Category: CREATE

Happy WEDnesday! I’ve got weddings on the brain today, probably because we just hit our negative 1 year anniversary! And thankfully we’ve got most of the big stuff booked! One of the events that I knew would take a lot of thought was deciding how I would propose to my half of the bridal party. Right after Will & I got engaged in April, I immediately started thinking of how I would ask my MOH and Bridesmaids to be in our wedding. These ladies are extremely special to me and have been by my side through everything; I knew it had to be something more than just a question.

Pinterest is beyond overwhelming with various sites to purchase cards/jewelry etc. to propose to your ladies, but that also tends to be pricey, especially if you’ve got six in your party like me. Being a MOH/Bridesmaid isn’t easy on the wallet either, so I wanted to show each of them just how much it would mean to me to have them standing by my side on one of the best days of my life. This is a completely DIY proposal that still packs the sentiment [I even got tears!] without breaking the bank [you’ve got plenty of time for that leading up to the BIG day]!

Because I’m having six ladies on my side, it was a little difficult finding items that were all exactly the same, so some I switched up based on their personalities and others I kept uniform, if possible.

I decided to pick tentative colors of Navy, Gold and Lavender and make gifts with the theme of those colors running through.

Here’s what I used:

Wood Box/Shadow Box
We’re going with a rustic theme, so I used unfinished wood for the boxes/crates. For the Bridesmaids, I used a hinged shadowbox from Michaels. I wanted the top to be glass, so they could immediately see what it was, but I had to go to a few different locations to find these, so if you can only find solid topped boxes, so work great too! For the MOH, I used a crate without a top, since there were a few more things I wanted to include.

Initial Letters
I wanted to personalize each box, so I got a letter for each of their names and spray painted them Navy. I tried gold, but all the spray paints I found were too light. The golds that were darker incorporated glitter and made a huge mess. So, Navy it was! For me, trial and error was key here.

Cards
Of course, I wanted to write a little something to each of them reminiscing about our friendship and telling them how I’d neverbeenso lucky to have them in my life! I got blank cards from Target and wrote a little something in each. But I also wanted to include the main question on the envelope. I was going to just write it, but decided to get crafty and emboss them. I’ve never used an embossing tool before [again, trial and error], but I think they turned out well! Essentially you write with a glue pen, layer the glue with glitter and then emboss [or heat] the writing, so that it gives some texture, but stays in place. I used gold glitter here to offset the navy.

Photos
I’m a big fan [and have a ton] of photos with these ladies, from embarrassing middle school days to drunk nights to being a grown up, so I knew those would be a staple in the presentation. I’m lucky enough that these ladies have had time to get to know Will very well and build a special relationship with him in their own way, so I included photos of each of them with him also. I found some gold binder clips at Target to hold the photos together.

Soaps
I LOVE soaps! The smells are so relaxing and they feel luxurious on my skin! I wanted the ladies to feel this as well! So I found some lavender colored soaps to go with the theme (and because they smell delightful). For the MOH, I included a couple fancier soaps and tied them together with string. Again, little enhances to the MOH’s box just gives her that bit of something special, you picked her as your MOH for a reason!

Notepads
I included a gold notepad and gold pencils I found at Target. These ladies will be keeping lots of notes for you, they’re going to need a place to keep track of it all!

Special Quote
I found these magnets that say “when I count my blessings, I count you twice!”

Important Info
When you ask your bridal party, you probably wont have a ton of wedding info just yet. But it’s likely you will have the names of all the bridesmaids and groomsmen, the venue, and the date, so include those on a piece of paper so your ladies have a couple details to work with. I just typed up each piece of information on a separate page in word, printed it on a small piece of cardstock, punched a hole in the corner and tied each piece together with string.

Flowers
I included some fake flowers from Michael’s to fill up empty space in each box. Go with a color you think you may use on your wedding, but remember nothing is set in stone, it’s still early!

Colored Candies
Include sweet treats that have wrapping coinciding with the color scheme set up for your gift! I used gold-wrapped Lindt truffles and gold-wrapped Ghirardelli squares.

Champs & Straws
Most liquor stores have small bottles of champagne and what better reason to toast than you making the decision to include this special person on your special day! I found some great gold/white paper straws at Michael’s. Cheers!

After all was said and done, I’d say each of these was roughly $20, which is an ultimate steal, IMO.

Here is the box I made for my MOH:

Here are a few I made for my bridesmaids [they both have K names], but just wanted to include a few different angles.

Here is another one I made for a Bridesmaid, you get a better look at the amount of photos I included and the inside of the card.

Ultimately, you want it to be special. These are your girls; you know them best and what they’ll love! How did you propose to your bridal party?! What other DIY projects did you create to save money?!