Hello Bridal Hot List beauties! We love grooms here at BHL, and it’s our duty to help you show your appreciation for them too. The groom gift is an important way to show not only your appreciation for your man, but also create a statement based on who you are as a couple. Flasks and personalized cufflinks are a classic for a reason and won’t go out of style, but these fun gifts will definitely score you some points for creativity. Plus, they’re all wallet-friendly (because you don’t need to be stressing over another wedding expense right now).
First Date in a Basket
If you’ve been together for a long time, it can be good to take a look back at how far you’ve come. Did you go out for a movie on your first date? Pick that movie up on blu-ray. Did you go to a concert? Pick up a live album or a greatest hits compilation. If you headed out to a bar, go see if that bar has shirts for sale. Recreate your first date in a gift bag that will make him remember falling in love with you. These can be done fairly inexpensively (around $50-$75, depending on how much you can add to your basket) and you can probably get everything you need at target or at least on amazon.com.
Puzzle
If your groom is more of a critical thinker, get a puzzle made of either a collage of the two of you or your engagement photos. Give him all the pieces jumbled up in a keepsake box and give him something to work on for a while. For bonus points, write him little notes or inside jokes on the back of the pieces. Shutterfly, or even Walgreens can turn your pictures into a puzzle for under $30.
Personalized Wine/Beer
If he’s a wine snob or a beer aficionado, celebrate that! Pick up a case of his favorite brew or a bottle he loves and get a special label made for him. It’s a sweet gift that he’s more than likely to share with you. You can get labels made online on sites like bottleyourbrand.com for around $10-$15. If you throw a few extra bucks at it, you can add pictures and make it super sentimental and sweet.
CYOA Book
Do you remember those choose your own adventure books from elementary school? Yeah, they’re still pretty awesome, and they’re surprisingly easy to write. Instead of creating a photo album, write a choose your own adventure book with photos of you both. Tell the story of how you met or how he proposed, doing a page for each milestone you overcame. Write it in second person, so the narrative is making decisions that affect where the story goes. At the end of each page, get the reader to go to one page to progress your story (turn to page four to go in for the first kiss, etc) and another page to go to (to blow her off, go to page twenty). Have one page set aside as a gag page and the rest as a linear story (just numbered and out of order like a true choose your own adventure book!). These can be done for under $50 on websites like Shutterfly or Picaboo, and you can use photos from facebook and flickr. You’ll score serious creativity points without breaking the bank, plus you’ll have a cool way to look back on pictures of you two over time.
The Ultimate 3-1-1 Travel Bag
Heading out of town for your honeymoon? If you’re flying, you’ll score some serious wife points by creating an awesome 3-1-1 travel bag. Remember, if you’re going to bring liquids on a plane one person gets one quart transparent bag and each liquid has to be in a three ounce container (it’s actually 3.4 ounces, or 100 ml but 3.4-1-1 doesn’t have the same ring to it). Pick up tiny bottles of his favorite spirits to kickstart the honeymoon. Pick up some rum and ask for orange juice on the plane for a make-shift mai tai, or grab tiny tequila bottles to relax him before a long flight. Just make sure you get behind the wheel of the rental car when you land!
Andrea Carter
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[…] List is your one stop blog for everything trending in the bridal world (seriously, we’re talking gifting, grooming, and everything in between!). Today we’re going to take a step back and go over the […]