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Question: What Are The Best Groomsmen’s Gifts?
By Patrick Tuttle
closeAuthor: Patrick Tuttle
Name: Patrick Tuttle
Email: ptuttle@gearpatrol.com
Site: http://gearpatrol.com/blog/author/ptuttle/
About: I joined the gang at Gear Patrol because I believe that as men we often settle for less than the very best lifestyle we can attain. It’s been ingrained into our psyches to forgo certain products, services or lifestyles because they don’t fall within some antiquated male paradigm. Bunk.
It’s time as men to stand up and redefine what’s rightfully ours. Much of what I have learned to this end has come through advice from guys who had the experiences and knowledge I was seeking. My only regret was not learning it sooner. Now I feel it’s my obligation to pass along what I know. I’m not saying I have all the answers but I’m happy to share what I’ve learned so far.
On a more personal level, I live an active lifestyle and focus on my health and wellness as a means to sustain the frenetic pace. I also suffer from a case of golf-itis and spend a lot of my free time perusing that passion… ok, obsession. I aim to incorporate relevant fitness and golf content into Gear Patrol’s expanding coverage of all things male. Like the rest of the crew I can’t stand over-hyped, under-performing products. None of that crap will be perpetuated here.See Authors Posts (93) on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 | Email To A Friend
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Selecting the perfect groomsman’s gift is not a task to be taken lightly. Your gift represents not only a hearty “thank you for standing by me through the thick of it” but is also a reflection of your bond with your closest compatriots. I’ve been in a few weddings and can’t help but feel that groomsman’s gifts I’ve been given have been relegated to something you offer solely for the sake of tradition. Well, that simply won’t do. When I got married I gave my guys Leathermen Knives. I wanted to choose something unique and I figured if I was going to spend the money on gifts, I wanted them to be useful. And besides, what guy doesn’t like knives? Predictably, their significant others were less than thrilled.
So that got me thinking about a request from one of our readers, Joel D, who is looking for ideas for his own wedding. Well Joel, I think this topic is best served by asking the GP community to weigh in. So I ask you loyal Gear Patrol readers, what do you think is the best groomsmen gift? Let’s try and keep it around $75 or less per gift (per person); times are tough, after all. Include links to products if you have them.
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Simply put, you have to get something that is personal and manly. After all, we all know shes going to get away with murder on the gift end. I just got this for my best friend, “Monogrammed Stainless Steel Grilling Tool Set” from Williams-Sonoma, got it monogrammed. Approximately $99. Everyman deserves one, and everyman should expect one from one of his closest friends.
http://www.williams-sonoma.com/products/cw436/index.cfm?pkey=coutdoor-grilling&ckey=outdoor-grilling
You can get it not monogrammed for 79 bucks… close enough to the 75 dollar gift range… or you could just forget those latte’s for a week and get it monogrammed at a nearby jewelry store for 15 bucks
Here's what I did. I got each of the guys a bottle of crown royal, but to make it more personal, on the crown royal website, you can actually customize your own crown royal signature purple bag with an embroidered message, so I replaced all of the blank generic bags with the personalized embroidered ones. I also got a 20% discount at the liquor store for buying a case of crown - great success!
https://www.crownroyallabels.com/basket/product_d...
Then, I gave them all a 2 pack of low-ball scotch type glasses etched with their initials.
Wish I would have ordered an extra set for myself
Here are the rocks glasses I got. $22 for the two glass set
http://www.theglassfox.com/perrocglasse.html
So $20 for the crown, $10 for the bag, and $22 for the glasses gets you to $52, plus some shipping.
Troy, those look great. Now if only someone could find where to buy the rocks glasses from Mad Men.
Patrick I too went with the Leatherman's. Each of my groomsmen got a Leatherman Wave laser engraved with their initials. Each one of them has commented at least once in the last year since the wedding that they use it all the time. Much better than the more traditional of groomsmen gifts (cufflinks, money clip, etc). I also gave all of them a pair of Havainas flip flops as my wedding was in the summer at a lake house.
When I got my Leatherman from Patrick I promptly sliced my thumb wide open….I suggest this as the number one groomsmen gift because I now have a permanent reminder of the day we set Patrick loose on the world……
For my groomsmen gifts, I gave this gift pack of Hommage shaving products.
http://www.experiencem.com/shavekit.html
I once went to a wedding where the groomsmen received a small desktop monogrammed humidor (about a 20 count). It was a classy gift and each was filled with 5 of the grooms favorite sticks.
I could have used that gift when I got invited to wedding with no bar. Ugh.
Yeah, no bar, bad food, didn't know anyone but eachother….good times…
That's pretty sweet! Somone was loaded though, because there is no way that cost less than $75 haha. Groomsman gifts are hard, it's one of the lowest things on your priority list as your prep for a wedding. By the time you get around to buying them you're probably pretty tapped monetarily (I know I was). But, your groomsmen do a lot for you on the wedding day, and obviously have throughout your life or they wouldn't have been asked to stand next to you on such an important day. Not to mention the cost they incur to rent tuxes, travel to the wedding, stay in a hotel, run your bachelor party, wedding gift, etc. I don't think it's a place to cheap out.
My best man was half-Japanese, so I had sent over from Japan a "hanko" (a.k.a. a chop or stamp) monogrammed with his family name. These are fairly common in that country because people use them as Westerners use handwritten signatures. He didn't even know what his family name looked like in Japanese, so he was really pleased about his gift.
This is something that really plagued my thoughts before getting married. I searched high and low, locally and online. I even pondered several of the things mentioned here. Ultimately, I got each of them a nice Cross pen with their initials laser-etched. In my opinion, no "young professional" should be without a nice pen, so I went this route with the hopes that they would be used, appreciated, and complimented daily.
http://www.giftpens.com
When I got married, I gave both my groomsmen and best man, who are both smokers, Zippo lighters and they loved them.
Never been a groom or a groomsman. But, a groom at a wedding I attended gave each groomsman an engraved putter.
I believe he bought them really nice White Hot putters, but you can do it for cheaper.
I would have to say a watch (always a hit and citizen makes a classic for about $100 bucks).
I had 7 groomsman, none of whom have particular hobbies of note. We're all young so not everyone has a yard to grill in, not everyone is a golfer, etc. I went with sets of 4 heavy glass tumblers each with their last initial engraved. I thought it was classy and something they could actually use. Only set me back about $50/set.
how about purchasing the ties they will be wearing at the wedding? I plan on buying my 8 groomsman the tie they will be wearing as it is different from the tux that is on rent. Cost was $60 a tie….
how about purchasing the ties they will be wearing at the wedding? I plan on buying my 8 groomsman the tie they will be wearing as it is different from the tux that is on rent. Cost was $60 a tie….
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Just got married. i ended up getting my groomsmen nice mechanical pilot watches, custom made black silk ties (to be worn on the wedding day), and a nice Romeo n Julieta in its individual tin (I'm from Canada). To present them to the boys, I got nice woodent cigar boxes (with all the shipping and customs labels/stamps in tact) filled them with cardboard confetti, and carefully placed the items in each. I then closed each box and wrapped each with shipping twine and individual name tags. All teh the little presentation details really went over well. The little details are what cost the least amount of money, but make the longest lasting impressions.
Dude that must of cost a fortune. Can you tell me more about this mechanical pilot watch?
They were replica's. My aunt's flight attendant and has watch connections in China. I hade the idea of geting a replica watch as a gift, but it's still a quality mechanical watch that is 10x better quality than the fossil type quartz junk you get in the stores. I just had her pick an uncommon brand that no one will really recognize, that way it doesnt really come off as a replica, just a nice mechanical watch. The whole giftpack ended up costing me about $80CDN/person.
Guys these ideas are great! I'm working on a little gift pack for my Groomsmen - kind of a survival kit for both urban and rural events. So far I've got a nice multi-tool, a pocket med/survival kit, a pocket knife sharpener, a titanium spork, wet fire tender, a spec-ops "the wallet", a spec-ops type webbing belt, titanium credit card knife, a neck knife, a couple cigars, and all wrapped up in a small bug-out bag they can throw in the car trunk. Plus a have a friend who owns a laser engraver so I'll get some of the items engraved. They're all outdoors kinda guys so I think this will go over pretty well. And so far it's a hair under $100 each. I figured I'd shoot for about $150 each so keep the ideas flowing!
I must say, you have impressed me.
Becca