Thank-You Gifts for the Mothers, Fathers and Families in Your Wedding
Give the mothers a keepsake that holds something, give the fathers something they carry, and order identical items in different leather colours when the family is blended. A thank you gift for the mother of the groom from the bride and groom should be the same object and the same price as whatever the mother of the bride receives, because both of them will find out.
The Leatherius personalized leather jewelry box at $59.75, pressed with a floral initial and lined inside for rings and earrings, is our pick for both mothers: it arrives with her own monogram on it and it survives the week the bouquets do not.
Both mothers, no hierarchy
The failure mode here is small and permanent. One mother gets a slightly better gift, the other notices in the photographs, and it lasts for years. Buy the same object at the same price for both, and let the leather colour be the only difference between them. Sangria, Lilac, Blush, Turquoise, Gray Sand and Parisian Blossom all run on the jewelry box, so two boxes can be visibly personal without either one outranking the other.
The $59.50 personalized makeup bag in Standard is the alternative at the same tier, and it suits a mother who travels rather than one who wears jewellery. Whichever you choose, choose it for both.
| Who | Gift | Price | What decides it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mother of the groom | Leather jewelry box | $59.75 | Her initial, her colour, a keepsake that holds things |
| Mother of the bride | Leather jewelry box | $59.75 | Same object, different leather colour |
| Father of the groom | Personalized wallet | $54.50 | Carried daily, replaces something worn out |
| Father of the bride | Personalized wooden tray | $57.00 | Lands on a dresser, seen every night |
| Stepmother or stepfather | Match the parent's item | Same | Different colour, identical everything else |
| Flower girl's parents | Leather luggage tag | $35.50 | They lent you their child for a full day |
| Ring bearer's parents | Leather keychain | $21.90 | Covers four families without a second thought |
Fathers, and the father who is hard to buy for
The father of the bride already has a page on this site, since the personalized flask is the traditional answer for him and we have written it up in detail. Everyone else in the fathers' column is less well covered.
The $54.50 personalized wallet works for the father of the groom because most men in their sixties are carrying a wallet that gave up two years ago and have not replaced it. It comes in horizontal or vertical layouts with card slots or a coin pocket, in seventeen leather colours, with his initials pressed on the front. The $57.00 personalized wooden tray is the other answer, and it suits a man who empties his pockets in the same spot every night. Our men's wallet guide covers the layout choice, and the father of the bride flask page covers the traditional route.
Stepparents, said out loud
If a stepfather walked you down the aisle, or a stepmother hosted the rehearsal dinner, the gift list has four names on the parents' line rather than two. The clean way to handle it is to buy four identical items in four different leather colours. Nobody can rank Forest Green against Dark Espresso, and nobody is left holding a smaller box.
The same trick handles the awkward case where one parent was heavily involved and another was not. An identical gift says the role is what is being acknowledged. If you want to add weight for the parent who did the work, do it in the card rather than in the price.
The families almost nobody thanks
The flower girl's mother rearranged her Saturday, drove your niece to a hair appointment at seven in the morning, and spent the ceremony braced for a four-year-old to bolt. The ring bearer's parents did the same. These two families are thanked with a photograph and nothing else at most weddings.
A $21.90 monogrammed keychain or a $35.50 luggage tag covers them, and at those prices you can cover four families for less than one parent gift. Press the wedding date rather than a role, because "flower girl's mom" is a job title and a date is a memory.
When to hand them over
The rehearsal dinner is the usual moment for parent gifts, because both families are in one room and there is time for someone to say why. A wedding-morning handover works for a mother who is getting ready with the bride, and the jewelry box has an obvious use within the hour if rings and earrings are coming on and off. Anything given after the honeymoon should go out with the thank-you notes rather than on its own.
Personalized items average roughly a two-week turnaround here, so a parents' order placed a month out arrives with room to spare. Our after-the-wedding thank-you guide covers the later list, and the wedding collection shows the whole catalogue by price.
FAQ
What do you give the mother of the groom on the wedding day?
A personalized keepsake with her own initial on it, at the same price as whatever the mother of the bride receives. The $59.75 leather jewelry box is our pick, in a different leather colour from the other mother's so both are personal and neither outranks the other.
How do you give gifts to both mothers without one looking favoured?
Buy the identical item at the identical price and change only the leather colour. Colour cannot be ranked, so two boxes in Sangria and Gray Sand read as two personal gifts rather than a first and second place.
What is a good father of the groom gift under $60?
The $54.50 personalized wallet or the $57.00 personalized wooden tray. The wallet replaces something he is already carrying past its life, and the tray lands on the dresser where he empties his pockets, so both get used rather than displayed.
Should you thank the flower girl's and ring bearer's parents?
Yes, and almost nobody does. They gave you a full day of childcare logistics. A $21.90 monogrammed keychain or a $35.50 luggage tag with the wedding date pressed into it covers each family without stretching the budget.
