Bridesmaids' Gifts

Good news! Drew and I received a call from our photographer yesterday, and DVD of our wedding pictures is in the mail! We should have our pictures by the end of this week which means the wedding recap(s) will be posted soon! I think I know what I'll be doing this weekend...

In the spirit of our upcoming wedding recap, I decided now would be a good time to post about my bridesmaids' gifts. I wrote this right before the wedding and have been waiting for the right time to finally put it up, and I think the week before the official wedding recap extravaganza begins is just that time.

Bridesmaids' Gifts

I had a hard time deciding on what to get my bridesmaids' as gifts in return for being such a huge part of my wedding, so I thought I might be able to help out any brides-to-be in the same boat by sharing what I gave to my bridesmaids.

I didn't do anything too spectacular or clever for my gifts, just something I thought they would enjoy and appreciate from me.

Before I decided on my final gifts, I spent a lot of time searching the message boards over on The Knot. I'm not sure how much I recommend this, though, since a lot of posters seem to really hate on what I think are pretty traditional wedding party gifts, like jewelry.

I ended up on a pretty simple gift for my girls: monogrammed mugs from Anthropologie, chocolate and a gift card. The mugs were too cute to pass up, and I decided to get them all gift cards instead of a more tangible gift because I figured this way they can get themselves something they want rather than me getting them something they may think is useless. And chocolate because, well, why not?

 These mugs caused me a bit of stress, since only two of the four I needed arrived in my initial package. Afraid that I wasn't going to receive my missing mugs, I called Anthropologie's customer service line and was told that my missing mugs were in stock and would be shipped shortly. Phew!

Except that about a week after that I received an email notifying me of a refund for the two mugs I hadn't received and apparently would not be getting.

So I once again called the customer service line and explained my situation to the woman on the other end of the line. Luckily, she was incredibly patient and awesome and was able to locate the missing mugs and reorder them for me! The shipping was super speedy, and I received my new order only a few days later. Crisis averted!

 I wanted to fill the mugs with something to make them look more exciting, so I bought a few varieties of Ghirardelli chocolates and wrapped them in green party favor bags from Walmart.

Each of my bridesmaids also received a gift card to either Barnes & Noble or Target, so they can get themselves whatever they want. I know it seems a little impersonal, but I also had to consider that all of my bridesmaids were coming from out of state and would have to pack their gift in whatever bag they brought for the weekend.

A handwritten note accompanied each girl's gift too.

I picked up plain brown craft bags and gray tissue paper from Michael's to complete the wrapping. Cute and simple!

My bridesmaids definitely deserved more than what I gave them, but I think I did a pretty good job showing them how much I appreciated them traveling to Michigan to spend my wedding weekend with me and stand by me at the altar. I truly can't thank them enough for all of the love and support they showed me both on my wedding day, and every other day I have known each of them.

Thank you Suzie, Cindy, Emily and Michelle for being wonderful sisters and friends and playing such a large role in my wedding! I love you all!