Simple and classy, you can’t go wrong with a black tuxedo.
By Adam Lupino
We are only forty short days from our wedding, and it’s going by way too fast. Since we’ve been busy, a little overwhelmed and stressed lately with the final touches, I thought Amanda needed a 
break this week. To refresh your memory, I’m Amanda’s wonderful fiance who wrote the widely successful piece about the groom’s role in wedding planning (refresh your memory here). I truly thank you, the readers, for all your kind words, but I’ll put the self-aggrandizing aside for a moment so we can discuss tuxedos.
Bottom line is the focus and attention of the day will be about Amanda and what I’m picturing now to be her beautiful wedding dress. My job is to make certain I look decent enough to complement her and not take away from her beauty in an ill-fitting, sloppy tux. Amanda was kind enough to come with me to Men’s Wearhouse to help select the tuxes for the groomsmen. We are fortunate to have many tux stores in Rhode Island but I felt comfortable with the quality of the selection at Men’s Wearhouse and the convenience it provided for fittings. It’s hopefully going to be warm on August 30, so I wanted to find a thin, breathable tux that looked good on me.
After explaining my thoughts and Amanda’s vision for our formal wedding, the staff there immediately had me try on the Black by Vera Wang tuxedo in black. It was exactly what I was looking for and offered lightweight wool with both a modern fit and regular fit option for each groomsman to suit his preference. Even though bright orange or power blue “Dumb and Dumber” style could have been epic, Amanda was in favor of a black bow tie, black vest, white shirt and black shoes for the groomsmen and fathers. Simple, sophisticated and classy, so I was told. We also threw in pink argyle socks to add a little fashion-forward flavor to the ensemble. For me to stand out (I guess I have no choice on this day), we added a white bow tie with the black vest, white shirt and black and white wingtip shoes, which — after Amanda’s dress, of course — will be the talk of the wedding.
There are many so good quality options out there including having a tux custom made or purchasing a tux for future events, which I still might do because I love the fit of the Black by Vera Wang. Do some research, but take your fiance with you because she has the eye and the vision to make sure you show up looking your best. Nevertheless, for us, renting from Men’s Wearhouse worked by giving us the best overall quality, value and convenience to wow the crowd on the big day. So after some stress, tears, laughs and fifteen minutes of my time, I said ‘yes’ to the tux.