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!
I was so so obsessed with making mini pies for my wedding. I wanted to have little pie favors for each guest seeing as I am a major pie maker and obsessor. The reason I switched from pies to jam near the end of the planning was because of the logistics. I really couldn’t figure out how to make 100 mini pies a few days before the wedding and have it actually work out, not to mention look good!
So my excitement of the day came when I found this little thing that would literally solve my problems. (Good thing I am 6 months late in finding this and the wedding has long past. Maybe for the vow-renewal?)
First, I will show some of my faves in the pie department. I can’t get enough.
Credit: Mini Pies on Display, Mini Pie Favors, Mini Pie Flavors, Pies with Forks, Mini Mini Pies, Pie Dessert
So why am I so excited? Because this little $25 mini pie maker device would have saved me lots and lots of trouble and maybe I would have actually gone through with my original plans! A mini-pie maker! AHHHH. I’m in love. Or you could go with the Breville Mini Pie Maker version found at William Sonoma for $99.
Oh and if you are a fan of mini pies on a stick (and who isn’t a fan of mini-mini pies!) They even have something to make that job a WHOLE lot easier.
Mini pie-on-a-stick maker!
Credit: Mini pies, mini pies, mini pies, mini pie maker
Yesterday you caught wind of the fashion I hosted this past weekend. Today I wanted share the favor we made for the VIP guests at the event. This was actually one of the million wedding favor ideas that I wanted to do but had decided against at one point or another. Since I knew I wasn’t going to be doing it, I thought the fashion show would be a perfect place for this super adorable spring favor!
Here are some inspiration pics first of all!
So cute right?? I know, I love them. We decided to do chocolate chip cookies because it seemed pretty easy. We added the dry ingredients of the cookies to a little mason jar and topped it with some majorly adorable paper products that Ian whipped up!
They turned out to be a huge hit, and everyone let me know how fun and creative the idea was. It made the VIPs feel like they really got something awesome and it definitely fit in perfectly with the spring/garden look.
After making these, I realized how extremely cute these would be for a wedding. I also found out that they are super easy and actually pretty cheap too! So, if you want the gritty details of the how-to, then you should read on.
We got 8 ounce jars and cut the cookie recipe in half. It actually fits perfectly.
We started with 1 1/8 cup of flour at the bottom. I suggest forming it a bit to create a pyramid with the flour, that way most of the jar doesn’t look white.
Next is 1/2 cup of brown sugar. I ended up having the perfect ladle that fit right in the jar so I could push the ingredients down. This made a hold in the center of the brown sugar, but pushed it up on the sides which gave the jar a bit more color.
Next is 1/3 cup of white sugar. If you use a ladle for the brown sugar then most of the white sugar will be in the hole so won’t be able to be seen from the outside of the jar. All you end up seeing is a really little layer of white sugar which is the perfect balance of white and brown.
From there you fill chocolate chips up to the top! About 1/2-3/4 cups.
And you’re done!
In the end I think it cost about $1.50-$2.00 per person. Most of these products are pretty expensive in a regular grocery store, so take note of these money-saving tips!
Get the mason jars and brown sugar at Walmart. I’ve never been into a Walmart, but it was the only place that I could actually find what I needed! First of all, the brown sugar was like $2 for the good C&H brand. In the grocery store, the same bag is $3.49. I needed about 6 bags for 60 mason jars. Also, the mason jars were $6 for 12 jars. I later found the same exact jars at OSH for $10.
Get the chocolate chips and flour at Costco. We got a 25 pound bag of flour for $5! Insane deal. The chocolate chips were more expensive at $9 a bag. I needed 3 bags for 60 jars.
As a note, if you are going to be putting these in the sun, I recommend maybe doing M&Ms instead of chocolate chips. They melt really fast!
Oh and as far as the paper products go, you can find someone on Etsy or just contact me and we can make you some of the tops and “how to bake” instruction tags!
So there you have it! I really want to see someone do these. Let me know if you are planning on doing these astute favors or if you already have!
