Thanking the Men
Getting married this summer? Have you thought about what you’re getting your groomsmen and dads? Getting gifts for guys can be kind of tricky, especially if it’s for a wedding. You may want something that reminds them of the day, is something they’ll like, is nice enough that it sincerely says “Thanks, you’re awesome” or will be something they’ll use. Most likely it’s all of the above. When I shop for guys, I try to err on the side of usefulness/fun/awesome first. Men are not usually as sentimental as girls and a keepsake photo frame with the date of the wedding engraved on it is lame (and borderline creepy). You want them to love what they’re getting, you want it to be sturdy enough to hold up to whatever they plan on throwing at it, and you want them to use it. From there, I would go towards a gift that suits the theme of your wedding or bachelor party. Outdoor BBQ wedding? Get the guys a custom grill set or BBQ Cookbook. Bachelor party in Vegas? Well what a coincidence because that leads us into our first totally-rad-your-guys-will-probably-dig-it gift idea:
Custom Poker Set. Your groomsmen can pretend they’re Vegas high rollers when poker night is at their place. Complete with space to engrave their name or initial, it’s personal enough that they’ll remember your wedding, but cool enough to get some use. 69.99 available from The Man Registry.
For guys that call themselves the Grill Master of their domain, think about a BBQ cookbook. If they’re into cooking in general, pick out a book full of tasty man food. Grooms can write a simple custom message inside the book, groomsmen can impress the ladies with their fantastic new found culinary skills. 19.99 available at Amazon.
I think this speaks for itself. For the record, it’s 2 parts heavy duty leather and 100% awesome. 29.99 available at Red Envelope.
This one is awesome for guys into gadgets, or the outdoors, or both. Black Diamond’s icon head lamp. 64.95 available at REI.
Cufflinks: the masculine equivalent of bridesmaids getting jewelry. I love the idea of a formal, black tie wedding and the groomsmen, looking dapper in their tuxedos showing off their Batman cufflinks. Subtle and cool way to show off your love of comic books and a great way to have a little fun with your formal wear. Also available in Superman. 85.00 available at Nordstrom.
Also for tech guys or music lovers, the ever fun iPod. It’s definitely a little spendy (especially if you have 5, 6, 7 or more groomsmen), but if you have the budget it’s a safe a fun bet. If you dig the idea but don’t have the dough, consider the iPod shuffle at a mere 49.00. Order direct from Apple and you can engrave their names or a short message to each guy on the back. 149.00 available at Apple.
If you’re a bride to be reading this, don’t show your man the wedding gift catalogues you’re getting in the mail. The quality isn’t there and the cost for the items is a lot higher then you should be paying (when I got married, a glass, monogrammed beer stein was $65 a pop in those magazines. We went to target, got bigger, heavier glass steins on clearance for 9.99 a 4 pack. $25.00 for engraving and we had 4 cool, custom beer steins for under $10 a guy. With the money we saved, we bought them the beer to go in the glasses too). Get creative, think outside of the box and invest your money in something that they’ll like.
