Laurel Manor at 39000 Schoolcraft Road has held big Livonia weddings since 1988, and its combined ballroom seats up to 1,200. At that size most of the guests never get closer to the groom than forty feet. At forty feet nobody sees a buttonhole or a lapel. They see a shape, and the shape is what the suit has to get right.
What reads at forty feet
Three things. The line of the shoulder, which is either clean or it isn’t. The contrast between the suit and the shirt, which is what makes a man visible against a wall of tables. And the length of the jacket. A jacket cut too short makes a man look like his legs start at his ribs, and the back of the room notices that before it notices anything.
Color for a big room
Darker than the party and darker than the walls. A navy so dark it sits near black against a white shirt gives the room a shape to find, and midnight blue does it while still looking like a color in the photographs taken up close. A mid gray disappears into a room that size.
The fitting for distance
Ask the consultant to step back. Twenty feet across the floor is enough to see the shoulder and the length the way the room will, and both are settled before the hem is pinned. Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, does the hem to the shoes you’ll walk the aisle in.
Also for Livonia: The Room for Fifty at Laurel Manor: A Seated Suit. More on wedding suits, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
