The wedding season is in full swing on M6. Since the first season, Married at first sight has brought together several participants wishing to find a soul mate thanks to experts Estelle Dossin and Gilbert Bou Jouadé. In front of their friends, families and more than two million witnesses every Monday night, they come together for better (or worse), but always with style and elegance.

To embellish our bride and groom in season 7, the show called on Samson, a French brand specializing in the manufacture of “tailor-made” suits, created by Sophie Samson and Stéphan Ricard. From the creation to the opening of their first store in 1999 in Paris, in the 8th arrondissement, they have a dozen stores open throughout France.

Contacted by the production, eight years ago, the co-founder of the brand agrees to collaborate with the dating show. “It corresponds to the values ​​of my brand”, explains Stéphan Ricard to Planet. “There is a real sincerity in the approach of the men I meet every year”. With each bride and groom, “the idea is really to accompany them and to imagine, with each of them, the outfit that best represents them”.

On the price side, the French brand invoices a tailor-made suit “in a price range of 740€ to 1010€” made between “3 and 4 weeks”, we are told. An expense covered by the show. “It’s a partnership agreement with the production”, states the co-founder of Samson without revealing more.

How do candidates choose a suit for their wedding? “We send them a small catalog of trends,” the expert tells us over the phone. With 6,000 custom-made suits per year and more than 450 quality fabrics to make the outfits, the choices are varied for these men. “From that, they give us some ideas and desires”. Then comes the time of filming, which took place this year in July 2022 (for season 7 broadcast since last March) in another store located near the Madeleine in Paris.

For three days, the MAPR teams attend the fittings of the candidates in the company of Stéphan Ricard. “We are really going to discuss with each of the participants to really understand what they want to communicate through their personality”, specifies the businessman.

© Laura DOMINIAK / Custom made Samson

For each candidate, it takes “four to five hours” of filming in the shop. And without ever meeting each other, assures us the adviser, who remembers excellent moments with the future bride and groom, eager to be on their 31 to seduce a beautiful stranger. “It’s a nice experience, we make great encounters with the participants”.

Like Pascal, the sportsman in his fifties married to Jessica, who gave Stéphan Ricard a hard time. “It was my challenge this year. I won’t hide from you that he’s a beautiful baby,” he jokes. Between his imposing stature, his measurements and his shoulder line to manage, the fitting “put a lot of pressure” on our tailor. “When you have exceptional morphologies, it’s always a little more technical”.

With other candidates, it is also an opportunity for Stéphan Ricard to highlight their personality. Like the shy Pedro, married to Jefferson, who was advised to wear a tuxedo “of great elegance and sobriety”. While her future husband, “smiling and very open” opted for a light green suit. For Emmanuel, married in Gibraltar with the sweet Léa, he wanted a suit with “a color of fire” to show his flamboyant character.

Or Maximilien, the calm sports coach married to the sparkling Estelle, who chose an elegant beige suit. Something to move his mother who came to her fittings in Paris. “When she saw him in his costume, she cried with emotion. There, I tell myself that I did my job well and it is a great satisfaction. It was very touching”.

© Laura DOMINIAK / Custom made Samson