About Us

Our Story

The idea for The Man Registry came to Jimmy Horner in 2007. A friend’s wedding was approaching, and he was having trouble finding the right gift to purchase from the couple’s wedding registry. He just couldn’t get excited about monogrammed bath towels, flatware sets or fitted bed sheets. While these are appropriate wedding gifts, it didn’t feel right giving them as a gift to one of his best guy friends. This is where the idea hit him: there should be a website where grooms can register for fun and useful gifts that their friends would be excited to give. Gifts like barbecue grills, barware, tools, outdoors gear and even man cave supplies.

Jimmy shared the idea with his brother Bob Horner and brother-in-law Chris Easter and the wheels were in motion. The three of them launched The Man Registry on March 15, 2008. In addition to the wedding registry, the guys had also determined that the wedding industry as a whole wasn’t paying enough attention to grooms. Because of this, they also created a blog full of how-to articles, checklists and guides designed to successfully guide men through every step of the engagement, wedding planning and honeymoon processes.

In true entrepreneurial fashion, The Man Registry was run from a series of spare bedrooms and garages in the early days. Over time, the company grew into their first office in Overland Park, KS (which was quickly outgrown). A lot has changed in the last decade. While still maintaining a focus on the wedding registry business, The Man Registry has found new and exciting avenues of growth. They have become one of the leading providers of groomsmen gifts — with an additional focus on personalized gifts and promotional items. The site now features over 1,000 unique products, most of which can be personalized for no extra cost.

Our founders celebrating the 10 year anniversary of The Man Registry's launch. From left to right: Jimmy Horner, Chris Easter, Bobby Horner. (March 15, 2018)

Our founders: Jimmy Horner, Chris Easter, and Bobby Horner.


5 Great Reasons to Shop at The Man Registry

We’re a family-owned business that love the satisfaction of providing unique gifts

Today’s ecommerce landscape is dominated by Amazon and other mega-companies. On the flip side, we’re a family-owned small business that’s been steadily built from the ground up since 2008. While we love finding ways to expand our business, our goal isn’t to become a faceless mega-corporation where customers and employees are just numbers. We’re real, honest people who love the satisfaction of providing unique gifts for groomsmen, fathers, husbands, boyfriends and all the other special men in your life. You’ll probably never receive an order from us delivered same-day via a drone, but we guarantee you’re buying from a company with values that appreciates you and does business the right way.

We live and die for customer service

From top to bottom, The Man Registry team lives and dies for customer service. Every decision we make starts with the question “is this good for our customers?” Our top goal each day is doing whatever it takes to turn our first-time visitors into lifelong customers. This means that regardless of whether you need help with placing an order, tracking down a package, making sure your order arrives on time or finding the perfect gift – we’re there for you 100%. See for yourself by reading some of our customer reviews.

We meet deadlines

We got our start in wedding gifts so we understand weddings and how important it is that we meet the quoted production and shipping time frames that we advertise. We have 11 years of experience and know that receiving groomsmen gifts after the big day renders them useless (and leaves the bride and groom in a severe pinch). Because of this, we’re always thinking in terms of timeline. Simply put, we meet deadlines. If it means being here until midnight to make sure orders go out on time, we’re up to the task!

Our eyes are always open for the latest trending gift ideas

Many of our customers find us for the first time while shopping for their groomsmen gifts. But we’re not a one-and-done website that you’ll never need again after the wedding day. We strive to offer a unique selection of products that are perfect for Christmas, Father’s Day, birthdays, and other special occasions. Our eyes are always open for the latest trending gift ideas. We’ll never be the site that offers the same boring stuff you see everywhere else.

Security is a priority

Security is a priority. It’s our responsibility to provide a secure and private online shopping experience for our customers. To safeguard against fraudulent activities, we never store customer credit card data and encrypt all transactions.


FAQ

I need groomsman gift suggestions. What gifts are popular in 2024?

We strive to provide a mix of unique and fresh gift ideas along with tried and true classics. Check out this list of the best 2024 groomsmen gifts we created to help you find the perfect gifts for the members of your wedding party.

Do you have any tips on buying groomsmen gifts?

There are a lot of questions when it comes to groomsmen gifting etiquette. Our helpful shopping guide offers recommendations on how much to spend, who to give to, when to give out and more. It’s a must-read for grooms who want to nail their gifts.

Why are you called The Man Registry? Are you a wedding gift registry?

We used to be (read our story above). Now we focus on providing awesome gifts for the groom, groomsmen, best man and rest of the wedding party.

Do I have to be getting married to use this site?

Nope! Our gifts are great for all occasions and can be purchased by anyone at any time. Please keep us in mind for Father’s Day, Christmas, birthdays and all other special events where unique gifts are called for.


Company Milestones, Press Highlights and Folklore

2020

November 24, 2020

We won our fourth straight Best of Weddings Award from The Knot. This award is based on feedback from real groom and brides who reviewed their groomsman gift buying experience with us. By winning this award four times, we were also named to The Knot’s “Hall of Fame”.

The Man Registry joins The Knot's Hall of Fame

2018

June 28, 2018

We celebrated the 10-year anniversary of our launch with a pizza and beer extravaganza at Martin City Brewing Company. Did we choose the hottest day of the year to have this outdoor party? You bet we did!

August 9, 2018

We made another stop at Kansas City Live. This time we got to talk about some of 2018’s coolest groomsmen gifts.

December 20, 2018

In true tech bro style, we purchased a foosball table for the office. Productivity plummeted. But hey, at least we feel cool!

2016

February 8, 2016

We launch a redesigned, mobile-friendly version of The Man Registry designed to better serve our customer’s growing needs.

March 10, 2016

We showed off some of 2016’s most unique and out-of-the-ordinary groomsmen gifts on Kansas City Live.

2015

September 16, 2015

Our Co-founder Chris Easter speaks on the Inside the Minds of Top Wedding Bloggers panel at Wedding MBA in Las Vegas. The panel focuses on marketing tips for wedding professionals and also features representatives from The Knot, Lover.ly, Bridal Bar and BeInspired PR.

2014

July 24, 2014

The Gray Lady comes calling. Our co-founder Chris Easter is honored to contribute a piece to the The New York Times on the wedding traditions need to go away. It should come as no surprise, but the article focuses on the outdated stereotype that the wedding day is all about the bride — and that the groom is just there for decoration.

2013

January 18, 2013

Our co-founder Chris Easter appears on the ABC 20/20 special “Wedding Confidential” discussing the groom’s role in the wedding planning process.

2012

January 10, 2012

Alpha Books releases Be the Man: The Man Registry Guide for Grooms written by our very own Kara Horner and Chris Easter. The book serves as a step by step guide to assist the groom in planning everything from the proposal to the honeymoon.

June 20, 2012

Fast Company (one of our favorite publications) features us in their story Here Comes the Dude: Wedding Planning Gets Manly.

2011

June 7, 2011

We’re quoted in a Wall Street Journal piece on wedding registry trends.

2010

July 19, 2010

Co-founders Chris Easter and Bobby Horner are named two of Inc. Magazine’s Top 30 Entrepreneurs Under 30. Jimmy just barely missed the cut at 31. Don’t worry, he’s never been teased about that.

2009

March 13, 2009

Entrepreneur.com showcases us as experts in marketing to men.

June 16, 2009

Co-founder Jimmy Horner makes his TV debut on Kansas City’s KMBC TV. He shows off some of our top selling products and discusses why The Man Registry is such a great resource for grooms. We only have the clip recorded on a VHS tape. If you want to see it, just send us a pre-addressed and stamped envelope and we’ll mail you a copy.

June 18, 2009

The Los Angeles Times’ Brand X magazine names Chris Easter one of the top innovators in LA. TMZ immediately begins stalking us and we’re forced to file a restraining order.

LA Times Brand X Magazine cover featuring Chris Easter of The Man Registry as a top innovator in 2009

August 1, 2009

We’re quoted in a Details Magazine article on the male engagement ring trend (yes, this was a real trend).

2008

March 15, 2008

The Man Registry launches as the first wedding registry, blog and groomsman gift provider designed for men, by men. We really didn’t know what we were doing but we were having a great time living the start-up dream. We think ABC News summed up the first iteration of our site quite nicely: “Grooms-to-be can not only register on the site and pick out the type of gifts they’d want, but also pick up handy tips on how to pick out a tuxedo and numerous pointers on how to saddle up for the big day.”

April 27, 2008

Our hometown Kansas City Star gives us our first major newspaper write-up titled ‘Wedding Registries Can Be a Guy, Too‘.

December 31, 2008

We wrap up our first year in business and toast to the awesome press coverage we received in year one. The media tour included stops at Mashable, Entrepreneur, Thrillist and The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch.


The Man Registry team competing at the 2018 Children's Mercy Hospital Topgolf Tournament

Giving Back

Giving back to our community is a core part of our company values. We’ve been very fortunate over the years to get to know some amazing organizations (both in our hometown of Kansas City and beyond). We provide our employees two paid days off per year to volunteer and are always looking for new and worthwhile ways to give back. For information on our charitable giving or for donation requests, you can contact us here.

Some of the charities and organizations we’ve worked with over the years:

Children’s Mercy Hospital

Children’s Mercy Hospital is one of the top children’s hospitals in the country (and a beloved institution in our hometown of Kansas City) Our co-founder Chris Easter is an alumni of the Mercy Ambassadors leadership board – a group that organizes fundraising and engaging events within the Kansas City community. Each fall you’ll find The Man Registry competing in the annual Children’s Mercy Topgolf Tournament!

Wish Upon a Wedding

Wish Upon a Wedding is an amazing organization that grants weddings and vow renewals to couples facing serious illness or a life-altering circumstance. They have local chapters throughout the US and have granted over 140 wedding wishes to date.

Coterie Theater

The Coterie Theater is a nationally recognized non-profit children’s theater in Kansas City. Their mission is to provide professional classical and contemporary theater for children from all walks of life in the KC area. They also offer educationally dramatic outreach programs in the community.

Dress for Success

The mission of Dress for Success is to empower women to achieve economic independence by providing a network of support, professional attire and the development tools to help women thrive in work and in life.

Steps of Faith Foundation

Steps of Faith is a nonprofit public charity dedicated to providing prosthetic care, hope, and comfort to amputees needing financial support. They are based in Kansas City but serve the needs of amputees throughout the US.

Cystic Fibrosis Foundation

The mission of the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation is to cure cystic fibrosis and to provide all people with the disease the opportunity to lead full, productive lives by funding research and drug development, promoting individualized treatment, and ensuring access to high-quality, specialized care.

Treat the Feet

Treat the Feet works with low-income schools in the Springfield, IL community to provide quality shoes to children in need. More so, their objective is to shed awareness that poor footwear can have detrimental effects on our feet by increasing the risk of long term health consequences. You can donate to their GoFundMe fundraiser here.

Thousands of Satisfied Grooms and Groomsmen

Since 2008, we’ve been the go-to site for personalized, unique groomsmen gifts and wedding tips for men. We’re also proud to be the original groom’s gift registry.

I reached out to The Man Registry on a Saturday, just 7 days before my wedding, asking for help with my groomsmen gifts. I heard back within an hour and was able to get 8 personalized coolers in just 3 days. Ordering was easy and the quality was top notch. Would highly recommend The Man Registry!

— Parker R.

The Man Registry is phenomenal. The customer service is exceptional - seriously. You send an e-mail and a person (a friendly one at that) actually responds within an hour. Also, gift options are diverse and plentiful so you'll be able to find what works best for you.

— Andrew S.