Groomsmen Gifts Sports Fans Will Love

You popped the question. She said yes. And now you're in a frenzy of planning, shopping and spending. Who knew that planning a wedding would be so complicated? It seemed so romantic when you asked her to marry you. Now you're looking at china patterns, tasting sample cakes and trying to determine the best shade of white for the flowers.

Somewhere along the way, your beautiful bride-to-be mentions that you're supposed to give out groomsmen gifts as a way of saying thank you to your best man, groomsmen and ushers. Huh? I have to shop? Then she tells you that you are on your own since these are supposed to be meaningful gifts from the groom to his attendants. You're on your own. Mom is not supposed to take care of this. And your fiancé is leaving it all up to you. She's picking out her bridesmaids gifts. You have to completely deal with your groomsman gifts.

Where do you start? First things first. What is your budget? Can you afford to spend $20 for each gift? $40? If you are throwing a 200+ guest wedding you should spend more than if you were having an intimate backyard wedding with only 20 people. Before you do any shopping, come up with that number in your head of how much you are willing to spend on a gift. There are a million cool things out there that cost more but you need to stay in control and stick to your budget. You're already probably over budget on the overall wedding or honeymoon expenses anyhow.

What will my guys like? Do you and all your buddies have a favorite MLB or NFL team that you're all crazy about? The New York Yankees? Mets? Green Bay Packers or Dallas Cowboys? If the answer is yes, this just made shopping for your groomsmen gifts a whole lot easier. Sweet. You are home free, my friend. If you all like the same team, great. If not, make sure you know everyone's favorite team. Popular items graced with a sports team logo are as follows: money clips, glass tankards, pub signs, coasters, wallets, liquor flasks, Zippo lighters, keepsake boxes, cufflinks, pictures, and watches. Any of those will be appreciated by your guys.

If you are going to have the gifts personalized, make sure that you have a list of everyone's full name, including middle initial. That way you have complete freedom to choose engraving or customization of a gift with a first name, first and last name, initials or monogram. Monogram? What is that? We all know that initials are letters that represent someone's name as first name, middle name and last name. The letters are all done in capitals and are all the same size. For a monogram, the letters are NOT all the same size. The center letter is bigger than the one on the left and the one on the right. A monogram is done in the following order: first name, last name, middle name. Don't let this throw you for a loop when you hunker down to get your engraving figured out.

Once you decide on the sports items to give as gifts, get that shopping done as soon as possible. You want to get the gifts delivered to you in time to hand out at either the bachelor party or the rehearsal dinner. Don't wait so long that you feel like you need to try to pass them all out on your wedding day. That is your day, not your groomsmen's day. Get your shopping done so that you can relax and totally enjoy your wedding day.

Lisa Gunther is owner of Gunther Gifts Inc. Hundreds of unusual and practical groomsmen gifts ideas available online. Engraved Buck knives, personalized Gerber knives, Leatherman multitools, NFL and MLB sports gifts, glass mugs, baseball bats and more for your groomsmen gifts. Cute tote bags, jewelry, cosmetic bags, vases and more for your bridesmaid gifts.