How much does a wedding suit cost?

Work out what wedding attire will actually cost from the suit or tuxedo itself, the tailoring that makes it fit, the shirt, the shoes, the tie and the small accessories, plus any pressing or cleaning around the day. A menswear quote prices the garment; the outfit you are photographed in is that garment plus five or six more purchases. The calculator splits them and adds them up, so a rental quote and a bought suit can be compared on the same footing.

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The suit or tuxedo itself (dollars)

The quoted price of the jacket and trousers, before anybody has touched a seam and before anything is worn with them. If you are renting, put the rental fee here. The default is ours and editable.

Ask what the number is attached to, because three different transactions wear this same price tag. A rental prices one wearing of a garment that goes back on Monday, already altered within the limits the rental house allows. An off-the-rail suit prices a finished garment cut to a size chart, which you then have fitted. A made-to-measure or bespoke order prices a garment cut from your measurements, where much of the fit work is inside the quote rather than after it. The tailoring line below therefore lands very differently on each, which is why it is a separate input rather than a percentage of this one.

Tailoring and fittings (dollars)

The tailor's bill for making the garment fit: sleeves, trouser hems, taking in the waist and the jacket body. Rarely zero on an off-the-rail suit, and rarely inside the quote above.

An off-the-rail suit is cut to a size chart and a body is not a size chart, so the sleeves come up, the hem gets set to your shoes, the waist is taken in and the jacket is shaped through the body. Some shops include a basic hem and sleeve in the price and bill the rest; some send you to your own tailor. Ask which, and ask for the job list rather than a single figure, because each alteration is priced as its own piece of work. Set this near zero only if a made-to-measure quote already covers the fit work, or if a fitter has looked at you in the garment and agreed there is nothing to do.

Shirt (dollars)

The dress shirt worn under the jacket, which is almost never inside the suit quote. Collar style matters more than the price does: a spread or wing collar is chosen against the tie and the jacket lapel rather than on its own, so buy it in the same trip as the suit rather than the week before the wedding. Zero if you already own one that fits and is the right colour. The default is ours and editable.

Shoes (dollars)

Dress shoes plus the socks that go with them. This line earns its place twice: it is a real purchase, and the trouser hem is set to the shoes you will stand in, so buying them after the fitting can mean paying the tailor again to redo a hem he has already been paid for. Bring them to the first appointment. Zero if you already have a pair you will wear and have walked in.

Tie, belt, pocket square and cufflinks (dollars)

The small items that finish the outfit, sold individually and each one modest on its own. They are on their own line because that is exactly how they escape a budget: nobody plans them, and they arrive as five separate small decisions in the last fortnight. Set the figure now, before the appointment, rather than during it. Zero if a tie and belt you own will do the job.

Pressing, cleaning or storage (dollars)

A press before the day, dry cleaning afterwards, or garment storage if the suit is bought early. Zero for many grooms, and zero for most rentals since the rental house cleans the garment itself. It defaults to zero because it is the one line here you can settle after the wedding rather than before it.

Estimated cost

$1,070

Suit or tuxedo$600
Tailoring and fittings$150
Shirt$80
Shoes$150
Tie, belt and accessories$90
Pressing, cleaning or storage$0
Total$1,070

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$500 to $1,500 is the ordinary shape of a suit bought off the rail, fitted properly, with the shirt, shoes and accessories under it. Check the split above: if the garment is carrying nearly all of your total, the tailoring has probably not been quoted yet rather than come to nothing.

PlanningWedding budget tracker↗Separates the garment from everything worn with it.InsuranceWedding & vendor insurance↗Relevant once deposits are committed.

What this assumes, and where it could be wrong

Every one of these is a place the number could be off. They are here because you should be able to check our working, not because we are hedging.

THE QUOTED PRICE IS THE JACKET AND TROUSERS, AND NOBODY GETS MARRIED IN A JACKET AND TROUSERS.

Ask a menswear shop what a wedding suit costs and the answer prices the garment on the hanger. The outfit in the photographs is that garment plus a shirt, plus shoes, plus a tie, plus a belt, plus whatever finishes it, and each of those is bought separately, often from a different counter and usually later. None of them is large on its own, which is precisely why they are separate lines above rather than folded into the suit: a budget built on the shop's answer meets the rest of the outfit in the final fortnight, when there is no time left to shop on price. If your accessories line reads as small, check it against an actual list of what you still need to buy rather than against a feeling.

Renting prices one wearing; buying prices a garment. Run the calculator twice to compare them.

A rental fee looks lower than a purchase because it is buying a different thing: the use of a garment for a weekend, returned and cleaned by the house. Buying leaves you holding a suit. Neither is the right answer in general, and the fork turns almost entirely on the honest answer to how often the garment comes out again. A dark, plain suit bought and worn to work and to other weddings spreads its cost across those wearings; a tuxedo in an unusual colour, bought for one afternoon, does not. Fill the form in once with a rental quote and once with a purchase quote, keeping the shirt, shoes and accessories the same in both, since those are bought either way. Then divide the purchase total by the number of times you will genuinely wear it and set that against the rental total. Be honest at that step rather than optimistic, because the whole argument for buying rests on it.

Tailoring is quoted per job rather than as a package, so ask for the list rather than a number. Shortening sleeves, setting the trouser hem, taking in the waist, shaping the jacket body and moving buttons are separate pieces of work by the same hands, and a jacket altered through the shoulders is a different order of job from a trouser hem. Some shops include a hem and sleeve in the quoted price and bill everything else, some include nothing, and made-to-measure covers much of it inside the original figure. This page keeps the tailoring on its own line because who pays for it and how much of it is already covered varies shop by shop.

Bring the shoes to the first fitting, because the trouser hem is cut to a height. A suit hemmed over trainers and worn with dress shoes breaks in the wrong place, and buying the shoes after the fittings can mean paying the tailor a second time for work already done. The shoes line above is not just a purchase; it is a dependency, and it is the most common reason a small line ends up moving the total. The same holds for anything that changes the drape, such as a waistcoat added late.

This page prices your attire only, and it stops at the edge of your own outfit. Groomsmen, a father's suit, matching ties bought for the party, and anything you are covering for other people are a separate and often larger question, because the per-person figure above gets multiplied by the size of the party. If you are paying for the group, run the calculator once for your own outfit, then decide separately what the group standard is and what share of it you are picking up, since those are usually cheaper garments in greater numbers.

Frequently asked questions

How much does a wedding suit cost?

It depends on what you are counting, and the question usually collects a narrower answer than it wants. A menswear quote prices the jacket and trousers on the hanger. Underneath it sit the tailoring that makes the garment fit, which is rarely nothing on anything bought off the rail, and then the shirt, the shoes, the tie, the belt and the small items that finish the outfit, each bought separately and none of them inside the quote. This page invents no figures to stand in for those: it leaves them to your shop, your tailor and your own shopping list. Put your quotes in the form above and the calculator totals them, with the garment on its own line and everything the quote left out listed beneath it.

Is it cheaper to rent or buy a wedding suit?

That depends on a number only you can supply, which is how many times the garment will actually be worn. A rental fee buys one wearing of a suit that goes back afterwards, altered only within the limits the rental house permits, and cleaned by them. Buying leaves you owning the garment, so the cost divides across every occasion it comes out for. A plain dark suit that becomes a work and wedding-guest suit divides well; a distinctive tuxedo bought for one afternoon does not, and the honest answer for many grooms is that it stays in the wardrobe. Fill the calculator above in twice, once with a rental quote and once with a purchase quote, keeping the shirt, shoes and accessories identical since you buy those either way. Then divide the purchase total by the wearings you actually expect and compare it with the rental total. That division is the figure that makes the two options comparable, and it is worth doing on paper rather than in your head.

Are alterations included in the price of a suit?

Sometimes partly, rarely entirely, and it varies enough between shops that it is worth asking directly at the counter. A garment bought off the rail is cut to a size chart and needs the sleeves shortened, the trouser hem set and usually the waist and jacket body taken in. Some shops include a basic hem and sleeve adjustment in the quoted price and bill the rest as separate jobs; others send you to a tailor of your own. Made-to-measure and bespoke orders build much of the fit work into the original figure, which is one reason a higher quote is not always the higher total. Ask what is included, ask for the job list rather than a single number, and keep the tailoring on its own line in the form above until you have that answer in writing.

How far ahead should I order a wedding suit?

Earlier than the shopping itself suggests, because the timeline is set by fittings rather than by the purchase. An off-the-rail suit needs a fitting appointment, the alteration work itself, and a second appointment to check it, and a tailor working through a busy season is not always available on your schedule. Made-to-measure and bespoke run longer still, since the garment is cut and then fitted in stages. Rentals need the reservation placed before your date is claimed and the garment checked when it arrives, since a rental turning up wrong a week out leaves very little room. Whatever route you take, buy the shoes first, because the hem is cut to them, and keep enough time after the final fitting to fix anything the mirror shows you.

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