Most people in the UK spend somewhere between £20 and £50 per groomsman, and a bit more on the best man. The gifts that survive the wedding are the ones he can wear again: engraved cufflinks, a tie clip with his initials, a bracelet that doesn't look like wedding merchandise. Everything else — the novelty bottle openers, the socks with a slogan, the sixth hip flask he now owns — ends up in a drawer by the autumn.
That's not us being sniffy about cheap gifts. Go and read any wedding forum thread on this and you'll find the same complaint from the men receiving them. They keep one thing. Usually it's the thing with their name on it.
The short version
If you've got five minutes and four groomsmen: the Personalised Initial Cufflinks (£49.90) are the safe answer — each man gets his own initials, and they're worn on the day itself. For a groomsman who isn't in a double-cuff shirt, the Personalised Initial Tie Clip (£34.90) does the same job for less. And if your wedding party is more jeans than morning suit, the Tiger Eye Name Bracelet (£49.90) is the one they'll still be wearing next summer.
Cufflinks: the default, and there's a reason
Cufflinks get called obvious. They're obvious because they work — worn on the day, in every photograph, and then again at the next three weddings he goes to.
The version we send out most is the Personalised Initial Cufflinks (£49.90). Two letters, six font styles, and three finishes — gold, silver and rose gold — so you can match whatever the suits are doing. They're 316L stainless steel with a bullet-back toggle, which matters more than it sounds: cheap cufflinks with a fixed post are the ones that fall out mid-reception.
The Block Initial Cufflinks (£49.90) are the same price with a different character. Two clean block capitals sitting side by side, 18K gold plating over steel. Traditional monogram cufflinks tangle the letters together until nobody can read them. These don't, which is the point when five men are opening five near-identical boxes and need to know whose is whose.
One practical note if you're buying a set. You add each pair to the basket, pick the finish, then type the initials and font number into the order notes at checkout — so for a group order you're listing them out, JD font 2, MRK font 2, and so on. Keep them all in the same font unless you have a reason not to. Mixed fonts across a set of five look like a mistake in photographs.
Tie clips, for the ones who won't wear cufflinks
Not every groomsman owns a double-cuff shirt, and buying him cufflinks he can't use is its own kind of waste. The Personalised Initial Tie Clip (£34.90) is the workaround: same engraved initials, gold or silver, eight fonts, a spring clip that fits a standard tie. At just under £35 it's also the sensible option when there are six of them and the budget has stopped being funny.
It's the more useful gift long-term, honestly. He'll wear a tie to work, to a funeral, to his own wedding. Cufflinks come out three times a year.
When the wedding party isn't a suit-and-tie crowd
Plenty of weddings lose the jackets by four o'clock and never get them back on. Formal accessories are a bad fit for that sort of day, and the men know it.
The Tiger Eye Name Bracelet (£49.90) is the one to reach for here. Natural tiger eye beads, 8 mm, with up to three rhodium-plated rings engraved with names of your choice. Some grooms put the groomsman's own name on it. More interesting: put the wedding date and the couple's names on it and it becomes a keepsake instead of an accessory. It's elastic, one size, roughly 21 cm — no clasp to size up in advance, which removes the awkward "what's your wrist measurement" text message.
For something with no personalisation at all, the Wolf Tiger Eye Bracelet (£39.90) pairs black agate and tiger eye with a gunmetal wolf head. It's the one for the friend who'd find an engraved gift a bit much. The Braided Leather Bracelet (£44.90) in brown or black is quieter still — three layers of leather, magnetic buckle, one-handed to put on. And the Byzantine Chain Bracelet (£39.90) is the heavier option at 8 mm wide, in four finishes including antique silver and black.
All of these are stainless steel or leather, so nobody has to take one off to get in the sea on the honeymoon-adjacent stag do.
The best man
Spend more here. Everyone expects it, including the other groomsmen, and it stops the gifts feeling like a job lot.
The simplest way is to keep the category and upgrade the piece — cufflinks for the groomsmen, and for the best man the Tiger Eye Name Bracelet engraved with three names that mean something to the two of you. Or go the other way: give him the same cufflinks as everyone else, and add something with no wedding connection at all. A bottle of what he actually drinks does more than a second engraved item.
If he's given you a decade of being the person who answers the phone at 2am, an Engraved Names Necklace (£49.90) — up to five names set into a Figaro chain — is the one that gets worn outside of weddings entirely.
What to skip
Anything with "Groomsman" printed across the front of it. He wore that role for one day and the mug lasts fifteen years.
Hip flasks are the classic trap. Lovely gift, and he's had four of them, one from each wedding since 2019. Same with novelty socks, personalised beer glasses and engraved bottle openers — they're cheap for a reason and the reason shows.
Clothing is a gamble unless you already know his size and his taste, and "matching shirts for the lads" is a photograph nobody enjoys later. Watches are lovely and almost always the wrong watch.
The test we'd use: would he have bought this himself, or would he be pleased to own it? If the answer to both is no, it's decoration for the gift table.
How much to spend
£20 to £50 per groomsman is the normal range in the UK, with most people landing around £35 to £40. The best man usually gets 1.5 to 2 times that. If there are six of you in the party and the budget is tight, one good gift each beats a stuffed box of five small things — that's the mistake we see most often, and it's the box that gets emptied into a bin bag.
Worth saying plainly: nobody is counting. The engraving is what registers, not the price on it.
When to order, when to give them
Order at least three weeks before you need them. Everything personalised here is made to order, and depending on the piece that's anywhere from a few working days to around two weeks including delivery. Wedding season runs hot from May through September and that is not the moment to be cutting it fine.
As for handing them over, there are two moments that work. The groomsmen proposal — when you ask them, months out — suits a gift they can use straight away. Or the morning of the wedding, in the room, while everyone's getting dressed. That one has the advantage of the gift being worn in every photo taken for the next twelve hours, which is the entire argument for cufflinks in the first place.
Write the date somewhere. In the card, on the box, engraved on the piece. It's a small thing and it's the difference between an accessory and something he keeps.
FAQ
What do groomsmen want for gifts?
Something they'd use outside a wedding. Engraved cufflinks, a tie clip, a decent bracelet or a bottle of what they drink. Personalised items rank highest because they can't be bought as a job lot.
What gifts can I give my groomsmen?
Personalised cufflinks (from £49.90), an initial tie clip (£34.90), or a men's bracelet (from £39.90) if the wedding is informal. Match the gift to how they actually dress, not to how the wedding photos are staged.
How much should you spend on groomsmen gifts?
£20 to £50 each is standard in the UK, most commonly £35 to £40. The best man typically gets one and a half to two times the amount.
Do groomsmen usually give a gift?
Yes, usually a joint present from the group to the couple, and separately many buy the groom something personal. The groom's gifts to them are a thank you, not an exchange.
When do you give groomsmen their gifts?
Either at the proposal, when you ask them to be in the wedding party, or on the morning of the wedding while everyone's getting ready. The morning works best for anything they'll wear that day.
Do all the groomsmen have to get the same gift?
No. Keeping the same item and personalising each one is the neatest approach — it looks deliberate in photographs and still feels individual. The best man's can differ.
Buying for the groom rather than the groomsmen? The same engraved pieces work, usually a finish up from whatever the rest of the party is wearing. Have a look through men's jewellery for the personalised cufflinks, tie clips and chains, or men's bracelets if the wedding is a less formal affair. Most of it can be engraved with initials, a name or the wedding date.
