Best Man Flask Gift: What to Pair It With
Pair a best man flask with one other stamped leather piece he will carry every day. A flask alone is a good gift, and a flask beside a keychain or a luggage tag with the same initials reads as a set someone thought about. The Leatherius Personalized Leather Hip Flask – 8 oz of 316 stainless in a full-grain leather wrap, about $60 with free monogramming – is the anchor, and about $22 to $55 on top covers every pairing worth making.
The three pairings that work
| Pairing | Why it works | Total | Best when |
|---|---|---|---|
| Flask + Leather Keychain | He carries the keychain daily, so the gift stays in front of him | about $82 | You want a second piece without a second decision |
| Flask + Personalized Leather Luggage Tag | The honeymoon is a trip too, and the tag gets used on it | about $95 | The wedding involves travel for the party |
| Flask + Personalized Leather Dopp Kit | The flask fits inside the kit for the trip out | about $114 | He is the best man and you want the gap to show |
Flask plus keychain, about $82
The cheapest pairing and the one with the longest life. A flask comes out a handful of times a year. A keychain is in his hand every day, and the same stamped initials on both tie them together without either piece announcing itself.
Match the leather colors if you can. A Initial Flask in Black Leather with a Personalized Leather Keychain in Black Leather is the cleanest version of this. Both take a stamped initial, and both age the same way, so a year later they still look like they came from the same place.
Flask plus luggage tag, about $95
This is the pairing for a wedding where the party is flying in, or where the couple leaves for a honeymoon the next morning. The tag is the piece he uses first, sometimes on the way to the wedding itself.
The Personalized Leather Luggage Tag is about $36 and carries a stamped monogram on the same distressed hide as the flasks. Color-match it to his flask, or run the whole party's tags in one color with individual initials.
Flask plus dopp kit, about $114
The pairing that separates the best man from the rest of the party. A Personalized Leather Dopp Kit at about $55 is a real piece of luggage rather than an accessory, and the flask slots inside it for the trip.
It also solves the problem of how to give the best man more without buying him a different flask. Every flask in the Hip Flasks collection is the same build at about $60, so upgrading his flask is impossible. Adding to it is the move. Our full wedding-party breakdown lives in Groomsmen Gifts Toiletry Bag and More.
What to skip
Cigars are the reflex pairing and they date the gift to one evening. Shot glasses duplicate what the flask already does. Anything engraved with the wedding hashtag will be a fossil within two years.
Also skip the multi-item box. Five small things in a crate look generous in the photograph and get dispersed within a week. Two good pieces with matching stamps survive as a pair.
How to present it
Give it before the wedding day rather than on it. The morning of a wedding is a bad venue for a gift moment, since everyone is occupied and the best man will set it down somewhere. The rehearsal dinner is the standard slot, and a week earlier is even better if the flask is going to be carried during the ceremony.
Keep the card short. If there is a longer thing you want to say to him, the card is where it goes rather than the leather. Ideas for what does belong on the leather are in What to Engrave on a Groomsman Flask.
Frequently asked questions
How much should a best man gift cost?
A flask at about $60 with one paired piece lands between $82 and $114, which sits comfortably above what each groomsman receives without becoming awkward.
Should the best man's flask be different from the groomsmen's?
All the flasks share the same 8 oz build, so mark the difference with the pairing or with a gold-finish stamp rather than a different flask.
Do the keychain and the flask come in matching leather?
Several colors overlap across the collections, including Black and Sicilian Brown, so a matched set of flask and keychain is straightforward to assemble.
When should I give the best man his gift?
At the rehearsal dinner or earlier. Giving it on the wedding morning means it competes with everything else happening in the room.
