Will you be buying or hiring the suit for the father of the bride or groom?

Half of Couples Hire Suits for Fathers of the Bride and Groom

More than half of couples will hire suits for the father of the bride or the father of the groom to wear on the wedding day according to an Easy Weddings poll. The results of the poll indicated that 56% of fathers would wear hired suits, while 44% would wear bought suits.

Each couple tends to have their own ideas about whether their fathers will be wearing wedding outfits that co-ordinate with the groom and groomsmen or not. Some couples just have the groom, best man, and ushers in formal wedding outfits, while the fathers wear their own suits, and others include only the father of the bride as he will be walking the bride down the aisle. It’s a nice touch to have the father of the groom dressed in a wedding suit however, as it will make him feel more like part of the bridal party.

If the fathers of the bride and groom are going to be wearing formal suits, for example grey morning suits for a daytime wedding or white tie and tails for an evening wedding, it makes more sense to hire them. This is because they would be very expensive to buy and are unlikely to be worn much in the future. However, if the fathers are wearing more casual outfits, perhaps a black, navy, or grey lounge suit, then it would be appropriate to buy them as they will get plenty of use after the wedding. Generally the fathers will be happy to pay for these types of suits themselves.

If you do decide to hire suits for the fathers of the bride and groom make sure they have the opportunity to try them on before the wedding to make sure the sizes are right and they are comfortable. Some fathers wear a scaled down version of the outfit the groom will wear, perhaps with a less formal suit or a different coloured shirt or tie.