Tuxedo Man (Matthew's Got a Tuxedo!)

Good morning!

Gettin' down to crunch time, peeps. With seventy some odd days til the wedding, I have kicked planning into the "oh my god, FREAK because we are actually needing to make decisions on stuff NOW" phase of the process. As I realized the other day that my documents and ideas are all either in my inbox or stuffed in a "important mail" letter holder at home, I finally got my act together and salvaged an old work binder into a cheery little wedding planning notebook. Using the DIY tab suggestions on this website, I've been dutifully three ring punching and stapling and organizing to-do lists and already-done lists (hint: one is way bigger than the other), but I must say, the process was made a li-i-i-itle more cheerful by the printing out/addition of these photos to the section marked attire.

Ladies and gentlemen, Matthew has a tuxedo!

Well, he at least has an agreement to borrow a tuxedo for our big day in September. Matthew's mom, Deb, and the groom to be himself went out to Men's Warehouse in Green Hills on Monday. While the name of the store may bring up visions of small business owners from the early nineties' in terrible, "buy three and the pants are free" suits and ties, they treated them first rate and had a larger selection than other tuxedo rental places the two visited with slightly better names. I sent Matthew with a wallet-sized print-out of a silm fit tuxedo on Justin Timberlake so there would be no mistaking what was meant by "we want a slim-fit tuxedo". Yes, J-tim is the sartorial boilerplate for how I envisioned my little beloved waiting for me at the end of the aisle...he never wears baggy suits! God bless him. And yet they fit-- none of that Pete Wentz "I'm in a band, so tiny, tiny  over-shrunk clothes are ok, right?"

The problem is, no matter what size or height the man inside is, department stores and specialty places alike seem to want to put dudes in grossly oversized pants and jackets. I blame this on the same trend that makes a male "S" t-shirt or button up actually more like a men's M-L in vintage sizes. Do dudes' clothing manufacturers do vanity sizing, or do men just not know they look their best in fitted, not ill-fitting, clothes? I've seen Matthew, who is a slim little dude with relatively wide shoulders and short legs, coaxed into a blazer and pants that would have swamped a much taller, porcine man. "Oh, we can take it in some, though," the wizened salesman crowed when posed with objections to the fit. Um, how much are you going to take it in? Five sizes? ((shakes head)) It was like they were fitting young Brando for old Brando (shiver). No dice, clothes merchants! Wrong is wrong!

This is the same photo as the Instagram snap that heads this post, except pre-Instagramming. See! He looks just as nice without the filters. I am amused by the background full of a Gatsby spectrum of colored shirts and suit jackets. I secretly wish we could get away with a colored suit like this or this, but maybe in the next life, when we're both cats. COOL CATS. Also, his hair? It just does that. I'm not kidding. No product, no special blow drying-- he sleeps on it, and it comes out in the morning looking like this. I hope our kids' get his hair's texture and not my iron-straight, curl-less locks!

I'm kind of sorry I didn't get to go along with mother and son to check out the dressing room preening, but I was happy Deb and Matthew took a lot of photos so I could check it out after the fact. I had the goofiest little love feeling when I saw him all dressed up and thought about meeting him at the altar in September. He was cute because he called me after all the little contracts were signed and said, "I couldn't get a hold of you when we needed to make decisions about the accessories [tangent: how often do you hear a guy say this? It's worth gloating over for a minute], but lemme ask you this-- bow tie or tie?" Me: "Bow tie." Matthew: "YESSSS. Vest or cummerbund?" Me: "Cummerbund." Matthew: "Yes! Yes, I knew it! Pearl buttons or black?" Me: "Black." Matthew: "THREE FOR THREE! I knew what you would like! My training has paid off!"  And it certainly has! Here's the finished product, pre-tweaking (there's a little bit of this to be taken in and that to be altered, but not by much, thank goodness):

Matthew also said the saleslady was impressed with how much he talked about me during the fitting, because she could tell he was really excited to be getting married and specifically to be getting married to me. She told him a lot of guys come in grouchy, petulant, obstinate  and it was nice to see a guy who was actually happy about tying the knot! I was surprised to hear that, because coming as I have from trying on a million wedding dresses, and every human female in the store, bride or bridal party, is just jumping up and down with excitement, I'd never thought about what the dude's portion of this process must have been like.I actually have a tiny sentimental tear thinking about this in the midst of all my "oh good God what do I do about table settings". Guys, it's gonna be a great wedding! Who cares what the chairs and the favors and the food looks like (I do, but you know what I mean)? We got heart! And that's a lot.

Anyway, sorry to sentimental-out on you guys, it was just the first thing on my mind this morning, and that's what usually goes on the blog! Back to vintage stuff tomorrow, with a vengeance. In the meantime though, indulge me-- what wedding planning tips do you have for a gal a little less than three months away from the big day? I got a list of things from a blog reader, Tamra in Alabama, that has been tacked up in my cubicle and making me smile since she sent it, but I'd love to hear more from you marrieds or soon to be marrieds or have thought about being marrieds about how to do this gracefully (is it possible?!).

That's all for now! Catch you kiddos on Thursday. Til then!