One wedding party. Seven completely different stories. One set of custom golf wedges built to connect them all.
Most groomsmen gifts are designed to match. For this wedding party, matching was never really the point.
The groom wanted to give each of his six groomsmen a custom engraved golf wedge built around the places, memories and inside jokes that defined their friendship. His own wedge would complete the seven-piece set.
Every club needed to feel personal enough that it could only belong to one person. At the same time, the seven wedges still needed a common thread that made them feel like one wedding set.
The result was seven Cleveland RTZ 56-degree wedges, seven original illustrations and a lot of personality packed into a very small amount of steel.
One Set, Seven Stories
The creative brief started with a list of names, locations and memories.
One groomsman was connected to Boulder. Another needed a Pacific Northwest football scene. Other themes included the Oregon District in Dayton, GTA V, Fremont Street in Las Vegas and Park City, Utah. The groom wanted Venice Beach, his Irish heritage and a few more personal details worked into his own club.
That variety was the challenge, but it was also what made the project interesting.
Instead of forcing every club into the same visual formula, I treated each wedge as its own illustration. The consistent element was the Air Force Academy logo. That is what brought the group together, so I worked it into every design as the connecting mark across the full set.
Everything else was created specifically for the person receiving the club.
1. Hill: A Boulder Tribute
Hill’s wedge was built around Pearl Street and Boulder, Colorado.
The groom’s must-have list included the Flatirons, an I-25 interstate sign and Hill’s 2005 Toyota 4Runner. Those three details became the foundation of the scene.
I used the Flatirons to establish the location immediately, then worked the vehicle and road sign into the foreground. The goal was not to create a generic Colorado landscape. It needed to feel like Hill’s version of Boulder.
This was the first wedge I shared publicly from the set, and the reaction was far beyond anything I expected. The Reddit post received approximately 120,000 views, 860 upvotes and 145 shares. More importantly, it showed me how strongly people connect with artwork when the personal details are specific and recognizable.
2. Byrne: Venice Beach for the Groom
The groom’s wedge carried one of the most layered stories in the project.
His initial brief sounded simple: Venice Beach, a nod to his Irish heritage and the Air Force Academy logo. But Venice is not one landmark. It is palm trees, surfing, skateboarding, music, graffiti, the boardwalk and a little controlled chaos.
I built the composition around the Venice street sign and a classic Volkswagen woody bus with a surfboard on top. From there, the scene became more personal.
The skateboarder was created in Byrne’s likeness, down to the request for Vans and no tattoos. Two women farther back represent his past and his single life. The surfer in the foreground was created in the likeness of his bride-to-be, representing the present. She is Colombian, so her surfboard carries the Colombian flag.
A clover on one building gives a quieter nod to Byrne’s Irish heritage, while the Air Force Academy logo connects his wedge to the rest of the set.
This club became much more than a Venice Beach tribute. It tells the story of where he has been and the person he is moving forward with.
3. Deeks: Pacific Northwest Football
Deeks wanted a Pacific Northwest football scene, but he did not want it tied to one specific team.
That gave me room to build something that felt unmistakably PNW without relying on team colors or a large sports logo.
The football field sits in the foreground, with uprights and an evergreen tree line running through the middle of the composition. Mount Rainier inspired the background, with sunrays breaking from behind the mountain and textured clouds adding depth.
This wedge also created a useful production challenge. During the first engraving test, the black marking in the tree line began losing definition during polishing. I returned to the artwork and developed a pine-needle stipple pattern that helped the forest hold its detail through the finishing process.
The final revision was less technical: a 30-rack of Coors Light sitting on the field.
That small addition was exactly the kind of detail that made this series work. The landscape established the setting, but the personal request made it Deeks’ wedge.
4. Ray: The Oregon District in Dayton
Ray’s wedge was built around the historic Oregon District in Dayton, Ohio, where he and the groom once lived together.
The house on the left side of the artwork is their actual rental house. The groom told me they used to sit on the front porch drinking margaritas made in a blender, so I placed Ray and the groom in the foreground, raising their pitchers in a toast.
The Oregon District arch and surrounding streetscape establish the location. Diagonal hatching fills the negative space and gives the engraving contrast and movement. Ray’s name is written in script along the bottom, and the Air Force Academy logo is tucked into the upper corner.
This design is a good example of why personal artwork does not need to center on a major landmark or dramatic event. Sometimes an old house, a front porch and a shared routine carry more meaning than anything else.
5. Hester: GTA V Chaos
Hester’s theme was GTA V.
The groom said their favorite thing to do together in the game was play as Trevor, drive around Los Santos and blow things up. There was no reason to make this one subtle.
Trevor anchors the right side of the composition. A Los Santos scene stretches across the club with an LSPD cruiser, a shootout, a SWAT truck and an exploding helicopter. The loading-screen-inspired character appears along the bottom with Hester’s name beside her.
The groom also wanted Sailor Jerry incorporated, so I added a prop plane towing a banner through the top of the scene. The Air Force Academy logo is worked into the buildings on the opposite side.
There is a lot happening on this wedge, but the artwork was designed as one continuous scene rather than a collection of disconnected references. It needed to feel chaotic while still reading clearly at the scale of a golf club.
6. Gor: Fremont Street, Las Vegas
Gor’s wedge took the group to Fremont Street and the old-school side of Las Vegas.
The requested details included Lucky Day Tequila & Mezcal House, the classic Las Vegas sign, tacos, Red Rock Canyon, a flying spaceship and the Air Force Academy logo.
I built the left side around Lucky Day and its dog skull mark, with the Golden Nugget behind it. The Fremont Street canopy and crowd carry the viewer through the center of the wedge. On the right, the scene opens into the Vegas sign, a taco stand, palm trees and the red rocks in the distance.
A small UFO floats overhead because sometimes the detail that makes the least sense is the one you absolutely have to include.
The darker parts of the composition received additional stippling so they would hold the laser-black marking through finishing. That allowed the crowded Fremont scene to keep its depth without turning into one heavy black mass.
7. Brosy: Park City and a Flying Dorito
The final wedge was created for Brosy around Park City, Utah.
The groom’s list included a skier wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey over his ski jacket, a bottle of Fireball, the No Name Saloon & Grill sign, YotelPad and a flying Dorito chip in the sky.
Brosy is positioned in the center, skiing downhill in the Bulls jersey with Fireball in hand. His name is worked into the tail of the ski, while the RTZ mark follows the slope beneath him. The No Name sign anchors the left side, and the Wasatch Range stretches across the background with YotelPad tucked into the hillside.
Above the scene are the two details that connect the ridiculous and meaningful sides of the project: a flying Dorito and the Air Force Academy logo.
This was the seventh and final wedge I shared from the set. It was a fitting finish because it captured what made the entire project special. The artwork could be technically detailed, personally meaningful and a little absurd at the same time.
Designing Artwork That Has to Work on Steel
Every illustration in this set was designed in-house specifically for its wedge.
Creating the artwork is only part of the job. A design that looks good on a computer screen still has to survive the engraving and finishing process. Lines need enough weight to remain visible. Dark areas need structure so they hold the black marking. Negative space has to be managed carefully so small details do not disappear once the artwork is reduced to the size of a wedge back.
Directional hatching helped create movement and contrast. Stippling reinforced darker areas that needed to retain depth. Larger black and white shapes kept the scenes readable from a distance, while smaller details rewarded a closer look.
Each club was fiber-laser engraved, laser black marked and finished by hand. No paint fill was used on the illustrated scenes. The finished wedges remain fully playable.
More Than Matching Groomsmen Gifts
The most rewarding part of this project was seeing how different the seven wedges became without losing the sense that they belonged together.
They were not seven copies of one wedding design with different names added at the end. Each club was built around a friendship, a place and a collection of memories. The Air Force Academy logo provided the connection, but the individual stories gave the set its meaning.
Together, the wedges became a portrait of the group.
That is what I believe a great personalized gift should do. It should make sense immediately to the person receiving it, even if some of the details leave everyone else asking questions.
Commissioning Custom Wedding Wedges
If you are considering custom golf wedges for a groom, wedding party or group of groomsmen, the process can begin with something as simple as a list of names and memories.
The clubs do not all need the same theme. In fact, the strongest sets often come from letting each piece reflect the individual receiving it while finding one visual element that connects the group.
Show Out Engraving develops the artwork, works through the creative direction with you, engraves the clubs and finishes each piece by hand.
To discuss a custom wedding wedge set, get in touch with Show Out Engraving and tell us a little about your group.
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