Why Didn't I Think Of This?!

I always love hearing/reading stories about how brides ask their best girls to be bridesmaids. It's such a special moment and some of the stories I have come across have been amazingly sweet. The stories are made even better when the ideas used to ask friends to be bridesmaids are super clever.

Recently I came across a SUPER clever idea by bride to be Bethany over at Rinse.Repeat. and I knew I had to share it.

Similar to my own situation, the majority of Bethany's soon to be bridesmaids lived out of town. Rather than call her girls or send them letters, Bethany created these amazing little bridesmaid boxes.

Aren't they beautiful?

She found the boxes at Joann's Fabrics, and painted them to match the color scheme of her upcoming wedding. The white bracket that made space for her message underneath the lid was done freehand by the bride to be. The message "be my maid?" was affixed to the box lid with stickers.

The inside of each box was filled with some incredible little goodies.

Bethany filled her girls in on all of the wedding happenings with adorable typed notes. These notes told the girls all about the wedding day plans, who the other bridesmaids were, what their roles in the wedding would be, and the dresses that they would be wearing on the big day.

In addition to the notes, Bethany included inspiration board style photos, paint chips, and fabric swatches to give her future bridesmaids an idea of the wedding vision she had created.

Such a smart idea! Not only are these bridesmaid boxes clever but they're also very informative to the future bridesmaids. What a neat way to ask the question "will you be my bridesmaid?" Kuddos to Bethany! If this is how she asked her girls to be bridesmaids, I can't imagine how amazing her wedding will be. I totally wish I would have thought of this!

Don't get me wrong. I love the way that I asked my girls to be bridesmaids. I had a great time making these wine bottles for Sarah, Amy, and Amanda (read all about the process here)....

...and this candygram package for Kim. (Click here to read details.)

More important than the fun I had creating these gifts, my girls really seemed to love them. Even if I could, I wouldn't go back and change the way I asked my girls to be bridesmaids.

I really think that Bethany's idea was pretty amazing (don't you?!) and I might have to figure out a way to modify it and create something just as nifty for my girls.

How did you ladies ask your girls to be bridesmaids? Did you write a note?...Create a gift basket?....Take them out to lunch?....Feel free to share your stories.

Candy Gram!

Reading the wedding forums on sites like weddingbee.com and theknot.com, I've noticed that there have been a lot of brides who regret their bridesmaid choices. I cringed reading stories of uninvolved bridesmaids, fights about clothing, and friendships ending.

I'm so thankful to have such amazing girls in my life! I knew that I wouldn't be one of those brides who would look back at photos from the wedding in 20 years and have regret or feel sad that the girls who stood by my side were no longer around. (Whether they like it or not my girls are stuck with me for life!)

I didn't realize however, that I would regret NOT having someone there.

I've been having some regret about not asking my girl Kim to be a part of the bridal party. I absolutely love Kim. We always have a fantastic time together and I know that I can count on her when I need an ear, a shoulder...or a glass of champagne. Talking the situation over with Samantha, and after running into Kim at Deja Blues, I knew that if I didn't ask Kim to join the bridal party that I would really regret it.

*Like I said....This is how I always great Miss Kimmie!*

Instead of just calling or sending her a text, I wanted to find a fun way to ask Kim to be a bridesmaid. It means a lot to me to have her by my side and a question like this was in the need for something special. (When I asked the other girls to be in the wedding I gave them all wine bottles.)

Kim moved for work and her job keeps her on the move so I wasn't sure when I was going to see her next. Since I was planning on mailing her a little gift,I decided that I would need a cute way of asking her that perhaps included a little poem or note. I revisited the ideas I had back in January and decided that the candy gram idea was the cutest way to ask Kim to be a bridesmaid.

I thought the candy gram idea was super clever. It involved incorporating candy names into a little note about bridesmaids. So I gathered together all the candy needed and began putting together Kim's package.

The candy used included: Dots, Mounds, Snickers, Smarties, Dove Promises Chocolates, LifeSavers, and Now and Laters. I also added some Good and Plenty.

After arranging the candy to fit into the box I printed out the note to include with the package. After all, Kim needed to know why I was sending her a box of candy. I printed out the note on cardstock and attached it to some pretty scrapbook paper.

The note reads as follows :

Bridesmaids are more than Dots in your life. They are Mounds of fun and make you Snicker. They are Smarties that share advice and keep their Promises. Above all, they are your Life Savers and will stand by you Now and Later.

 Would you be my bridesmaid?!

 I guarantee the fun times will be Good and Plenty!

I love you Miss Kimmie! I really should have asked you at the beginning and I have been kicking myself for not asking you sooner! I love you so much and I would be honored if you would stand by me on the big day!

Love you girl!

-Teeny

**I hope this candy sweetens the deal!**

I found a cute little round box at Michael's Craft Store that I used to hold the candy, and tied it up with some white ribbon. The package went out through overnight shipping. I went to sleep with a little excitement knowing that Kim would be getting the package the next afternoon.

I decided to text Kim the next afternoon to make sure that she was going to be home. Kim teaches a mobile classroom and she travels from city to city to teach. Thankfully she was going to be home that day to pack up a few things before heading to the coast. Had I waited a few more days Kim's package might have melted on her porch.

A few hours later I got a phone call from a very excited Kim! She said that she would love to be a bridesmaid and I am so happy that she'll join the other ladies by my side on the big day!

All of my ladies:

I love you girls!

Another question to be popped.....

When it came time to decide on our bridal party, I had no question about who I wanted to stand by my side on the big day. The only question I had was "How do I ask them?" I'm sure the girls already knew that I wanted them to be a part of the bridal party but I stll thought that it would be nice to ask them in a special way.

I had fun going through ideas and looking online for fun and unique options.

Tip Junkies had this cute idea for a candy gram.

I saw an adorable homemade card on Once Wed.

In the end I decided to create something that asked the question with a personal touch. I created wine labels with pictures of each girl that said: "Another question to be popped....Will you be my bridesmaid?" To go along with the wine bottles I got the girls each a wine glass on which I etched their first initial.

Here's a little run down of how it went:

Step 1: First I needed to rid the wine bottles of their current labels. This involved filling up the kitchen sink with hot water and soaking the bottles. I decided to leave the bottles in the sink for a full day. This was mainly because I had to work all day but in the end it helped to make the labels come off much easier. Originally I thought that I would do champagne bottles since my girls and I love champagne, but using hot water made me nervous that I would have some corks popping.

Step 2 : The next step was to print out the new labels. I used Microsoft Word to design the new labels, which I then printed on Post It stickable photo paper. I chose two pictures for each label; one silly photo and one cute picture.

Step 3 : Next came relabeling the bottles. The stickable photo paper wasn't quite sticky enough. To make sure that the labels would stay put, I lined the back of each photo with double stick tape along each edge. It seemed to do the trick. The labels didn't budge once they were on.

One for Sarah, asking her to be my maid of honor.

After the wine bottles had their new labels, it was time to work on the wine glasses. Using the Cricut that Zac got me for Christmas, I cut out the first letter of each of the girls' names on construction paper. I taped each letter to the inside of the wine glasses to use as templates. Using a small paint brush, I brushed on some etch cream that I picked up at Joann's Fabrics. The cream only takes 10 minutes to settle. It washed off easily and left a nice frosted initial on each glass.

The final part of the project was to create gift bags for each of the gifts. I used the Cricut again to cut out the girls' first and last initial on hard cardstock. I glued the letters on brown paper gift bags. After adding some colorful tissue, the gifts were done. 

I decided to give the girls their gifts and ask them to be a part of the bridal party at Sarah's baby shower. It was the first time in a while that we were all together in the same place and I didn't want to wait any longer to let them know. 

It had only been two weeks since Zac and I had gotten engaged but I was still anxious to get started on planning and asking the girls to be in the wedding was the first step.

They seemed to love them! I had no doubt about their answers but it was such a happy feeling to hear them unanimously say "Yes!" These girls are so amazing and I feel so blessed to have them in my life and to be able to experience this amazing time with them by my side.

** PS. I was so disappointed in myself for not taking photos of the wine glasses and gift bags. Thankfully Miss Amanda posted a photo of her gift online....so I happy stole it. : P