I’ve been in a lot of weddings, and I’ve received a lot of great gifts for being in them. When I got married, I made sure I was going to return the favor. I figured the best gifts are personalized for your friends. Most of my friends and I are beer geeks, and just geeks in general. Most of them aren’t as obsessed with beer as I am, but I figured they’d appreciate gifts centered around beer. The finished product turned out great, and while I still wish I could’ve done more, I got great response to the work I put into the gifts. Feel free to steal and improve any of the ideas below. Be sure to share with us your completed projects.

Beer

Each person received two bottles of beer. I wanted to go all out and get specialized choices for each one of them, but unfortunately time and money dictated that I couldn’t. So instead each person was gifted a 22 oz. bomber of New Holland Dragon’s Milk or a 750ml of either Goose Island Matilda or Sofie. So, I wasn’t breaking the bank, but they got two solid beers. I had 9 groomsmen so the cost still wasn’t cheap, but if you have a smaller wedding party you might be able to get away with more.

Wall-Mounted Magnetic Bottle Cap Catcher

This is an item I did DIY, mainly because most of them I found online were $40+ each, and for 9 groomsmen that would price me out of some of the other stuff I wanted to include as gifts. I really wanted them as part of the gift, so in the end I found all the components online, and ending up making them myself for around $10. I’ll likely do an individual post on how I did it, but the items required were:

Wooden wall plaque

Cast-iron bottle opener

Rare earth magnets

Stain with polyurethane

Stencil

Spray paint

I can’t say that I was blown away with my finished project, but it was likely more because of my expectations. Looking at them now individually they turned out quite nicely.

Personalized Coasters

This is something I’d do again in a heartbeat. I found art relating to things I knew my groomsmen liked, had them printed and cut to 4″x4″ squares at the local FedEx Kinkos. Then using Mod Podge, I sealed each piece of art to a piece of ceramic tile. Sealant and felt on the bottom finished off what were very professional looking coasters. Once again, they aren’t perfect, but customizing them to my groomsmen made them a bit more special.

Check out below for examples of images I used.

Custom Beer Flights

These are the items that cost me the most money, but they were worth it. I’m sure some of you who are better woodworkers could make these on your own, but in the weeks leading up to the wedding I found myself with less free time, so it was money well spent.

Each custom beer flight has the name of the wedding party member, an Epic Fehl Brewing logo, and six custom flight glasses with the logo and “Brewmaster <name>” on them.

If you’d like to pick up your own, check out Laser Branding on Etsy. They are based out of Kansas City, and if my experience is any indication, they deserve your business. They do great work, and are really great at customizing your order. I’m sure I’ll be using them more in the future.

Finished Products

To finish up the project I include some goofy beer socks for the day of the wedding, their tie that went with their tuxes, a burlap sack for the coasters, and a crate to carry their loot home. With 9 groomsmen it wasn’t an easy or cheap project, but it could have been harder and more expensive had I not taken the time to plan it out. The time spent was well worth it to say thanks to the friends who have stuck by my side for years.



Don’t forget to let us know in the comments if you’ve done beer related groomsmen gifts as well. We’d love to see what everyone else has done.