An Exclusive Interview with The Groomsman Suit
Searching for great looking, affordable wedding suits that you’ll love? The Groomsman Suit has everything you’ve been looking for!
The Groomsman Suit focuses on creating affordable, attractive, and great fitting suits that your whole wedding party will fall in love with. Most people turn to companies that rent out suits and tuxedos for outfitting their big day. Many rentals fit poorly, are not current with the most recent styles, and still cost hundreds of dollars to just to rent. The Groomsman Suit is unique in that they offer well-made, modern suits at an affordable price. In fact, you will own your suit from The Groomsman Suit for a comparable price to what you’d pay for renting a suit or tuxedo elsewhere! The Groomsman Suit is an online, men’s wedding attire store. These suits have been designed with an emphasis on fit, high quality fabrics, and a variety of colors. Once you pick out the suit/tux that you want to outfit your wedding party in, your groomsmen can easily order their suits online. No need to stress about everyone making it to the store on time! Here is more information on how The Groomsman Suit works!
We sat down with Jeanne Foley and Diana Ganz, co-founders of The Groomsman Suit (GS), for an exclusive interview. Find out how The Groomsman Suit came to be and more below:
What inspired you to start your own business?
GS: While the idea stemmed from Jeanne’s experience outfitting the guys in her wedding, our motivation to launch The Groomsman Suit comes from the opportunity we see based on a huge gap in convenient, affordable menswear options for grooms, groomsmen, and bridesmen. Our ability to have gotten off to such a great start has really been the combination of our amazing product and coming together as a team to bring it to life.
Starting your own business can be pretty intimidating. What advice do you have for someone who is considering going in this direction?
GS: Find the right partner to go into business with. There is a reason companies with multiple co-founders are more successful. Starting your own company is a rollercoaster and having a friend to weather the ups and downs will keep you sane, motivated and committed.
What is one of your earliest and/or most significant entrepreneurial experiences?
GS: Both of our parents owned businesses in our home town of Kalamazoo. In hindsight, being exposed to their journey and challenges probably made it seem like starting a business was a normal undertaking. For us, starting The Groomsman Suit has been our most significant entrepreneurial experience to date. We’ve been in leadership roles and either led companies or verticals of them, but nothing truly prepares you to be a business owner until you go through the day to day firsthand.
What is the most valuable lesson you have learned in starting this company?
GS: Together, we can really figure anything out. Answers are out there and finding them is part of the fun of starting your own business and what drives us! A lot of what we have learned has been through trial and error, a lot of research, plenty of debate, and visualizing various scenarios & possible outcomes. Ultimately every decision we make moves us forward one way or another.
What is your recommendation for balancing work and your personal life?
GS: When you truly love your job, and happen to work with your best friend, the lines between work and personal life can definitely become blurred. While we seem to be always working, talking on the phone, in person, emailing, or texting about work, we fit it all into a schedule that works for our lives.
Diana is an early riser and Jeanne takes full advantage of the evening hours after her daughter falls asleep. We are great about covering for each other to give the space to do things we each love like visiting with family, working out, catching up on sleep, going to the beach, etc.
What is your favorite pastime?
GS: Going to the beach! We grew up going to the beach together and can’t wait to take Jeanne’s daughter, Francesca, for the first time. Not far behind is watching VHS tapes and rocking out to Mariah Carey.
What makes Groomsman suits unique?
GS: Hands down, quality and price. Simply put, our suits are gorgeous and would normally retail for over $400 in a store, BUT we hold tight to our philosophy that men shouldn’t have to spend a fortune to look great. This mission drives our every move and we are committed to providing a simplified, affordable option for men’s formal wear.
In your opinion, what qualities make for a stand-out suit?
GS: Fit, color & quality craftsmanship. Guys should not be afraid of a more fitted suit. In the right size, a slimmer cut suit looks great on everyone.
What advice do you have for finding the perfect fit?
GS: Get measured by a great tailor and hold on to your measurements! We find that guys don’t usually know what size they are. Fortunately, we are specialists and can guide any of our customers to the right size with a few basic questions. We can do this because we know the cut of our suits and how it relates to different body types.
We also carry a much wider range of suit sizes compared to other retailers who typically market to a specific body type or demographic. Our size range give couples comfort in knowing that we can outfit a wide range of body types/sizes that typically make up a bridal party. We also proudly offer our suit sizes as separates so the guys can pick the perfect jacket and pant size for their body type. All of this combined really sets us apart from other industry leaders in menswear.
Find a retailer that is committed to your fit and satisfaction. We are dedicated to helping our guys look and feel great in their suits or tuxedos. By offering free exchanges and returns, no one has to worry if the size they ordered isn’t a perfect fit. We are very responsive in supplying them with an alternative size. For the record, we have yet to have a single return from an unsatisfied customer since our launch!
Do you have plans to extend beyond the wedding industry, in the future?
GS: We already have! After wearing our suits in weddings, guys have reordered multiple suits to wear to work. Right now, our marketing efforts are focused on the wedding industry which has made for a meaningful and directed company launch. Eventually, we see our brand appealing to all men looking for affordable suiting to wear to work or any special occasion.
Is there anything else you’d like to share?
GS 1: We are extremely proud to have recently been selected as one of 10 small business winners in the FedEx small business Grant Contest. With over 1700 other small businesses in the running, making it to the top 10 was not only incredible validation that we are on the right track, but receiving a grant of $7500 has been an amazing supplement to our growing business! We had a blast meeting the other small business grant contest winners in September when we went to Memphis to meet with the incredible FedEx team!
GS2: Customer service drives us and our business. Having successfully created an incredible suit at an even more amazing price, now, we are solely focused on providing excellent customer service. We are nothing without our customers and want each of our guys to walk away in our suit knowing we care deeply about how they look and feel. When we are dealing with such an important day in someone’s life, we want their experience with TGS to be a positive part of the fun planning process allowing the groom, groomsmen and bridesmen to enjoy the celebration while looking their best!
An Interview with the Models
Daniel
1. What do you look for in a suit?
More than anything, a suit has to fit right. For me, that generally means a slim cut and not too boxy.
2. Bow tie or neck tie?
Bow tie when I can.
3. Suspenders or belt?
Suspenders.
4. What advice do you have for coordinating shoe and suit colors?
My rule of thumb: my shoes always match my belt color.
5. Tell us one of your favorite memories from attending a wedding? Specifically, do you have any funny groomsmen stories?
When I broke it down with the groom’s 80-year-old grandmother.
Alex
1. What do you look for in a suit?
I enjoy a slim fit. Nothing too tight that I can’t bust a move on the dance floor
2. Bow tie or neck tie?
I’m a skinny tie guy. Occasionally I’ll bust out the bow tie for your classier parties but I love rocking my collection of Tie clipped
3. Suspenders or belt?
I’ve learned my lesson earlier on. Suspenders are cool but not cool enough for passersby to snap them back for a laugh. I keep it simple with a nice leather belt
4. What advice do you have for coordinating shoe and suit colors?
As long as the shoes match the belt and accentuate the tie, go crazy.
5. Tell us one of your favorite memories from attending a wedding? Specifically, do you have any funny groomsmen stories?
This last summer I had the honor of standing next to my 4 best buddies for my best friend Tom’s wedding. It was a great wedding but the best story to come out of it was at the expense of my poor friend Julian. We had rented our tuxes online and all of us waited last minute to send in our measurements, eliminating anytime we might have had to fix an issue. Needless to say we all were either swimming in our suits or unable to breath in them with the exception of Julian who’s fit perfectly. When it was time for us to all iron our shirts, Julian takes the hot iron that had been on for about an hour and for some reason decides to iron his suit jacket. I only had a split second to process this before suggesting that might not be a good idea, but I was already too late. I just see the look on Julian’s face and the smell that start permeating the whole hotel floor. The iron shaped burn mark seemed to be growing before our very eyes. Luckily, he had burnt it right by his side. Heeding my advice, he just clasped his hands for the entire ceremony keeping his arms bent and covering the burn. The Bride never found out and once the reception started we all took our jackets off and jumped on the dance floor.
Sotiris
1. What do you look for in a suit?
I look for a suit to fit on me well. It also needs to be chic, comfortable, and the fabric has to have a nice feeling.
2. Bow tie or neck tie?
Neck tie.
3. Suspenders or belt?
Belt.
4. What advice do you have for coordinating shoe and suit colors?
In a black suit I would pick black shoes and in the blue suit I would pick brown shoes. Everything depends on the color of the suit.
5. Tell us one of your favorite memories from attending a wedding? Specifically, do you have any funny groomsmen stories?
One of my favorite memories is from a Greek wedding when I saw the groom with his son in his arms. The ceremony was both a wedding and a baptism and it all happened on the beach. It was an amazing moment. The most beautiful of all was that his son was wearing the same suit as the daddy!
Gavin
1. What do you look for in a suit?
When I go suit shopping it’s all about the fit. Being a fit model it kind of makes you picky when it comes to how things fit – and it’s always needs to look sharp.
2. Bow tie or neck tie?
I’m a necktie kind of guy – not to bust the bow tie, but if I had to choose it would be a cool skinny tie over them all.
3. Suspenders or belt?
I go with a belt over suspenders – it’s just easier. But, if you can rock the suspenders right, you look good!
4. What advice do you have for coordinating shoe and suit colors?
Blues get browns, black on black, and they always say “it’s kind of a grey area,” and it’s no exception with a grey suit because they can go both ways.
5. Tell us one of your favorite memories from attending a wedding? Specifically, do you have any funny groomsmen stories?
Let me set the stage – I’m a groomsman at my sister’s wedding, the best man is the groom’s father, my father is the pastor, marrying the couple. The best man aka groom’s father leans over to me and says I forgot the rings. I kind of laugh at him thinking he’s joking until I look over at his face and it looked like he was about to die from dehydration from all the sweat pouring out of his body. I said, “where are they?” He said, “somewhere in the dressing room, I don’t know.” So, I run off the stage because he didn’t want to look like the bad guy and tear down the aisle to go find the rings. Meanwhile, everyone is thinking what a crappy brother I am for not going to the bathroom before the service. Long story slightly shorter, I found the rings, saved the wedding, and my sister and brother in law just had their 3rd baby – All because I saved their marriage! I’ll be here all week 😉
