Weddingbee Blog

I would just like to go ahead and put this on record right now: shopping for boys is hard. I started shopping for the bridesmaids not long after we got engaged, but the groomsmen were an entirely different story. Both Mr. Cloud and I were stuck for a long time.

So, we started with the basic groomsmen gift: the flask. We got ours from Things Remembered, and while we got a good deal (I believe we ended up paying about twenty bucks a pop on sale with monogram) I wouldn’t recommend them. The quality was less than I would have liked and we had a lot of drama getting the correct monograms done. As in, we had to go back three times. Granted, it could have just been the location we were dealing with, but the experience left a bad taste in my mouth.

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We also tried to be sneaky and find out our groomsmen’s favorite liquors, because you can’t give a flask without something to go in it! When we got down to the wire though, the Mr. and I just started flat-out asking. The fuunny thing about boys is that you can ask them strange but obvious questions and they never even ask why!

For months all we had to give the boys were the flasks. I had this mountain of items for the ladies, but like I said, boys are hard! After a lot of pressure on Mr. Cloud from his freaking out bride, he came up with the BEST IDEA EVER. I have to preface this by saying when we started planning our wedding the one thing I really had my heart set on was the whole celebration really feeling like “us”. I wanted guests to see things and say, “oh, that is so Mr. and Mrs. Cloud!” But like many grooms, there were not a lot of wedding options that really matched his personality. And he didn’t care much, either. My darling hubby knew I had my heart set on a cathedral and ballroom for our venues, neither of which match his laid back personality at all. Up until the point of deciding on this one gift, we were having a very traditional wedding, and Mr. Cloud is far from a traditional guy. Luckily, we found small but significant ways to really put his personality out there, and it all started with a blog post and this picture..

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Thank you Mrs. Stiletto! My brain gears started turning and I was researching Chuck prices before the Mr. was even home from work. It was sad for me though, as Mr. Cloud doesn’t like Chucks at all! But, he had an even better idea, and something way more his style… Adidas shell toes!

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Perfect! And could you just die over how cute the ones for our ring bearer are!? So here is the thing about these oh so perfect shoes: they are expensive! The Adidas website has them listed at $65 a pop now (they were $75 when we were looking!) and when you need one pair for the groom, seven groomsmen, and a ring bearer, it adds up fast! I was determined to find a deal and we looked everywhere. For months I did not pass a shoe store without going in to see if they had the Adidas Superstar 2.0 in black with white stripes (they are also sold with a white bottom, which of course were cheaper, but it didn’t look as good with the tuxes). One day in September I walked into the slowest Foot Locker in the city, on one of the last days of the month. I’ve worked in retail long enough to know they were probably trying to hit a quota and I had my fingers crossed they just might be desperate enough to work with me on the price. After talking to the manager and telling him I was prepared to buy nine pairs of shoes on the spot, his eyes lit up and I knew he was going to be flexible. They didn’t have all the sizes we needed in stock but when all was said and done I left with three pairs, and the rest were on their way from various other store locations straight to my front door. We scored free shipping on the ones being sent, as well as the employee and military discount on all pairs (ten bucks for shipping then another THIRTY PERCENT for the discounts)! Their starting price was also lower than the Adidas website so we ended up paying $45 each before tax! You will have to wait just a bit longer to see them in action, but I have to say they were a HUGE hit and looked awesome!

Last but not least, Mr. Cloud went into a local cigar shop and picked up Romeo Y Julieta Cuban cigars. I can tell you nothing about them because I know nothing about cigars, but they matched our color scheme so I was a happy girl.

Here is the look all together, although the liquor varied from person to person and my brother got a larger limited edition bottle of Jameson Irish Whiskey for all the extra projects he helped on*. The packaging wasn’t fancy, because after stressing about it Mr. Cloud pointed out that “guys don’t care about that stuff.” Black gift bags were the way to go. On one of my last minute runs I picked up a big pack of black athletic socks and we threw those in too. I didn’t want anyone in ashy black socks (or even white ones!) after we hunted down such awesome shoes!

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Here’s one last tip for brides going the alternate shoe with tux route. The plan all along was to keep the sneakers a surprise and have them wrapped to be given with the rest of the gifts at the rehearsal dinner. But when Mr. Cloud went to his last tux fitting he brought his shell toes with him and it was clear the guys would need them for their fittings, as well. Chucks are flatter and might be different, but the Adidas have a pretty thick sole, so if the pants are hemmed for flat tux shoes, they look a little on the high-water side with the sneakers. Oh, and if you didn’t rent shoes from Men’s Warehouse with our package, it saved the guys $30. Although, when we told the groomsmen about the big shoe switch they were more excited about not having to wear rented shoes than saving money. Apparently tux shoes are really uncomfortable. (I still maintain as women we have it worse… 3 1/2 inch heals anyone? Suck it up with the rented shoes, boys!)

I hope this helps someone who is looking for ideas for gifts for their boys. If they are like our guys they already have everything, so it was a harder task I thought it would be!

Were your groomsmen hard to shop for?

*As a side note, our Junior Groomsman did not get to enjoy the flask/liquor/cigar combo. You know the whole contributing to the delinquency of a minor thing wasn’t the gift we were going for. But he did thoroughly enjoy a his sneakers and a few new games for his Nintendo DS.

Previously from Up And Away, A Cloudy Wedding:
The Tooth And The Breakdown
The Bridal Party Cleans Up – The Ladies