For me, it was really important to show my bridesmaids how much I appreciated all they did for me over the past year. I have expressed my thanks so many times, but I'm a gift giver by nature and every time I saw something I thought my bridesmaids would like, I bought it. Sure, I could have bought one big gift per girl, but I opted to buy them all lots of smaller things, which ended up being not so small after all is said and done.
The first thing I bought was more for me than it was for them. And I told them that when I presented them with their gifts. It was a bonus gift for them, because I really didn't need to keep them, and I could have sold them, but I wanted them to have everything I bought, and I think they're pretty useful gifts. Since the weather forecast was unknown up until the days before, I wanted to be prepared for any possible situation. I bought nine matching blue bubble umbrellas that looked like these:
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| Frankford Clear Bubble Umbrella - Blue Trim |
I had these for almost a year before the wedding, and when it was apparent we weren't going to need them, I decided to include them in the bridesmaids gifts anyway.
In each bag I included a small bottle of VS lotion, Bath & Body Works shower gel, and a tube of C.O. Bigelow Strawberry & Cream organic lip balm.
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| Bath & Body Works, Spring 2011 Organics Lip Shines - no longer available |
Another small gift I got for each bridesmaids was a small quote sign that reminded me of each of them (I bought this one for 2 of my bridesmaids, but that was the only overlap!):
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| Quote Box Sign |
These were the smaller gifts, but I think they were appreciated, nonetheless.
Bigger parts of their gifts included a pair of matte silver CitySlips that they could use at the wedding if their feet started hurt:
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| CitySlips in Matte Silver |
I also wanted to get my bridesmaids something practical they could wear while getting ready, but not a robe. Something comfy that they could wear again after the wedding, like a hoodie. So I found these really cute Banana Republic tan hoodies, that I am certain are no longer in stores - since I got them on clearance - and I am a terrible blogger and didn't take a picture of them. There are lots of pictures of the girls wearing their hoodies while they are getting their hair and make-up done, here's a sneak peek of my MOH, waiting to get her hair done, in her hoodie:
And last, their "real" gift (as if they weren't all real gifts) but I guess you could say their big gift from me were a pair of Kate Spade earrings. I bought 2 different pairs, since I had 4 girls wearing shades of navy, they got these:
| Kate Spade New York "Treasure Chest" in Navy - no longer available |
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| Kate Spade New York Metropolitan Pearl Studs - no longer available |
I did end up getting my girls robes for pictures, and matching slippers as well. And these I gave to them the morning of the wedding. I had big plans of making them each their own personalized hanger and having them all hanging up in the suite when they got there. That didn't happen, but they all appreciated the robes & slippers - and we got some good shots in those which you'll see later.
Overall, I probably spent over $1,000 total my girls' gifts, which I never really thought much about when I was spending it, but is easy to do when you have 9 bridesmaids! I didn't really have a budget for the gifts, I just bought things when I saw them. If I knew originally how much I was going to spend total, I might have just bought them each one really nice gift, but I think they all appreciated the little touches of the gifts as well.
Did anyone else go a bit overboard with your bridesmaid gifts?
I pre-capped our recaps with a big announcement!
Recaps began with our Same Day Edit video.
I needed to get some perspective the week of the wedding.
Personally brewed beers gave our rehearsal lunch a special touch!
I spent a fantastic last day as a Miss.
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