Gwanggyo, Suwon tailor: English-fabric wedding suit at Sartoria Teo

Looking into wedding suits while planning the wedding, I realized there was more to think about than I expected. My fiancé doesn't wear suits often for work, so we didn't need anything super expensive, but it's still the outfit he'll wear on our wedding day, so I didn't want it looking cheap either.

So we looked into getting a made-to-measure suit within our budget in Suwon. Here's our review of getting a custom shirt made and consulting on and contracting a wedding suit at Sartoria Teo!

Where is Sartoria Teo in Suwon, and when is it open?

Sartoria Teo's Gwanggyo location is at 170 Gwanggyo-jungang-ro, Yeongtong-gu, Suwon-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea, Office 509-510, Building A, Gwanggyo Hyosung Harrington Tower. It's closed on Mondays, open 11:00–20:00, has free parking, and you can also book through Naver Reservation.

Since Sartoria Teo is in Gwanggyo, it's a convenient visit from Yongin, Suwon, or Dongtan. Our wedding is in Seoul, but we looked for a suit shop close to home. Friends who married before us said you often need to visit the shop again for rentals around the photoshoot or the actual wedding day, so it's more convenient to find one near home. So instead of going all the way to Seoul, we narrowed our search to the Suwon–Dongtan area.

How a custom shirt is made at Sartoria Teo

At Sartoria Teo you can choose everything from collar shape to sleeve style to color for a custom shirt, and the single owner does the measuring and cutting himself. We went with plain white for the photoshoot.

A big reason we chose Sartoria Teo was the professionalism we felt during the consultation. My fiancé found the place and visited first — since it's a one-person operation, he really liked that the same person handled everything carefully from consultation through to the fitting process.

Walking into the shop, we saw a row of custom shirts hanging on one side that other customers had ordered. Seeing that gave me more confidence that this place really does a lot of custom tailoring.

We could customize everything from the collar shape to the sleeve style exactly the way we wanted, and there was a wide range of colors to choose from. We went with plain white in the end.

He measured my fiancé's shoulder width, neck thickness, leg length, and more, one by one, like this.

The single owner did the measuring and cutting himself. He apparently completed a bespoke tailoring academy program in Italy, by the way. A few days later, the custom shirt made for the photoshoot was ready, so we went back to try it on.

When my fiancé tried it on, he said it was clearly different from any shirt he'd worn before, haha. Watching next to him, I could see the neck and shoulders were shaped to fit his body, definitely a different feel from off-the-rack shirts. It was the first properly fitted shirt he'd had made during our wedding prep, and it was more satisfying than we expected.

Korean, Italian or English fabric: which one we chose for the wedding suit

After trying the shirt, we also contracted the wedding suit at Sartoria Teo, and chose English fabric. We told him our budget first, and he showed us a comparison of Korean, Italian, and English fabrics that fit within it.

Honestly, since my fiancé doesn't wear suits often, I wondered if a full bespoke suit was really necessary, but the bride isn't the only one who's the main character on the wedding day, haha.

So we decided to invest exactly as much as we needed (since it's something he can wear for other formal occasions after the wedding too). What helped most was that when we told him our budget up front during the consultation, he explained the fabric comparison within that range, which took a lot of the pressure off. During the consultation, he showed us a range of options from Korean to Italian to English fabric, all fitted to our budget.

Korean fabric is relatively affordable and durable but has a slightly rougher texture. Italian fabric is thin and soft, so it drapes nicely on the body, but being thin, it seemed better suited to a summer suit. English fabric was firm yet substantial enough, which made it look like the best fit for a wedding suit. We wanted something we could wear for a long time — a bit weighty and sturdy rather than too thin and light — so we went with English fabric.

What the photoshoot suit rental includes

When you order a wedding suit at Sartoria Teo, you can rent 2 outfits for the photoshoot, plus a tie-and-suspenders package and handmade shoes, all at no extra cost. I liked that the photoshoot outfits didn't feel like a step down in quality.

For the photoshoot, it's nice to be able to show a few different suit styles, so we rented one dark-colored and one light-colored outfit.

When you rent the photoshoot outfits, you also get a package like this with a tie and suspenders included (no extra charge). We asked if the handmade shoes could also be rented, and he said it was too much trouble to charge extra, so he'd just lend them for free, haha. So we got everything sorted right there!

Can you order the parents' wedding suits in Suwon too?

Sartoria Teo also offers suit rentals for the parents of the bride and groom in Suwon, not just the groom's outfit. So we'll probably end up renting or having a suit made for my dad too later. (Haven't asked him yet, haha.)

Parents often try on their wedding-day suit for the first time only on the day itself, and if someone doesn't wear suits often, renting is usually a better option than buying outright. We wondered whether we'd need to look into parents' suits separately during wedding prep too, so it was convenient that we could consult on both the groom's suit and the parents' suits in one place.

Especially for a couple like us who's getting married in Seoul but living in southern Gyeonggi, being able to handle everything in one nearby place mattered a lot, since we'll need to visit multiple times before and after the wedding. (Dragging our fathers back and forth to Seoul over and over — no way I have time for that.)

Final verdict on Sartoria Teo

After consulting at Sartoria Teo, we found we could still choose fabric and design within our budget, and having the custom shirt made confirmed the quality was good. Most of all, my fiancé, who actually wore the shirt, said he could clearly feel the difference from shirts he'd worn before, which made me happy too, haha.

If you're looking into custom suits, wedding suits, or parents' suits in Suwon, I'd recommend getting a consultation and deciding for yourself. And if you're also looking for parents' suits to wear on the wedding day, keep in mind you can consult on both at once in one place.