Top 5 Tips for Future Grooms

Here's one specifically for the grooms! Seán from Manly Stuff has combined his wedding industry experience, and his personal experience as a recent groom, to detail the top 5 tips for grooms-to-be, to help you be as organised as possible in the lead up to the big day! 

In this article I'm going to cover 5 things that the groom should remember to help his future wife or husband with the wedding planning... that he will probably leave to the last minute (I'm speaking from experience!)

1. The Suit & Groomsmen Clothes
2. Groomsmen Gifts
3. Flowers for the Mothers
4. Paying Everyone on Time
5. Song Choices

Getting prepped for your wedding is both an enjoyable experience and a stressful one. No matter how well prepared you think you are - prepare to be surprised! I got married last year and no matter how well we planned and budgeted, there was still a lot of extra bills to be paid (forget your last pay check before your wedding - it's toast) and a LOT of extra duties to be ticked off the list.
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The following 5 points are what I learned from my wedding last year...

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1. The Suit & Groomsmen Clothes 
You might say this is an obvious one but hear me out. I opted to get a Made to Measure Suit for my wedding. I had 16 weeks to get it done which I thought would be loads of time. Unfortunately the suit company I went for let me down and never delivered the suit and so two weeks before the wedding there was a mad dash for me to find and buy a new suit. It went fine in the end and I got sorted with a beautiful suit, but it was a stress my wife-to-be definitely didn't need. 
On the groomsmen clobber, it's important to remember that your groomsmen will not be on as regimented a diet as you are! If you got suits measured months ago, bear in mind there might be some last minute alterations needed and you should plan these WAY ahead of time.
At Manly Stuff, we now offer Made to Measure Suits with a 6 week turnaround time so if you'd like to think about one, just drop us a line.

2. Groomsmen Gifts
This wasn't even something I thought existed until I was a groomsman at a friends wedding where he gifted us a personalised bottle of whiskey and a cigar. You need to give your groomsmen a memento or gift to thank them for their help in the run up to the wedding or on the big day itself. Think of something memorable and try and avoid anything perishable. A lot of people get cufflinks - we don't recommend these as your lads will have a few beers and almost definitely lose one! An engraved watch or hip flask is always a good choice.

3. Flowers for the Mothers
It's something you should arrange with your future spouse when you're organising flowers for the big day - just remember to get two extra bouquets and you're set. DO NOT FORGET! You'll be getting burnt meals for the rest of your life.

4. Paying Everyone on Time
In the run up to the big day, there will be a LOT of bills to pay, the average bill for a wedding in Ireland these days is around €30,000 - that will consist of your celebrant, suits, wedding dress, flowers, makeup, hair, the band,  venue hire etc. Make sure you have an excel sheet made up that consists of your budget, lists of suppliers and how much each is going to cost & when they need to be paid. Have envelopes with the exact amount of cash ready on your wedding day and give this to your best man - it should be his job to look after these kinds of things.

5. Song Choices
This might seem like a strange one but the music you listen to during the day is absolutely key for setting the mood. My wife and I spent many evenings cracking open a bottle of wine and listening to tunes. It was a lovely way to unwind when things got stressful and it made us really think about what music we wanted to be played on the day. You have a lot of important songs to think about like your processional song, songs for during the ceremony, songs over drinks, the first dance etc. and it should be something that you both do together - not something that you lump on your other half to do!

​Well that's it for our Top 5 Tips for Future Grooms, your wedding day will be the best day of your life and you'll have amazing memories for years to come - just remember to pull your weight!

At Manly Stuff we specialise in top quality Groomsmen Gifts and Made to Measure Suits as well as wedding packages for the lads such as whiskey tastings, hot towel shaving experiences and more - be sure to drop over to our stall at the Dublin Spectacular Vintage Wedding Fair on November 10th. We look forward to meeting you!