I’ll be honest – I was pretty nervous about asking my bridal party (or “Dream Team” which I think better describes this group of women!) to be in my wedding. Being in someone’s wedding is a big commitment. It’s time, money and labor intensive. So I wanted to ask them in a way that they knew I wasn’t taking this lightly. But I also didn’t want it to be too time, money or labor intensive for me either!

After scouring the internet, I came across an article about Dylan Lauren’s bridal shower and loved the little favors that were given out to guests.

Credit: Ring Box

I thought this would be a great favor to propose with to my bridal party! After several hours (yes several hours) looking for the boxes online, visiting a few different Walgreen’s to find Ring Pops, and buying some ribbon to put around the box (this project turned out to be a little more time intensive than I thought!) I began my little craft project. Thankfully I ordered more boxes than I needed because getting the ring to stay inside the box was more challenging than I expected (I will reiterate, I am NOT Martha Stewart). But after several unsuccessful attempts, I finally got it down.

I also wanted to include a cute note card so I could write individual notes to each friend expressing exactly why I wanted them in my bridal party. I wanted something fun and slightly irreverent. For me, the word “bridesmaid” is a bit antiquated and stuffy. So I wanted to find something that added some levity to this years-old tradition. So off to Etsy I went.

I loved the gold elements of this card and the playful prose. But I hadn’t 100% decided on the bridesmaid dresses (post to come on this!), so I didn’t want to make any promises I couldn’t keep.

Credit: Note Card

I also loved this card and that you could customize hair color.

Credit: Note Card

But I have eight bridesmaids, and this card limited it to six.

Finally, I came across this one and loved it.

Credit: Note Card

It has the beautiful gold font and envelopes (gold is one of our colors). And I loved the slightly irreverent tone – perfect to add some levity to my mission (it comes in both lavender and pink!).

And here is the end product.

I found some gold bags and replaced the handles with a more appropriate ribbon (it came with bright yellow) and put the ring boxes inside.

Again, nothing big, just a fun little favor to give to these women who mean so much to me.

Thankfully, everyone said yes! And I truly feel like I will have the most amazing Dream Team standing by my side on my wedding day. I know they will make me laugh when I am on the verge of a meltdown or keep me calm when I am stressing about something ridiculous. I couldn’t imagine my day without them!

How did you ask your Dream Team? Please share below – I am dying to know!

My bridesmaids, bestmaids, are my very best friends from high school. I love each of them completely for being so adorably unique that I always knew I wanted them to each wear a dress of their choice. I gave them a color scheme and let them pick and things have gone even better than I could have imagined. Each dress looks like the friend that picked it, which is exactly what I wanted (how often do you and your friends get to dress up fancy and take tons of pics? I want them to all look GREAT).

Three of my four besties have their dresses already:

one, two, three

Don’t the colors look great together?! I’m in love, so sun-washed summer!

However, my fourth bestfran is still looking for her dress. We’re thinking something in a caramel, warm brown color, but we’re having trouble finding anything online that you can easily return for money back if it doesn’t fit right. Let me know if you’ve seen anything you think would look great, because we’re struggling!

My girls are all wearing neutral-ish shoes, but the accessories are what I’m currently excited about! The J. Crew champagne colored dress is going to be paired with a gold belt like this, and probably no necklace. However, I want my other two girls to wear some neat statement jewelry. I’ve been scouring the web for big ol’ (affordable) statement necklaces for my friend in yellow and slightly more subdued ones for my friend in orange, but I just can’t make a decision. Here are some of my faves, what do you think? Have you seen something better?

Clockwise from top left: one, two, three, four

We’re also on the lookout for a belt or sash for the orange dress, pretty please send me anything you think would look good!

Happy New Year!

Next week I’ll be sharing my Save the Dates because…I’m getting married THIS year!

Source: MiaShoeBox, Bejewelled, Bridal Couture, Rosebud lips

I love the idea of pearl and a big flower necklaces for all the bridesmaid. The one I am really thinking about using is the top left with the simple pearls and the light pink flowers. My bridesmaid dresses are gray, so those colors will compliment very well!