Freedom Hill Banquet and Event Center has six rooms, and between them they take anything from fifty guests to four hundred and fifty. Couples choose a room by the headcount and then choose a suit as though the two decisions were unrelated. They aren’t. The size of the room is the single biggest factor in what a groom’s suit actually has to accomplish.
At fifty, the suit is examined
Every guest is within a few feet of him for part of the evening. They see cloth, stitching, whether a collar sits down, whether a cuff shows. This is the room where construction and finish earn their money.
At four hundred and fifty, the suit is a silhouette
Almost nobody is close. What reads is the outline: shoulder line, jacket length, and how sharply the suit separates from the shirt. Fine cloth is invisible at that distance and a poor outline is obvious.
So ask which room before you shop
A small room argues for spending on the make, half-canvassed at $300 to $500. A large one argues for spending on the fit and going darker, so the shape holds from the back tables. Tell the consultant the headcount and he’ll know which conversation to have.
Also for Sterling Heights: A Room for Five Hundred, and the Hour Nobody Plans For. More on wedding suits, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
