By Brianna Bowman, Associate Planner + Coordinator

Cue the cliche sayings and cute bridesmaid proposals, because now that you got the groom it’s time to ask your closest family and friends to stand by your side while you say I do. Whether you ask your sister, best friends or cousins there are plenty of cute ways to ask your best girls (or guys) to stand by side on your big day. One of the first things on my planning to do list was to ask my bridesmaids if they wanted to be in my wedding. While our little visitor COVID-19 has put a halt to me executing the proposals, the gift giving will commence when we aren’t required to be at least 6 feet apart and can get together again for the tacos and margaritas that we all so desperately need.

I started my bridesmaid selection process by going over exactly how many people me and the hubby-to-be would like to have in our wedding party. We both agreed that we didn’t want a large bridal party, which made it easy for us both to decide on a final group of our closest family and friends. And of course we needed an equal number on each side because balance, duh. Once I picked who would be in the wedding it was time to find the perfect way to ask them.

Now let’s chat about bridesmaid proposal gifts. In my shopping I found some great places and money saving tricks to create a Pinterest quality bridesmaid proposal gift without breaking the bank.

Start with Etsy. This site will become your best friend as a bride, so why not start now? I started by doing a basic bridesmaid proposal gift search to see what was out there. (There are so many creative gifts that I never knew existed!) This helped to give me a general idea of what I do and don’t like and what I think my sister and friends would actually like to receive. With so many differing personalities it was hard to land on something that I thought everyone would universally like, find useful and could still personalize to each person.

One thing I should add is, I am having a bridesman! I can’t imagine my big day without my best friend Connor by side and I definitely did not want him to feel left out if I gave him something different from the ladies in the wedding, so I decided on personalized bridal party socks! (Click the link to check out the Etsy shop that I purchased mine from!) The bottoms of socks have bridesmaid, bridesman, maid of honor, flower girl(because I can’t leave out my 4 year old niece) and of course, bride (because I want some too, haha!) These are the perfect gift for a unisex bridal party and will look great in photos while getting ready.

Now for the note. I mean you can’t ask without the cute “Will you be my bridesmaid?” card right? While Etsy has a number of sellers that can design, print and ship these to you I used, Canva, a great money saving hack to create mine. This site allows you to create personalized cards and signage with premade templates or blank canvas that allow you to make something completely original. I used some inspiration I found on Pinterest to create my final version and printed them at home on some nice cardstock paper.

Time to pack up the gift! Amazon. Always amazon. I found a great pack of gift boxes on Amazon for under $10 to nicely package my gifts and got some basket stuffing at the local dollar store. I added in some mini bottles of Prosecco (we all love a good glass Processo) and a cute Poloroid sized photo of each of us in order to personalize the gift for everyone.

Once they’ve agreed to be in the wedding of course the first question they ask is “what do you think we will be wearing?” And of course I already have an array of pins saved in my Wedding Pinterst board to help them get the vision. But nothing really lets you see the full picture like going to see some dresses in person. Here are four things that are at the top of my mind as I begin bridesmaid dress shopping.

Keep an open mind to what the bridesmaids do and don’t like.

While it is still your big day it is important that you pick something everyone will be comfortable in.

Don’t allow anyone to bully into picking something you really don’t like.

This works in tandem with the rule number one. Keep an open mind, but not so open that you end up with something that you don’t like just because everyone else does.

Remember that everyone is not built the same.

Everyone has a different body type and looks great in different styles and silhouettes. Don’t get upset when the dress doesn’t look the same on everyone in your wedding. This is a great opportunity to utilize the same color different dress that has become more and more popular as of late!

Pick a price range and stick to it.

Many bridesmaids pay for their own dresses, so it’s only fair that you stick to a realistic price range that you think everyone on the bridal party can meet when making your final selection.

Now for the miscellaneous items that many people forget come with planning your wedding and handling a bridal party.

When selecting your bridal party you are often mixing people from various parts of your life to create one cohesive group. This can cause differing personalities and sometimes even conflicts to arise. Don’t be afraid to stand up for yourself or even to delegate some tasks to members of your bridal party that you trust and are willing to help.

How about bachelorette parties? Do you plan it or leave it to your maid of honor to take on the responsibility? I have a whole blog post of bachelorette parties planned as we get closer to my own, but I thought this would be a good time to share some thoughts around them.

If you are leaving the planning to your maid of honor and bridal party, be sure to share what you would like to do. It’s not a bad idea to plant the seed for what you envision for your last hooray as a single lady to be so that your bridal party can make sure they are meeting your expectations. You would hate for them to plan some extravagant night on the town when all you really wanted was a spa day.

It’s also not a bad idea to consult with the other members of the bridal party about what they would like to do and are financially able to do. Being in a wedding can get expensive and you don’t want to turn anyone off from wanting to be a part of your big day by selecting a trip that is way out of everyone’s budget.

This is a rollercoaster of time for you as a bride, and having the most important in your life by side through the journey of planning and saying I do only makes it that much more special. Remember to cherish these moments with your girls (or guys) because it only comes once!

Chat soon,