A couple ditched the traditional wedding tuxedos for bold, custom suits inspired by red-carpet looks

Michael Domanico and Walter Hickey have been together since 2016.

Domanico, 29, and Hickey, 33, met on Hinge almost eight years ago, going on their first date the day after St. Patrick's Day.

They've been together ever since, and they got engaged in October 2022.

Today, Domanico and Hickey live in Astoria, Queens, and they both work at Business Insider.

They planned their wedding for November 4, 2023.

Domanico and Hickey got married at the Queens Museum, where they got engaged and had one of their first dates.

"That museum means a great deal to us," Hickey said. "We really like where we live in the city and the community which we're in."

They wanted the wedding to feel sleek but comfortable, Domanico said of their approach to their nuptials.

"It has that kind of fun sense of refinement to it just built into the venue, but we're also having fun with it," he said of the venue.

Jewelry by Johan designed Domanico's engagement ring.

As they started planning their wedding, Domanico decided he wanted a bespoke suit.

Domanico knew he wanted a unique look for the wedding, and he figured out soon after he got engaged that a bespoke ensemble would be right for him.

"I needed something with even more optionality built into it and even more customization than just your standard custom suit," he said.

"I wanted something that I could build a little bit more and work with someone on creating a more exact look with what I wanted," he said.

A friend recommended he work with Yosel Tiefenbrun, a Brooklyn-based designer specializing in bespoke suits, to create his dream wedding look.

"Early on, it was very, very clear to me that we were on the same page," he said of working with Tiefenbrun. "He was really listening to what I wanted."

Domanico and Tiefenbrun started the process by talking about Domanico's inspiration for the look.

Tiefenbrun helped guide Domanico to the right look for him, turning his general inspiration into a concrete look.

"I knew I wanted something that wasn't a primary color. I knew I wanted something that wasn't super bright," Domanico said of his initial inspiration for his wedding suit, imagining himself in a shade of silver or lavender.

As he and Tiefenbrun started working together, Domanico sent Tiefenbrun a few inspiration photos, pointing to red-carpet looks Timothée Chalamet has worn in recent years.

Domanico said Tiefenbrun ensured the suit was designed to be both stylish and wearable for a wedding.

For instance, he was initially drawn to the sash on Chalamet's 2019 Venice Film Festival ensemble. But he opted not to add a sash to his look after Tiefenbrun said it could make him look "unapproachable" or "removed" from guests, which isn't the vibe he wanted.

Tiefenbrun created the suit from scratch.

Domanico headed to Mood Fabrics to find the material that would work for the suit, and after a long search, he chose a silver material similar to silk but slightly more textured and durable. He said he was drawn to it because of the depth of its color.

"What I was really looking for was a suit that looked different in different lighting," Domanico said. "I wanted it to always look a little bit different, depending on the angle, the level of the light, all that kind of stuff."

Over the course of eight months, Tiefenbrun created the suit, bringing in Domanico for multiple fittings to ensure it was perfect.

The finished ensemble offered a sleek look with no tie.

The slim-fitted suit consisted of a single-button jacket and pants with an exposed seam on the front of each leg.

Domanico also wore a mandarin collar shirt custom-made for him by Tiefenbrun.

"I thought it would be very easy to find a mandarin collar shirt, but it wasn't," Domanico said. "It was very hard to find a shirt that looked good and was of high enough quality."

He found two options on Amazon, but when he tried it on with the suit four weeks before the wedding, he felt like it looked cheap.

Tiefenbrun agreed, but Domanico wasn't sure what to do next, as the shirt-maker he knew would take six weeks to make the top. Tiefenbrun offered to help.

"He was like, 'You know what, I'll make the shirt, and the next time you come back, I'll have it,'" Domanico said, with Tiefenbrun using one of the Amazon shirts to serve as the fitting top.

When Domanico came in for his final fitting, the shirt was perfect.

Domanico paired statement, white boots with his suit.

"We knew we wanted boots because we wanted the pant legs not to fall flat and feel like the look wasn't continuous," Domanico said of why he wanted a heeled shoe with his wedding ensemble.

He fell in love with a white YSL boot with a subtle point to the toe when he tried them on at a pop-up.

Domanico's accessories completed the look, as did his choice to go tie-less.

"I loved feeling free of the constriction and societal restraint of the bow tie," Domanico said of wearing no tie.

"It was amazing to do away with that and just feel very, very comfortable in what I was wearing and not like I had to conform to anything," he added.

Domanico loved how confident he felt on his wedding day.

"It felt like it had come together in a way that was better than I anticipated," he said, adding that the suit felt as good as it looked. He was able to dance with ease throughout the night.

Domanico also said bringing inspiration photos to his first meeting with Tiefenbrun was the key to creating a looked he loved.

"Have your inspiration photos ready," he advised others. "I think that if I went in there without some kind of visual representation, it would have been really hard to explain."

Domanico also ensured a friend always accompanied him to his fittings, which was crucial to the process.

"I know that that's common for brides to do a big dress fitting thing with your family or your friends or the bridesmaids or the maid of honor," he said. "I don't know how common it always is with grooms, and I would definitely recommend it because I always needed a second opinion to be like, 'Is this good?'"

"Don't go it alone," he said.

Hickey also wore a colorful look to their nuptials.

Hickey didn't get a fully bespoke suit, instead opting for a custom look. He took inspiration from Andrew Garfield's suit for the 2022 Oscars, per his husband's suggestion.

Knot Standard designed Hickey's velvet, maroon look. It had a more relaxed silhouette than Domanico's.

Hickey paired the suit with a black dress shirt and a black bow tie.

"I'd been joking that I wanted my groomsmen to look like James Bond, and I wanted to look like the guy who's going to kill James Bond," Hickey said of his vision for his ensemble. "I thought we accomplished the task at hand."

"I really dig the look we came up with for me," Hickey said.

"It fit like a glove," he said of his suit. "It was very comfortable."

"I was a little worried about the velvet being a little bit too warm, but it was perfect for the November weather," he added. "I felt like I looked really good."

Louis Vuitton shoes completed the ensemble.

Hickey and Domanico didn't see each other's wedding outfits until a first look ahead of their ceremony.

The couple's friend Kim saw their ensembles ahead of the wedding, ensuring their suits would look good together, but their outfits were a mystery to each other until the big day.

"His looked amazing," Domanico said of his reaction Hickey's suit. "I was very impressed because I'd given him some high-level direction, but I had not actually been a part of the construction of the outfit at all, and he really nailed it. He looked really, really great."

"Our outfits complemented each other," he said. "We were both clearly the grooms, which is what I wanted."

Hickey described the first look as "spellbinding."

"He looked incredible," Hickey said of Domanico's wedding outfit. "He looked amazing, and it was just a real thrill."

Stephanie Naru and Riley Brennan photographed the wedding, while Hitches & Unions was their videographer.

Domanico and Hickey's wedding was officiated by their close friend Megan Willett-Wei.

Willett-Wei works with Domanico and Hickey at Business Insider, and she said she was both honored and intimidated to officiate for them.

"Walter and Michael are two of the sweetest and wittiest people you could ever meet, so I knew my part of the ceremony would need to be sharp to even hold a candle to their vows," she said. "Plus, Walter had also married me and my husband back in 2019, so it felt like a full-circle moment."

Willett-Wei wore a sparkly gold dress and a tiara to officiate, per Domanico's request.

"Michael had a vision, and by god do I think we achieved it," she said. "There was no danger of upstaging Michael or Walter since they both looked amazing in their suits, but I did make sure everyone at the wedding knew that I wasn't so full of myself that I insisted on wearing a tiara to someone else's wedding without vocal support from both grooms."

Posy Flowers provided florals for the wedding, and the lighting was designed by Universal Light & Sound NYC.

Willett-Wei also reviewed Hickey and Domanico's vows before the ceremony, which Domanico recommends to other couples.

Domanico said it was helpful to have someone read over their vows to ensure they fit together and to determine who should speak first.

Domanico's vows were slightly lighter in tone, while Hickey's were emotional, so Domanico loved that Willett-Wei suggested he speak first, as ending on the sentimental note felt right for them.

Hickey said Willet-Wei "did a profoundly good job."

"We were very lucky to have her do that," he added.

Cartier and Tiffany designed the grooms' rings.

Dancing was a highlight of the wedding for both grooms.

Domanico and Hickey danced the night away at their reception with music from their DJ Beat Train, both with each other and their guests. In addition to his first dance with Hickey, Domanico shared a first dance with his mom and a dance with his aunt in dedication to his grandmother.

"My mom cried two seconds in," he said.

Domanico and his sister also spontaneously did the original choreography to "I'm A Slave 4 U" by Britney Spears, and Hickey did an impromptu lift of Domanico during their last dance of the night.

"He lifted me, and we spun around a bunch, and it was super trippy and super fun," he said.

Frenchy Cake Designs made their cake for the evening, and Varsano's Chocolate provided additional desserts.

Domanico loves how supportive Hickey is.

"I think the thing that I've always loved the most is that he is very supportive, and I think this wedding epitomized that in a lot of ways," Domanico said of his husband. "I wanted to do things our own way, and he was always very supportive of that."

"I could tell him basically anything, and he will be in my corner. I find that really special, and it's something that I'm very, very grateful to have," Domanico said.

And for Hickey, Domanico is everything he could want in a husband.

"We get along on so many different levels," Hickey said. "We are interested in the same kind of art and culture at the same time that we can have really in-depth conversations about all sorts of fun things as well."

"He's just very, very funny and very, very charming and very gorgeous," Hickey said. "I think he's just the whole package."