A Groom's Gift

Feb. 02, 2012

5:45 p.m.

OK, if you've never seen it, you don't know the significance of the above scene. And, truthfully, I really hope that your groom's gift doesn't lead your groom into the arms of another woman, so perhaps it's not the best example. But it is traditional for the bride and groom to exchange gifts on their wedding day, though it can be difficult to figure out what to get one another.

On our wedding day, I gave my husband a watch engraved with our wedding date from Things Remembered. My second choice for a gift would have been cufflinks. Right now, our other bridal blogger, Amy, is trying to figure out what to give her fiance for their August wedding, so we started asking around.

It turns out that, although traditional, only about 50 percent of the people we know gave their new spouse a wedding-day gift -- so perhaps it's not as common as we thought. Here are some of the responses we got:

A new car suspension (for a car lover). This was an unexpected answer.
Tickets to a Nationals/Mets game with a hotel room to stay overnight.
A clock -- "timeless love."
Artwork
Cufflinks
A rosary

Of course, I had one smart-alec friend who replied, "yeah, I got him a gift -- me!"

I have some other (legit) ideas, too, though. My husband loves going to get hot shaves -- he actually went to a barbershop on the day of the wedding with his groomsmen so everyone would be nice and smooth for the big day. So when he recently was able to try out the Power Shave collection from The Art of Shaving and went crazy for it, I was thinking that it would be a perfect grooms gift to suggest to a soon-to-be bride. There is an Art of Shaving store at the Annapolis Westfield Mall, but they also have an online presence. Even if you don't want to spend the money on the whole collection, just purchasing one part of it might be a great gift -- and then you can add on to it for holidays afterward so he has the whole collection. Ever since the wedding, my husband has worn a beard instead of the goatee he sported when I first met him. When he tried out this new shaving collection, he says he was about to go back to a goatee because he wanted to keep on shaving.

Along the same lines, but less expensive, is the Art of Shaving's kit for "The Perfect Shave," which includes pre-shave gel, shaving cream, aftershave, and a brush. The particular kit linked has a really nice, subtle fragrance, perfect to cuddle up to on a wedding night. It's definitely affordable and is nice that it's something he can use both on the wedding day and afterward.

In the same vein, cologne might be a nice wedding gift, particularly if you create a blend yourself that you think would smell fantastic on him. However, the best thing to do is think about what your soon-to-be husband loves and find a gift that caters to that. My husband adores watches, so it made sense to buy him an engraved watch; however, he also loves shaving accessories, so anything from The Art of Shaving would be a great gift, too.

What does your fiance love? What will you get him for a wedding gift, if anything?