Best Man Gift Ideas With Meaning

Your best man has planned the bachelor weekend, kept track of the rings and written a speech he is nervous about. Best man gift ideas with meaning skip the novelty bottle opener and say something about the friendship. These ideas work for a brother, a childhood friend or the college roommate who stuck around. Our top pick is a song about the two of you, which says what most men never manage to say out loud.

Hear what a Songbond song sounds like

This one was made for another family. Yours would carry his name and your stories.

12 best man gift ideas

1. A song about your years as friends ($39.90). Share the day you met, the trip you still talk about and the nickname nobody else is allowed to use, and Songbond turns it into an original song. Play it at the rehearsal dinner, or send it the night before when his nerves kick in.
2. A watch engraved on the back. The wedding date and a short line only he will understand. Usually $100 to $300.
3. A bottle from the year you met. A whiskey or wine from the year the friendship started, with a label you write yourself. Usually $50 to $150.
4. A leather weekender or wash bag. With his initials pressed into it, for every trip after this one. Usually $60 to $180.
5. Two tickets to see his team, with you. A home game, or a road trip to an away match next season. The day together is the real gift. Usually $80 to $300.
6. A pocket knife with his initials. Useful, classic, and the kind of thing that sits in a drawer for forty years. Usually $40 to $120.
7. His speech, framed. After the wedding, ask for his notes or type them up, and frame them with a photo of him giving it. Usually $30 to $70.
8. His suit rental, paid. Not romantic, but a real thank-you if he has already paid for travel and the bachelor weekend. Usually $100 to $200.
9. The album you wore out together. The record from every road trip, on vinyl. Add a turntable if he does not have one. Usually $25 to $40 for the record.
10. A few months of his hobby. Coffee, craft beer, fly-tying kits or golf balls, delivered each month. Usually $30 to $90.
11. An engraved money clip or wallet. Something he carries every day, with the date inside. Usually $30 to $80.
12. A map of where you met. The street, school or dorm where the friendship started, printed as a clean map with the coordinates. Usually $40 to $90.

How to choose for your best man

Start with who he is to you. A brother and a friend from first grade want different things. Then think about what he did for the wedding. If he flew in, organized the bachelor weekend and bought the suit, the kindest gift may be one that covers some of that.

• If he is your brother: the watch, the pocket knife or the song.
• If he is your oldest friend: the bottle, the map or the record.
• If he has spent a lot to be there: the suit rental or the tickets.

When to give it, and what to say

Give it at the rehearsal dinner or in the hour before the ceremony, while you are both getting dressed. That is usually the last time you are alone together before the day takes over. Keep what you say short: one memory and one thank-you. He has his own speech to worry about and will not want a long one back. If you are giving him a song, send it the night before, so he has it while he runs through his lines one last time. Tell him to play it with headphones, away from the groomsmen.

Make a song for your best man

Create a song for your best man. Tell us about your friendship and it is ready within 24 hours. If the wedding is tomorrow, express delivery gets it to you in about an hour.

Also in the Journal: a song instead of a wedding speech and songs for a brother.