Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Wedding Wednesdays

Lets talk about something fun, shall we? How about Bridesmaid and Groomsman Gifts? Those are always fun (well, most of the time). I have been in my fair share of weddings and I have gotten some fabulous bridesmaids gifts and, to put it kindly, some not so great gifts.

My feelings are that the people in your bridal party spend a lot of money to have the "honor" of participating. Bridesmaids dresses are not cheap (or the one I chose wasn't ... typical), tux rentals aren't either, showers are pricey, and lets not even talk about gas to get to said showers, parties, wedding, etc. With that being stated, I feel that the gifts should be nice, useful and thoughtful.

For my girls, I chose a pair of pajamas from Victoria's Secret and had the pocket monogrammed in lime green with the girl's first initial. I only did the first initial because there were a few girls who were engaged and it just made it easier. I also had a pair of pj's and mine were monogrammed in pink! Everyone wore them while we were having our hair done and getting ready. They made for some cute pics ...


*These pictures did not come from my photographer and are not as clear. Sorry 'bout that, but you get the idea :)

I said before that I wanted the guys in navy blazers, white shirts, light linen pants, and pink ties. Most everyone had a navy blazer that matched and a white shirt but the boys all bought a pair of the same linen pants in lieu of renting a tux. We picked out a Vineyard Vines tie that I adored but we didn't feel like we could ask each groomsmen to purchase a $75 tie on top of the pants. Solution? The Beau gave the ties as groomsman gifts and I think everyone really liked them. I know I did! The Beau and his groomsman wore pink with beach-chairs and my dad and his dad both wore the green with beach-chairs. Here is a little snippet from the VV website ...

The groomsmen were super good sports ... they were not allowed to sit down once they put on their pants because we couldn't have that linen wrinkled!

Oh my, I almost forgot the best part of the b-maids gift --the presentation, of course! I had the pj's wrapped in personalized paper that said "To my bridesmaids! All my love, Belle" ... but it said my real name. The paper was pink with a white font and it was precious. If you are interested in the personalized paper let me know!


This was the best picture I could get my hands on tonight, I am still in a hotel room. The gifts are stacked up and surrounded by our welcome bags. I will talk about those next week!

I would love to hear about your fave b-maid and groomsman gifts!

xoxo~

13 comments:

Belle (from Life of a...) said...

I'm probably crazy for starting a wedding idea book for my Lorelai when she's just 18 and doesn't even have a steady boyfriend but I've got to be PREPARED (that's what we Belles do, isn't it?) I'm going to print your post and put it in our book. SO cool!!

Blue-Eyed Bride said...

so cute! i love the pajamas!

i gave my girls a set of Toss Designs bags-- the make up bag and the large tote. i also gave them the Toss Designs pink polka dot umbrella (that we used later in the pictures).

Todd gave his guys a South Carolina Encyclopedia that was autographed by the author. they all had to buy black suits for the wedding, and we had all of their ties made, so he gave them their tie and socks as part of the gift. then he gave them all a little engraved swiss army knife.

i love the linen pants and navy blazer look! my hubby wanted to do it, but i told him it would look strange in our venues.

LyndsAU said...

Fabulous-ness :) You and the pics :)

Mojito Maven said...

LOVE IT! I gave my girl's tiffany friendship link braclets and the groomsmen received ties and beer (no I am not joking. I found out each groomsmen's favorite beer and I made a personalized gift that had the beer in it and other goodies) haha.

Tracy's Porch said...

So adorable! The pj idea is so fab!!

We got married in Jamaica - I gave my bridesmaids flip flops, earrings and gift certificates to get their hair done. My hubby gave the guys Appleton Rum (made in Jamaica), cigars and we also bought the guy's shirts for them.

Midwest Prep said...

I love this idea!!!! I gave my girls white Hoodies with their names embroidered in green and matching green weekend bags in a houndstooth print. They were really cute- except one of the girls bags broke at the airport with nothing in it! THEN- she got a replacement bag and just had some papers in it and it broke again. I was so embarrassed--especially since those bags are not cheap! They offered to replace the bag again- but really didn't offer her anything more as a sort of apology or anything. I was surprised that they didn't treat us better, especially since I placed sucha big order! oh well- what can you do!?

Buford Betty said...

Oh I love the PJ's!! Too freaking cute!

morewineplease said...

OMG! Those are so cute! Can I be a bridesmaide???

For my bridesmaides I got 8 different gifts and made them play "dirty santa" It was fun! I bought handbags and jewelry and pj's!!!
I heart weddings!

~Mrs. Guru~ said...

Such cute idea!

Sasha said...

Darling!

Tara Gibson said...

love your blog! I am about to get married in 2 months! I am thinking up ideas as we speak, I love your pjs!!

starfish said...

I love everything! I am completely in love with the pj idea. They are useful and make for such a cute pic. I was originally thinking of monogrammed robes, but may need to take this idea instead!

starfish said...

Also, where did you get the personalized wrapping paper?