong with black lounge for every woman at the service will envy your bride and every man you. Not only on your wedding day, you will always look smart wearing it and you will likely have it for as long as you can fit into it. And of course,that will be a very long time.

[Alex tweed]

Thanks Rodes, I'm trying to steer clear of the lounge suit option, I'd prefer not to look the same as everyone else. As for houndstooth trousers, normally this would be a decent option I'm sure. However, I work as a chef, so that would therefore be a no-no. POW is worth a thought, but I would like something a little different.

[Simon A]

An image of a Stroller ensemble, with striped trousers, is given here http://www.thelondonlounge.net/forum/vi ... 953#p55953

[Noble Savage]

If you are getting bespoke trousers for a wedding why not pick out a less common check from the formal book.

[Costi]

Alex, if the wedding party takes place right (or soon) after the religious service, going therefore from late afternoon smoothly into early evening, the etiquette calls for maintaining the day dress (stroller in your case) all through, rather than changing into dinner clothes between church and party. Therefore, scheduling the religious service late enough into the afternoon (but still before sunset or 6 PM) could spare you the cost of a dinner suit, which you may commission later on as a married man

[Charlie Huang]

Don't use a DJ for the black lounge jacket.

[Alex tweed]

Thanks Costi, but the service is quite early around 1 pm, I would also quite like to change for the evening. I may consider an off the peg jacket and have my tailor alter it accordingly. I have friend who has an excellent vintage shop, might be a good start?

[Costi]

I have friend who has an excellent vintage shop, might be a good start?

Absolutely, if you feel lucky! You know how it goes with weddings - something old, something new...

[cdo]

Changing dresswear during the course of your wedding day sounds all too fussy to me. It is truly the bride's big day not yours (so much for sexual equality, eh?) and she will not thank you for years to come if you manage to draw the main attention away from her. Is there a particular reason for wishing to wear a stroller? I find them a poor compromise for the groom who don't want to wear an ordinary lounge suit but somehow eschew morning coats for being too traditional or costume-like. Believe me, wearing a beautifully made morning coat will quell any desire to change into a boring DJ for the evening.

- C

[rodes]

I agree that changing during the day might seem fussy. The stroller a compomise? Not really. It is the appropriate choice for day semi-formal,just as the tuxedo is for evening semi-formal.

[Costi]

I think cdo means (and I do agree, in a way) that the idea of semi-formal attire for the groom on his weeding day is a bit of a compromise. Much though I like the stroller, I'd find it hard to argue against this skillfully worded piece of advice:

wearing a beautifully made morning coat will quell any desire to change into a boring DJ for the evening.

From the viewpoint of practicality, though, and the possibility to wear often enough the pieces commissioned on the occasion of the wedding, the stroller makes a lot of sense.

However, if I may opine on this, I believe the issue here is not so much the clothes, as it is the scheduling: why leave a blank between the service and the party? After the service, everyone is just in the right mood to celebrate - the bride, the groom, the family, the guests - so it makes a lot of sense to start the party immediatley, to take advantage of the momentum, of the phantastic charge of the "yes" moment. This long interval breaks the event in two distinct parts, as in a theatre play, when one should be the natural and immediate consequence of the other, the elation should fuel the party, rather than let it cool down and then, later on, start "a party", like any party, in the evening: that's what makes it a WEDDING party, the fact that it celebrates the union - when it happens. Please take it as an opinion (of one who has attended enough weddings of both kinds - party right after / party later on) and as a suggestion, rather than criticism of the current arrangements

[cdo]

I'm naturally biased as I wore my morning coat for my wedding throughout the day, evening and night and it simply felt the right thing to wear. Yes, practically speaking, I'm not going to wear it other than at family and friends' wedding when requested to do so. I guess I find wearing a stroller for one's wedding with one eye on practicality is akin to the bride choosing her bridal dress so that she can wear it again for other occasions. But to be honest, unless one is regularly attending weddings, charity balls, royal races and other formal social events throughout the year, owning bespoke formal wear is a really impractical indulgence and will sit in one's wardrobe months on end be it a DJ, stroller or tailcoat.

I second Costi's observation about the duration between ceremony and celebrations and its consequences on party momentum. I can't recall how many weddings that I have attended with my spouse where an extended wait (over 2 hours) for whatever reason (photos, outfit changes, delaying for evening guests or simply to drag out the timetable) had left the party guests running a little flat afterwards.

- C