Groomsmen Gifts That Your Guys Will Actually Use

Little bags of candy and potpourri might do it as goody bags for guests, but your groomsmen deserve gifts that express some real gratitude. After all, they wouldn't be your groomsmen if you didn't have a strong bond with them, and appreciate their presence in your life. Plus, your groomsmen are there for you during your wedding preparation, pre-wedding nerves, pre-wedding festivities, and, of course, to help you out on the day of the wedding. They do a lot, and it's important to show them how much you appreciate that.

Obviously, saying thanks and expressing your gratitude directly are crucial parts of this. But you should also be thinking about good groomsmen gifts that are genuinely useful and interesting– not just tokens of acknowledgment.

Bourbon, being the obviously superior choice among liquors, goes with everything. Bourbon ice cream? Yes, please. Bourbon soy sauce? Yes, it exists, and yes it's delicious. Just plain Bourbon? Well, obviously. Frankly, a good Bourbon alone would be a great gift for anyone, but you want to give your groomsmen gifts they wouldn't already have, or could get anywhere. So it's a good idea to give something Bourbon-y, of course, but it's always better to gift something unique.

And then there's coffee. Who doesn't love coffee? Who can live without it? So this Bourbon infused coffee is an obvious choice for a great groomsmen gift. Sure, if your groomsmen don't like coffee or Bourbon it might not be the move, but is that even possible?

In general, I find the best gifts are those that combine utility and personalization. You want to give your groomsmen gifts that they can use, not just put in storage somewhere, or toss out and hope you never ask about again. But you also want to give your gifts a personal touch—after all, these are your best friends, they're there for you on one of the biggest days of your life. So a high-quality leather wallet takes care of the utility issue, and an option for personalization takes care of the personal touch. Some personalized wallets, like this one, give you space to write a phrase or brief message. But simple monogrammed wallets are also a classy gift that anyone would love. What's in your wallet? Other than your credit card, how about memories to last a lifetime?

Pocket watch; schmocket shmotch. The shot flask is where it's at. While personalized groomsmen gifts are sweet, some people just aren't the "heartfelt message" type. But most people are a liquor type, of some kind or another. So this nice flask makes a great gift, and this collapsible shot-glass-and-flask-in-one also makes for unique groomsmen gifts that they're not likely to already have. The shot glass collapses into itself, and fits into the depression in the flask, so you can measure out your drinks wherever you go. If you're gonna be drinking out of a flask, you should at least know how many drinks you've had, right?

But, of course, if your best mates already have flasks, you can always get them a great place to stash them. Or, just get them both! Add this item to the list of funniest hidden flasks to help you hide your booze.This flask book box appeal to that slightly childish desire we all have to hide things in secret places, with the not-so-childish desire to store your favorite liquors. This unique groomsmen gift is both useful and a lot of fun, so you and your best friends can have a good laugh on your wedding day, and every day after. Just hope no one's mother goes browsing for some light reading on their next visit...

If your buds are sports fans, one great idea for unique groomsmen gifts is baseball bat bottle openers. Obviously, not just any baseball bat – that would just be a wood bottle opener. But you can actually buy bottle openers made from used bats from any of 29 different MLB teams. Besides being simply a very cool gift idea, this also gives you an opportunity to personalize the gifts a little bit, and make sure each of your buds gets a bit of their favorite team to take home with them. Or, if you're all rooting for the same team, you can enjoy the knowledge that each of you has a bit of something from that team. Plus, each bottle opener tells you exactly which game it came from.

Granted, most people aren't exactly stoked when Grandma gives them a 6-pack of Walmart socks that are most likely the wrong size, anyway. But comfortable, sturdy, personalized socks? Who could pass that up? These cozy, made-to-order foot accoutrements give you the perfect opportunity to give groomsmen gifts that are both incredibly useful (who doesn't need socks?!), and personal. You can custom order any phrase to be knit into them, so you can let each of your buds know that you appreciate them individually, and include specific details about your friendship– even inside jokes or favorite memories. Whatever you decide, you can rest easy knowing your gifts will be used, and that they've carried a substantive message for you.

This is one of the best cool groomsmen gift ideas. Part science, part booze, entirely satisfying. There's just something about making things yourself, a feeling you can't get any other way. So make-your-own kits make awesome groomsmen gifts, and combine that with gin? You can't go wrong. Especially with something like gin, that has many subtle flavors, it's a wonderful thing to be able to distill your own and make sure you get to drink something that's exactly to your taste. Plus, this particular kit comes with a free personalized stainless steel flask, so you can add an extra touch of individuality to each party gift.

Now, make-your-own gin kits are awesome groomsmen gifts, but not everybody loves gin. So another great option is make-your-own beer kits, which will let your groomsmen ferment up to 2 gallons of beer at a time - you just might want to wait until after the big day to let them have at it. Or, you can always mix-and-match your party gifts, to make sure everyone gets something you know they'll both love and use. Whether it's gin, beer, or something else entirely, the joy of creating and consuming something from scratch (or, well, a kit) is a gift in itself.

14 tools. A 25-year warranty. And that's just one specific model. Consider this multitool as indispensable as the best tactical pens you didn't know you needed. Leatherman has been a household—and more importantly, an outdoors—name for many years. The incredibly sturdy, stainless steel multi-tool is convenient, light, and portable, but has just about everything you could ever need. Plus, the company makes a variety of different multi-tools and pocket knives, so you can always get your groomsmen different types of the same gift. After all, you know them best, and can probably be a better judge than me of what kind of tools they would get the most use out of at the end of the day.

This is way better than a tie clip. Gone are the days of grimacing around a campfire in the morning, choking down instant coffee that's virtually indistinguishable from warm swamp water. Instead, you can do yourself a favor and make sure that at least one of your camping buddies has an on-the-go espresso maker. Not that your groomsmen gifts are about you of course.

But this isn't just something your groomsmen could use on camping trips along with the best freeze dried backpacking meals: an espresso maker is something that can be used every day, and enjoyed and appreciated regularly for a long time to come. So it'll remind your groomsmen that you appreciate them—enough to give them an espresso maker.