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Getting married next month and really starting to struggle to think of a good gift for the best man and ushers. Thought about cuff links, hip flasks and tankards etc but really not sure if they would get any use. Probably looking to spend up to £100 each.
Any suggestions??
If it's kilts, I got my best man a sgian dubh
If not, how about
A very good bottle of whisky/rum/vodka/tequila etc
A voucher for a restaurant or hotel?
Years subscription to something?
A gram of coke
A hooker
It is kilts and that’s a great shout.
Was thinking about getting a decent bottle of whisky engraved with the date but not sure if I may have left it a bit late.
Coke and hookers goes without saying, obviously.
nothing. £100 worth of gift? I have been usher at a couple of weddings. I did it for the love of the couple. another ridiculous convention requiring you to spend more. I would actually have been insulted to have been given something
An engraved quaich if you must?
Got my best man a nice fountain pen to sign the register with. Something he can keep and use later that also played a part in the wedding.
He gave me a nice watch to wear on the day that I now use every time I wear my kilt.
I got my best man a custom version of this: https://thehandmadecyclist.com/collections/custom-prints/products/nicknames-of-the-peleton
It was made with one of the shirts being his favourite cycling top in amongst the legends
I spent ages last year looking for a couple of nice again dubhs and found that Etsy has a few people on there that hand make some lovely examples. I went with this guy on the end and was happy with the result:
https://www.etsy.com/uk/listing/501254512/the-silver-corrie-fee-made-in-scotland
Hth.
A pocket watch with a chain.
Agree with TJ. Don't get drawn into the ott unnecessary expensie of commercialised marriage. £100 a person and the seemingly compulsory overseas stag do and the current first home/ newly married generation wonder why mortgage deposits are so hard to save......
I got my best man a Leatherman, he was genuinely chuffed with it.
At a friend's wedding the groom had some childhood photos of him and the best man framed.
At my wedding the ushers all got cuff links, a hip flask (filled of course) and a bottle of wine. The best man got the same but also got a watch (nothing flashy, a Seiko 5). They are all desk jockeys and so wear the cuff links, if they worked in a factory I’m not sure it’s be the way to go.
I've been given
Cuff links- Still wearing them 20 years on and a nice reminder of the day
Flask- Occasional use and a nice reminder of the day
Taken out for a meal with my wife- A great evening.
I was surprised by all of them, None of them were £100 and they were/ all ace 🙂
Power Kite.
I bought mine a few pints each.
+1 TJ although I would not be insulted to be given something - just do not think that it is necessary.
I would actually have been insulted to have been given something
Of course you would; the reciprocation equalises the transaction. How can you remain superior if they return your selfless act of love?
We just did custom initial cuff links, so everyone matched on the day. £25 each from Etsy IIRC.
Many years ago I was an usher for a friend and we were each given a very nice celtic designed hip flask, still have and use it today. A very nive and useful gift.
I got my boys a wee Opinel knife, engraved with their initials. Mostly because I wanted one for myself. Also pretty good value for money, no way was I spending £100 p/p.
Don’t get drawn into the ott unnecessary expensie of commercialised marriage. £100 a person and the seemingly compulsory overseas stag do and the current first home/ newly married generation wonder why mortgage deposits are so hard to save……
Yep, high house prices are 100% because people buy wedding presents. 🙄
I bought my groomsmen cufflinks, something relevant to each of them, and I bought my best man (a cyclist and geographer) an OS map of the Surrey Hills engraved on a piece of wood, which I liked! I wouldn't have spent £100 each frankly, seems woefully excessive. I've been bought cufflinks, which I still wear and an engraved pocket watch, which I will wear to future weddings and formal events, and nothing on another occasion. Clearly there's no expectation whatsoever, but I think it's a nice gesture.
I have no idea what a sgian dubh is though. Neither of those are words. Crazy Scots.
Yep, high house prices are 100% because people buy wedding presents.
I was being a bit facetious I know. However.......using a younger lad at work as an example….he is going through that age where all his mates are getting married. All of us who actually know real people and have a healthy circle of friends did it and it normally comes about the time you are hoping to settle down too. In the last 2 years he has been on 8 stag weekends/weeks. All overseas. He is not wealthy and neither are his friends but for some reason it now seems the norm that you need a big weekend rather than a night and it needs to involve a flight somewhere. By his estimate he has spent an average of £600-700 per event and there are more to come. His partner has spent similar on hen equivalents. Between them that’s the best part of £12K. He complains of being broke, of not getting anywhere with saving for a deposit and that bank(s) of mum and dad say they can contribute towards the £20K planned wedding or the deposit, not both and have gone for wedding because ‘it’s important to do it right’. I just don’t get it – many of Gen Z seem so focussed on the short term superficial. Inflating costs with daft extra presents is the tip of a bigger iceberg.
Agree with most of the above. No need to go nuts. £30 ish bottle of whisky has been a std present. Leatherman Micra has been very well used indeed. The stainless versions are better/smaller - the anodised ones are the same, wrapped in an ally jacket.
£100 each? Go you!
I got my best man a set of cuff links to wear on the day. Why the need to over inflate the cost of an already expensive occasion other than to make yourself feel good / comply with ridiculous "traditions"*.
.
.
*See also spending X * monthly salary on engagement rings. Complete bollocks.
For my ill fated wedding no.1 I got them engraved hip flasks. These were a hit and are still (somewhat awkwardly now given what they've got written on them!) pulled out on group adventures ten years later.
Thus far immensely more successful wedding no.2 I got them bottles of nice whisky and some nice cycling cuff links. I was somewhat indecisive so had three best men for wedding no.2 - was nice that we all had matching cuff links for the event.
if you are doing whisky you don't have to pay to engrave, you can get a silver sharpie and write on it, if your handwriting isn't terrible* it can look really good
*don't ask me to, mine is actually embarrassing, my 7yo is neater than me
*See also spending X * monthly salary on engagement rings. Complete bollocks.
I've half a memory that this notion originated in an advertising campaign by a jeweller's.
A decade ago, at my 'best' friend's wedding, he got the best man (me) and all the ushers together and handed out some nice silk ties. Except me, who got a poly one, because I don't wear a suit to work... Laughed at the time as I took it as a bit of ribbing but grated a little after. Well, at least I'm not parked in an office 48 weeks per year. Still friends but I NEVER forget!
One of my best mates is getting married tomorrow, I'm an usher. Last night we went out for a few pints and he gave me a pocket watch and chain. Really chuffed with it, genuinely wasn't expecting anything. Can't remember what I got for my best man, haven't spoke to him in 3 years. Similar length of time since I spoke to the bride too!
Bought my best man a Reverb!
he wanted one but couldn't justify the purchase as they were expecting their first child, so he was genuinely chuffed to bits!
I got a voucher for a group day with Jedi, was excellent!
I didn't get my best man anything, but all drinks were free at my wedding so I reckon that about covered it.
I certainly don't think theres a need to buy presents but gifts are always nice.
I'm going to buck the trend here, and say that all the best man/usher gifts I've been given have been a bit meh.
I think probably because the couples (at the weddings I've ushered/best manned at) have had a to-do list as long as your arm on the lead up to the day, and gifts for the "grooms party" always seem to end up being both a) left until the last minute and then bought with a "that'll do, another job off the list!" approach, and b) delegated to the groom. (A and B are obviously related).
Fair play to those people above who've been given engraved pocket watches, wooden maps and other fab gifts, and I'm certainly grateful for those gifts I've received, but the advice I would give is: don't just get something for the sake of it. If you want to get something nice/with meaning, fill yer boots, but if it's just because you think you aught to - I would say you're better off getting them a bottle of what ever they like and a few words of thanks.
I got a Leatherman as a gift for my ushering, I have cuff links when I got married. I WIN!!!
Cheers for all of the suggestions,
I should probably point out that i am not giving gifts for the sake of it or because i feel that i have to but because i want to.
Fortunately we have never really bought each other birthday/christmas gifts so this is just a good chance for me to try and get something a little bit special for my mates plus my best man bought me a lap dance for my 18th birthday and I've never had a chance to repay him.
I'm generally quite tight so if i couldn't afford it, i wouldn't be even contemplating it.
Love that this just popped up in my Facebook newsfeed after reading some of the comments on here
We bought my best man one of these customised with his mountain bike and his favourite biking top and shorts. Think it was the first ever mountain bike one that the company had done. Is now pride of place in his house
I bought my best man a skein dhu, cos he was going to be wearing a kilt on the day.
He bought me a nice fountain pen when I was his best man a year or so later.
However, neither of us are still married to the women. Make of that what you will 🙂
I've got mine along with the Dads some personalised Swiss Army Knives (Camping model) - their name one side and a thank you from me and the misses with the date on the other - came in at £25 each - seemed reasonable pricewise and I'd be happy receiving one
I got a nice pen as a present, a cross townsend - i was so pleased with it i bought a set, fountain, rollerball and now biro. Edmonds jewellers discount them online. C 110 each, fountain pen is more though.
Not related to gifts, but I went to a wedding where there were loads of cyclists. We all wore the brightest and spangliest cycling socks we owned. Might not work with kilts, but worked under suit trousers.
I got my best man a bike. Managed to find a mint condition 1990 Marin just like we used to look at in the shops bitd. All neon yellow and lovely.
Then got him and the ushers cufflinks with their initials engraved that I gave to them the morning of the wedding.