Wedding Wednesday: Popping the Bridal Party Question

Happy Wednesday y'all! Today I'm back with another Wedding Wednesday post. This is the third post in the series. Last time I shared a wedding update with you (check it out here), I talked about the next two items on our to do list: finding a DJ and figuring out how to ask our bridal party to be part of our big day.  Well, we've crossed one of these items off the list, and the other one we have an appointment that will potentially end in us crossing it off the list. 

One of the exciting parts of planning our wedding has been deciding who we want to play a significant role in our big day.  We are lucky to have lots of great friends and family members, so it took us a little bit to narrow down who we wanted to be in our wedding party.  The deciding factors became who has been a part of our relationship, how long we've known them, and if we felt like they were people who would be our lifelong friends. So many people (my parents included) look back at their wedding day and have people that were in their wedding party that they no longer speak to.  I mean you can never predict the future, but what you can do is evaluate how strong your friendship is and the trends you've noticed in people. 

Once we selected who we wanted to ask, it was time for the fun part-deciding how and when to ask them. The when was the most difficult part. Ideally, we would have loved to get everyone together and ask them all at once. Our friends and family leave all across the country, so this option was quickly eliminated. We then hoped to each ask our respective sides at one time, but everyone's schedules and geographic locations prohibited this from occurring. What we ended up doing was trying to ask everyone within the same time frame. I asked all of my bridesmaids, maid of honor, and bridesman within a week of each other.  I was able to ask everyone in person, except one friend. I thought that was pretty good considering I live in Pennsylvania and my people live as far away as the West coast now. 

The how was the creative part. I started brainstorming awhile ago thanks to bridal magazines and Pinterest.  I knew I wanted to keep it simple. A growing trend that I don't love is for brides to ask their bridal party with these elaborate gifts. I wanted to keep the cost low while providing a tasteful gift that would reflect what our day will be like. I considered crafting, but after doing some budgeting I realized it would be a bit costly + timely.  Thanks to Etsy and a little creativity I curated the perfect proposal gifts for my girls and guy.  For the ladies I purchased Etsy boxes that included a personal box, a stemless champagne glass, and a paper straw. I was excited to find out that the glasses were real and not plastic. For the price, I definitely thought they were going to be plastic. I then added a set of hair ties that included our wedding colors (blush + burgundy + navy) and a mini bottle of bubbly to celebrate with. The crafting came into play with the homemade cards. I use craft paper and scrap book paper to print on.

I also asked my best friend from growing up, Kyle, to be my bridesman/man of honor. We have been close since we were three, so I could not imagine getting married without him by my side.  He and Todd are super close, but ultimately they are close because of me. This is why we chose to go the less traditional route. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of his gift and card. I got him a customized pint glass and the most adorable card.

Little details:
Boxes
Glasses
Hair ties
Washi tape
Pint glass
Bridesman card

Planning Updates and Goals:

So where am I in the planning process? I honestly haven't made much progress since the last update, but next month's calendar is filled with appointments. In August we are hopefully going to have our seating arrangement and DJ finalized. I did make a dress appointment at the boutique my mom and I always joked about me getting my wedding dress fun- it was kind of surreal when I finally called to book the appointment.

 I'm in the middle of searching for our videographer (any recommendations are welcome). We originally were not going to get one, but after talking to friends and attending weddings we've changed our minds and decided to splurge on it. After all, when it is all said and done the only thing you have left are your memories, pictures, and the video. 

Wedding Wednesday posts:

The First Six Months

The Story Behind Our Engagement

XOXO