Gifting the Girls

So we've gone through gifts for our special guests and groomsmen...now it's onto the lovely bridesmaids!!

Beautiful ladies (I'm not biased or anything) at the rehearsal

Although in some ways they were the easiest group to gift, their wedding gifts were a little tough because, um, I had already used up a LOT of my ideas.

You may recall that when I asked them to be my bridesmaids, there were themed gifts...

Snapshot of the gift each girl received

then there were robes for nails & a nosh...

Will post about the fun we had at the spa during recaps!

and, finally, the bachelorette party gifts.

Yes, all these gifts had a lot of green and blue

Go ahead...agree with Turkey Mom...you think I went a bit overboard.

But how could I not? These women were such amazing friends during our entire engagement, traveled to / planned wedding showers plus a bachelorette and stood beside us on the biggest day of our lives. I would have done MORE if I could.

Even squinting in 80 degree sunshine they're stunning (again, not biased)

Either way, the situation was what it was. So, I decided to go with a small-ish, useful gift and then "help out" with some of the other day-off costs.

On the latter...let's start with the fact that being a bridesmaid is expensive - dress, shoes, jewelry...the list goes on. I'll admit it, I had some serious bridal guilt about all the costs they were incurring. Despite keeping their dresses within requested parameters (and letting them choose any other accessories), there was still travel, lodging, hair and makeup taking money out of their bank accounts. Ouch.

Anyhow, back to the gift...because some of the bridesmaids like to fight me over paying for things (like dinner, cabs, etc), I decided to be proactive and prepaid for all the bridesmaids' hair services and subsidized some of the makeup costs. I know it didn't take away ALL the expense, but it did cut things down a little bit (+ reduced some guilt).

Finally, since caffeine was likely to be high on everyone's list with their busy schedules before / during the wedding, I gave each bridesmaid a little something to help them get through the week. I sent it via mail because, well, who doesn't like getting mail (that's not a bill)?!?!

They got this + list to help them pack for the wedding

But I still needed a gift to actually GIVE them - couldn't very well show up empty handed at our rehearsal dinner!!

The theme was "useful" and so, I thought to myself, what would the bridesmaids find helpful to have in their possession on the day of the wedding (besides snacks snagged from the welcome bag)? Here's what we came up with:

A personalized tote (purchased during a SUPER sale) to lug "stuff" around during the day / photos*

A green pashmina to keep warm in cool A/C and a shiny navy clutch** for the reception

Flip flops (in navy & silver) for when their cute shoes started hurting

The last gift was a little something extra special for MOH J for, well, being MOH J. 

I knew she was planning to wear pearls with her bridesmaid dress, so I looked for something to accent her "look" for the day. I was very happy when I found this beautiful, simple bracelet.

Silver and pearl bracelet from Tiffany

Whew! If you're still with me after sharing every last detail of our bridal party gifts, you're probably wondering if they were actually put to use.

Clockwise from top L: bags on the way into the church (photo by Philip Gabriel Photography); Bridesmaid C rocking a pashmina at the after party; Bridesmaid M wearing her flip flops (squatting in front middle) & if you look REALLY close, you can see MOH J's bracelet (she's doing the double V in the back)

Success!! 

Now, it goes without saying that Mr. Turkey & I were not as creative (we arguably went pretty generic) with the bridesmaids and groomsmen gifts as with our special guests, but overall were very happy with how we were able to show our appreciation. We are also EXTREMELY thankful that we don't have to think about gift ideas again for a very.long.time. (Christmas can take its sweet time getting here).

How did you thank your bridal party? Anyone have some fun, creative ideas to share?

*The dress tags can be found on Etsy here

**This clutch was purchased months ago on ideeli. It was called a "MCCLINTOCK Floral Center Clutch" and I unfortunately can't find it anywhere online to link back for you all. Sorry!!