I THINK I could have been forgiven for thinking that the only piece of clothing that really mattered at a wedding was the bride's dress.

I figured that once my beautiful wife-to-be had selected that special, hideously overpriced garment she will wear once and then hang up, the costumes for the rest of the cast would be easy.

Nope. To be honest I was surprised how quickly Lucy found THAT dress. I was expecting a search on the scale of the hunt for Bin Laden, only with slightly more interrogation and water torture. But to be fair to her she found the special, one-use only frock (she'll probably not be happy with me calling it a frock) with the minimum of fuss.

So I thought that when it came to dressing me and the rest of the team it would be much more straightforward. Traditionally a chap only needs to don top hat and tails and he's a groom good to go. Wikipedia reckons that the term comes from the clothes that 19th Century gents used to wear during a morning horse ride.

But having been in top hat and tails on a number of occasions (as best man and usher you understand, I'm no bed-hoping bigamist) I had discovered they just weren't me. So I opted for a simple suit. I think I and my groomsmen will look much better in a nice sharp suit. It also means, that for the same price as hiring, I can buy the suits and let my guys keep them as gifts.

There is of course the safety aspect too. If we were kitted out in hired suits I can guarantee a selection of things would happen. Lucy's dad would probably end up burning a hole in his, or someone else's suit. My hugely dependable ushers would, between them, lose a couple of items, spill beer, wine and god knows what else on there suits, and you can guarantee that someone will end up throwing up on one.

At least if we actually own the suits, I don't have to walk into a shop and hand back soiled and burned clothing and have to tell the shop worker that there are a selection of waistcoats and cravats hidden somewhere in the Gower countryside.

That is obviously why they do the photos first, before they let you have a proper run at the bar. So that you can look smart and respectable years later when you show your kids your special day. But then with camera and video phones everywhere I'm guessing a video of uncle Leigh or Andrew passed out on the wedding cake is bound to end up on YouTube or its future equivalent, and be tracked down by sleuthing offspring.

So proper suits are the way forward. We've found them and got a good price for them too. I thought it was all sorted. Then I was told about colour schemes and discovered that the quest is now on for ties in a rare shade of green that is probably only possible to make during a solar eclipse. I knew things had been far too easy.