What is your most memorable wedding?
Sorry to disappoint but obviously it was my own !
Describe your style in 5 adjectives.
Unique, Modern, Stylish, Professional, Quality
What about your business are you most proud of?
After 30 years of being a partner in a menswear shop (Laurie Hopkins Menswear, Lindley, Huddersfield) I have now gone mobile and am offering the same level of service but under our new label TravellingTailor.co.uk
What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?
It's your wedding, you can have ANYTHING you want but you can't always hire what you want. Made to Measure gives you all the options you could wish for.
What is your favourite personal touch you have seen at a wedding?
Everything in made to measure is personal, you choose the style, the colour, the linings, everything. It doesn't have to have your initials and the date embroidered on it (although we can).
We once made a plain navy blue suit for a groom that had brought his own cloth to us, it was made out of a stunning piece of cloth that his Grandfather had left him in his will. The Grandfather had been the president of the Bradford Wool Exchange and the cloth was from a test piece, there had been 3 suit lengths made. One went to Emperor Hirohito of Japan, the second went to JFK and our client was left the 3rd piece. He had the cloth made up into his wedding suit.
Describe your typical process with a couple.
From initial contact via phone or email we arrange a meeting when we show you patterns and discuss your requirements, we then measure you and begin making your suit. In around 6-8 weeks we are then ready to let you try on your garment after which any final adjustments are made and the suit is then delivered to the groom.
What are your favourite wedding traditions for men?
'I do !'
What is the best way to make the groomsmen stand out from the crowd?
We recently had a wedding where the groom wore a 3 piece made to measure tweed suit and we also made the groomsmen's waistcoats out of the same material as the grooms suit, the groomsmen very obviously stood out on those photographs.
Why is groomswear just as important as bridalwear?
Obviously the bride is the centre of attention but her dress is only ever worn once, if a groom invests in a made to measure suit he can get so much wear out of it. Quite often our grooms will spend as much on their suit (if not more) than the bride does on her dress but the suit is worn on many more occasions.
What is the most original outfit you have seen a groom wear?
We specialise in made to measure garments, everything we do is original. No one made to measure suit is more original than another because each one is made for an individual person. We often say 'Made to measure - because you're unique!'
Just as a side note: I have today (09/08/17) delivered and fitted a groom with his wedding suit using a fabric he selected from one of the merchants that I use. When I went to buy the suit fabric I was told that the bunch used was one of their new designs and that the length I had purchased for my client was the first they had sold to anyone (they sell cloth all over the world).
My clients Wedding Suit was at the time of making the only suit made out of that material anywhere in the world - is that original enough?