Everyone cried except the bride!

Before I got dressed to meet Mr. Onion for pictures, I took some time out to give my best friends and bridesmaids their gifts. Their presents were one of the first things I blogged about on the bee. I was so excited to see their reaction and I fully expected water works from all of us. It began, but no tears from the bride!


Here they are ready the mushy cards I wrote. Notice I got more use from my OOT welcome bags that I used to wrap the girls gifts!


And the tears begin...



Two of the three Lill 1154 Studio make-up cases I made for them. You get to pick your own fabric and bag (so many styles to choose from) -- I'd HIGHLY recommend them for your bridesmaids or yourself. (See Miss Penguin's recent post about her Lill 1154 Studio Party). Look -- they even match their shirts -- how well do I know my girls, huh?!


This was a huge winner -- pearl earrings to wear with their bridesmaids dresses. They all LOVED them and swore they'd wear them again (I sure hope so -- I wish I'd gotten myself a pair). From Dasha Boutique -- see their wedding jewelry here.


Personal note cards for each girl. Hand written by Michele Clark, calligraphybymichele@verizon.net


Reacting to the "tip toes" from foot petals I got so their BM shoes would be more comfortable.


I love this photo -- so much love!

All this emotion and nothing buy smiles and calm from this bride. So strange because I'm usually a little wound up and cry at EVERY episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition. When one of my bridesmaids saw that I was all smiles and no tears she said "you haven't cried at ALL this weekend?!" She couldn't believe it! Calm and collected -- that was me! Or at least that's what I thought -- more to come :)

For my favorite girls...

I blogged before the wedding about my bridesmaid's gifts and wanted to share with you how it all came together. Some people present their gifts to their wedding party at the rehearsal dinner, but I decided to let the dinner be just about folks getting to know each other and enjoying themselves.



So I gave my girls their gifts in my room on the wedding day right before I got dressed. I was really excited about this moment because I'd put so much thought into what I got each girl and I wanted them to LOVE everything! I'll have to wait for the pro-pics to share their reactions (yeah - they all cried), but wanted to share some photos of all the gifts ready to go.







Each girl got the same thing but customized to them.

1) A custom make-up case from 1154 Lill Studio
2) Moisturizer and body scrub from The Body Shop
3) Tip Toes from Foot Petals
4) Beautiful pearl earrings from Dasha Boutique (thanks to a sale post on weddingbee)!
5) Custom Note Cards -- each with a different font, color and embellishment! Oh, and each had a different color envelope that coordinated with their ink color.







Then I got them each a card that was perfect for them. I wrote these cards really early in the morning the day before the wedding when I just couldn't sleep.



And to top it all off I tied their note cards with brown ribbon and they each got a great pen to use with their cards :) I felt SO good about these gifts and it all came in around $100 each. I was able to do this because I started really early and was able to hunt for deals and find JUST the right thing for each of them. Don't let bridal party gifts be an after thought -- it will just be more stress for you later.

For details on each item, includng a budget break down, see my first post -- Bridesmaids Gifts.

Bridesmaid Gifts

This was not an easy task. I'm sure many of you have had trouble with this wedding item as well. I have only three bridesmaids -- they are my best friends from three different parts of my life. One from childhood (since we were in kinder garden), one from college and the third from my "post college" life in NYC. They are all very important to me so I wanted their gift to be thoughtful and lovely.

At first I wanted to get them each something different -- one "big" gift, but quickly realized that I'd break the bank. What was I going to do? For BM #1 I was going to get new running sneakers as she's a marathon runner. For BM# 2 a white water rafting certificate as she's adventurous. For BM #3, a certificate for a baking class in NYC for the two of us so we could do it together.

So then I had to reconsider. I decided $100 each was what was realistic for our budget, so with that I went to work and here's what I came up with.

1. Body Shop goodie -- mini body butter with matching flavor/scent body scrub. Took advantage of a sale - 2 for $10 so I couldn't pass it up and snapped them up when I saw them.

Grapefruit, Brazil Nut and Passion Fruit:







2. Personalized Note Cards:



I found the above personalized note cards from www.citywrites.com but couldn't spend $52 for 25 cards, so I'm bought extra card stock from Creative Montage. Then I had them cut in quarters making 4.25" by 5.5" note cards by AlphaGraphics on 5th Avenue and 28th Street. Then I rounded the corners with my trusty corner rounder (see below) and had Michele Clark, our wonderful calligrapher, calligraph their full names on the cards. Each girl has their own custom font and color.

The cards ended up being about $11.25 per girl. (Breakdown: $3 for 25 cards + $4.50 for 25 envelopes + $3.75 calligraphy ($.15 per card) = $11.25 per bridesmaid! Great budget gift and so lovely. Here are details on what I used and where I got it from.

Finished Cards -- calligraphy by Michele Clark:





Envelopes from Kate's Paperie SOHO store closing sale:







Corner Rounder from Impress Rubber Stamps:

For an added touch I finish them off with this great corner rounding punch from www.impressrubberstamps.com that I got on sale for $7.20.



The punch even arrived with a hand made and signed thank you note from the owner! Nice touch.

3. Sweet little custom make-up cases from 1154 Lill Studio:





These are the "Sam" for $32 each. 1154 Lill Studio offers a large range of custom items -- clutches, purses, make-up cases etc. You get to choose from a range of fabric choices to fit your girls. They also have wedding party discounts. Check them out at www.1154lillstudio.com.

4. Pearl earrings from Dasha Boutique:



I got these on sale for $45 (regular price $60). They are lovely and came nicely packaged in a jewelry box and sheer bag. Dasha Boutique will "customize" your choices -- select color of pearl, gold or silver, earring backing, length etc. They also offer discounts for wedding parties. Check out their many options at www.dashaboutique.com.


Re-Cap:

1. Body Shop Goodies = $10
2. Personalized note cards = $11.25
3. Make-up case = $32
4. Pearl Earrings = $45

Grant total: = $98.25

Happy Bridesmaids...priceless!