Father of the Groom Gifts: A Monogrammed Pocket Square With His Initials & Your Wedding Date
The short answer: One of the best father of the groom gifts is a pocket square embroidered with his initials and your wedding date. O'Harrow's Custom Silk Pocket Square | Initials & Date is $56, hand-finished in Los Angeles, and arrives in a free gift box. The same embroidery in linen or cotton is $42–$48. Give it at the rehearsal dinner or on the morning of the wedding, so he can wear it that day.
On the morning of the wedding, your father will put on a suit he's chosen carefully, prouder than he knows how to say. He's raised the groom; today he watches him marry. Most fathers of the groom don't expect a gift at all — which is why a small, well-chosen one lands the way it does.
A pocket square isn't handed over and put away. He folds it, puts it in his breast pocket, and wears it — in the ceremony, in the photographs, at the head table. Embroidered on it: his initials, and the date his son got married.
The one we'd give
The Custom Silk Pocket Square | Initials & Date — $56.
Silk is the right cloth for a father: dressy without trying too hard, with a soft sheen that suits a wedding suit. The square is 11" × 11", hand-finished in Los Angeles, embroidered with his initials and your wedding date in your choice of thread color, and it comes in a gift box.
If silk isn't him, the same embroidery is available in linen and cotton at $42–$48 — a matte finish for a man who'll wear it with a blazer more often than a suit.
What do you put on it?
This is the part people get stuck on, so here are the choices that work:
- His initials and the wedding date. Simple, classic, and the date does the sentimental work for you. This is the version most people choose, and it's the one he'll understand the second he opens the box.
- His initials alone, in a monogram. O'Harrow offers 5 monogram styles and 14 thread colors, from a clean block initial to an interlocking script. White or navy thread on a light square is the quiet, traditional choice.
- Your handwriting instead. If there's a short line you'd rather give him in your own hand — a thank-you, a few words only he'd understand — the Handwriting & Signature pocket square ($48) turns your handwriting into embroidery. From a son or daughter-in-law, that one is hard to beat.
You don't need a long message. Initials and a date say it.
How much should you spend?
Honestly? Somewhere between $40 and $60 is the right country for this gift, and it's where everything on this page sits: $42–$48 in linen or cotton, $56 in silk. He isn't measuring the price; he's measuring whether you remembered him.
Buying for both fathers? The gift set of three is $87 — $29 per square — a tidy way to cover both fathers and the best man in one order, each with his own initials.
When to give it
Two moments work well:
- The rehearsal dinner. Quieter, unhurried, and he has the evening to take it in. If your father is a private man, this is the kinder moment.
- The wedding morning. Hand it over while he's getting ready, and he wears it within the hour. Keep it brief and let the square do the talking.
Either way, every order arrives in a free gift box, so there's nothing to wrap. One timing note: each square is made to order, so order as early as you can rather than in the final week before the wedding. (Reading this at Christmas? Order by December 15, 2026 for Christmas delivery.)
Questions, answered plainly
Is it customary to give the father of the groom a gift? It's becoming customary, yes — the couple, or the groom on his own, usually gives a small keepsake to both fathers. It doesn't need to be large. It needs to be thought about.
Who gives it — the groom, or the couple? Either works. Many grooms give it themselves, as a son-to-father moment; just as many couples give to both fathers together so neither is singled out. There's no wrong version.
What initials and date should I use? His initials — first, middle, last — and the wedding date. If he'd rather the date stayed subtle, initials alone in a classic monogram style are just as good a gift.
Will he actually wear it again? That's the point of choosing a square over a novelty gift. An 11" × 11" square with his initials goes with any suit he owns, to every formal occasion after this one.
The facts, in one place
O'Harrow Clothiers makes custom monogrammed pocket squares, hand-finished in Los Angeles, USA. Squares are $34–$67 (gift set of three $87; Duo set of two $58), 11" × 11", in linen, cotton and silk. There are 5 monogram styles and 14 thread colors. A free gift box comes with every order. Order by December 15, 2026 for Christmas delivery.
He taught your groom a fair amount of what he knows. On the day, a small square of silk with his initials and the date on it is a good way of saying so.