Shower Gift Idea

Now that my friend Jenn's shower is over with, I can share with you guys the awesome gift that us bridesmaids gave her, because you might seriously want to copy it.


Jenn is not always much of a "stuff" person, so instead of getting her a registry gift, we opted for a more out of the box option: a date for each month of the year.


Basically, we each chose a few months of the year and purchased gift cards, tickets, and other related items that would allow the bride and groom to go on a date. We packaged everything in envelopes, one for each month, and stacked them in a pretty box from Target.


I took June, July, and August, and decorated my envelopes with scrapbook stickers:

For June, I got them a gift certificate to a winery in our state, and arranged it on colored cardstock to make it a little less boring looking. I wrote a little poem to explain what the date was:

For July, I got a gift certificate to the spa at their honeymoon resort. I included the menu of spa options and treatments.

For August, the date idea was "Jersey Shore." I got her a book to read on the beach (she loves reading), and a gift card for her favorite boardwalk lunch spot.


Other month's dates were as follows (most of these gifts are based around New York City, since we're all local):


September:   Mets tickets
October:       Gift certificate to apple picking orchard
November:   Central Park zoo tickets
December:   Mr. and Mrs. Ornament, trip to Union Square holiday bazaar and gift card to a fancy Union Square restaurant.
January:       Chelsea Piers gift cards 
February:     Valentine's Day "Stay in and cook" date- cookbook, candles, Whole Foods gift card
March:         Movie gift cards
April:            Walking tour of New York City
May:            Chili's gift card (I'll never know why, but she loves Chili's)


Other ideas we threw around included a couples' dance class, a horror movie Halloween (stack of cheesey movies + blanket), and an ice skating rink gift card (which the Chelsea Piers thing kind of covers).


She loved the gift and I think her fiance appreciated that it was for him as well.


This idea originally came from the blog Find Joy In the Journey, which I found via Pinterest. Check that link out, she has much better pictures and lots of other ideas!


What's your favorite shower gift that you've given?

The Ambush

On Cinco de Mayo, I was sitting on my couch with Mr. B, reading and thinking how strange it was that we had no wedding tasks planned for the day, when I heard a knock at our apartment door.


Since I live in a small building that you have to be buzzed in to, I pretty much expect a knife wielding killer anytime I hear an unexpected knock. Luckily, instead of a killer, the surprise guests were my MOH and BM Kelly, who ambushed the apartment with overnight bags, a videocamera, and lots of excitement.


My MOH immediately set to plugging in her iPhone our speakers, and told me I had a half hour to pack before I was being whisked away for my bachelorette party!!  The girls helped me toss 87 thousand different outfit and shoe combos into my overnight bag, and before I knew it, we were in a taxi headed to the Westin Times Square.


At the hotel, I was greeted by the rest of my bridal party, some cousins and friends. There were snacks set up (on zebra print plates), a bottle of Jack Daniels (my fave), and great decorations everywhere.
The girls handed me a few bags of bachelorette swag: a Lolita wine glass, a gigantic pink plastic "Bride" pimp cup, a crown, a veil, wedding day underwear, and a necklace, and immediately began fixing me a Jack and Coke in my pimp cup.

We got ready together, which was an awesome flashback to college, listening to MOH's amazing playlist (seriously, I am pretty sure she got every one of my favorite songs on there) and then headed in a huge Escalade  to a little unmarked East Village restaurant called In Vino. It was the perfect restaurant- delicious food, a Tuscan-cave like atmosphere, and regularly refilled glasses of wine. We feasted on a variety of appetizers, pasta, and dessert.

Posing in front of our gigantic Escalade cab

 At dinner

Then, we took a cab over to a top secret location for the best part of the night: karaoke!! I am not sure there is a human being that loves karaoke more than I do. The night was a blur of sake shots, more Jack Daniels, Whitney Houston, Bruce Springsteen, dance parties in a private room, and sake bombs in my pimp cup.  (Please prepare yourself for a LOT of pictures).

Everyone at karaoke

With my cousins- one is a BM and the other is reading at our ceremony

My best friends and roommates from college

BM Laura doing Faded, our favorite song

Lots of singing

After karaoke, my cousin Rebecca got us into some trendy Meatpacking District club called Gun Bar. She lives around there and apparently knows the bouncers. We managed to not spend a dime in the club, getting in free, getting free champagne, and getting handed free drinks from friendly nearby strangers sharing their bottle service. I may or may not have taken shots of vodka straight from their bottle. The club was fun and music good, although my scene is usually more of a grubby 30-beers-on-tap type of place.

At the club

 We broke for the night and BMs Kelly, Kait, and my MOH and I crashed back at the hotel room, where we stayed up chatting for a while. The next morning, we had a bridesmaids' brunch at our hotel, and then went back to our own homes, to crash and nap (or in my case, watch a billion hours of Real Housewives of NJ.)


My bachelorette was a perfect combination of my favorite things, and it was exactly what I would have imagined.  The older we get, the harder it is to have crazy nights out with my girlfriends, and I was so happy to be able to have this night. I really appreciated the surprise factor and all the planning the girls did. It was awesome!!


What did you do for your bachelorette?

Hailing cabs back

Gifts for the Girls, Part 2

A little while back, I brainstormed lots of bridesmaid gift ideas. 

Then I forgot about it for a while.


Then I realized my wedding is really soon, and I didn't have time to waste.

I started with the monogrammed robes, one for each girl. They were a bright aqua with white monogramming; I got one for myself as well, in the reverse color scheme.

They came from Etsy seller Oak Embroidery Loft, who I have to highly recommend. Holly was very sweet, responsive, and prompt, and even gave me a discount for ordering six (I think they wound up being like $20 each). The robes are a medium weight waffle knit cotton.


I also purchased matching Old Navy flip flops.


In keeping with the personalized theme, I also purchased monogrammed acrylic trays. The idea came from The Peak of Tres Chic, an interior design blog I like to read, and I scoured Etsy to find a cheaper alternative.


I found seller Lime Tree Gifts, who also was super sweet, prompt, and also gave me a bulk discount ($17 each), and ordered five engraved acrylic trays:

I was obsessed with these- I'm ordering five more as gifts for our readers and moms, and myself!

I'm using them to hold the bridesmaid's "Survival Kit," which contains:

• Shout wipes
• Tissues
• Cute heart shaped shoe cushions for painful high heels
• Mini hair spray
• Makeup remover wipes
• Fashion tape

My mom packaged up the survival kits for me with cellophane and aqua ribbon:

And then we combined that with the robes and flip flops, into a bigger version:

(We'll be adding a nice bow to it)

I will be making and handwriting thank you cards to each girl (I am so nervous to do that, I sometimes have a hard time putting sentimental things out there), and I am also paying for their hair.


So what do you think? Nice gift?  I keep feeling like it's not enough!

Shower Recap

Well, considering it happened over a month ago, I think it's time to recap my bridal shower! Bear with me, this is a long and pic-heavy post! 

I'll start with the invites, which my mom picked out and I LOVE. The leopard print and the super high heel are so me:

"Wild Time" invites, available at Storkie.com

I have to admit I wasn't 100% surprised at the shower, but I was very excited, as indicated by my face walking in (terrible quality pic, I'm sorry):

I was also really nervous with all the attention being on me. I wasn't sure who to approach first or what to do, and I think I clutched my maid of honor's hand for the first twenty minutes!

My mom, who planned the shower, chose to have the shower at my favorite local Italian restaurant, which was the best decision.  The place has delicious food and a great casual elegant atmosphere. 

There was no theme exactly, but my mom and my cousin Pam decorated the tables in lots of white, bling, and pearls. I thought they looked beautiful:

You probably can't tell in this picture, but the hydrangea centerpiece has a gigantic pearl cluster tied around the vase- awesome!!

My table was lined with these awesome centerpieces- tall, top heavy vases filled with huge pearls and rhinestones. The tables had little wedding bell confetti, big fake engagement rings, and bottle openers that looked like silver high heels (which I kept and now use to open my Flying Fish).  Mom and Pam did an amazing job on the decor.

Me with Pam, 1/2 of the team behind the decor

My mom gave a lovely and tearjerking speech at the beginning, and my maid of honor surprised me by following suit. Then we went right into lunch, a three course meal of mozzarella and tomatoes, salad, and a choice of chicken, salmon, veal, or pasta.

During the meal, my bridesmaids went around with a few noncheesy games- guests had to guess how many ring pops were in a jar, and also had to fill out a ten question "B&T" trivia sheet. The winner was Brad's ten year old cousin Toni Ann, who called Brad during the shower to ask him all the questions!

Me with my bridesmaids, and Toni Ann, the winner (and my junior BM).

BM Kelly also made "Advice for the Bride" cards, which is something I had always wanted at my shower.  I loved reading what people wrote, my favorite piece of advice being good old Toni Ann's:

It's probably important that you know Mr. B is crazy skinny and not a big eater!

Some guests at the shower

With some of my girlfriends, M and  H. I am a bridesmaid in H's wedding next July!

And here I am with some of my lovely cousins (are you getting bored of these pictures yet?)

After lunch, it was time for gifts! I was astonished at the humongous pile on the table:

This picture is like, only a third of them!

I have to admit but I was a little uncomfortable opening gifts, I kept getting yelled at to talk louder and I felt weird screaming out what I got. But I was amazed at how generous people were. We received so many great gifts off of our registry, including nineteen place settings of china (can you believe that?) My dad was less excited, since "Mount Lenox" is now taking up an entire room in his basement!

The girls did the "timer" game, where a timer went off every few minutes and the person whose gift I was opening got a prize. I think it was a good way to keep the guests entertained.

Mr. B's brother's girlfriend also made me a beautiful wishing well. Unfortunately the only picture I have of it is sort of crappy, but it was really amazing, covered in white lace and flowers and pearls. She is a crafting genius. (Also, wishing wells are so awesome- I loved all the cute stuff I got, like crazy printed rubber gloves and a diamond studded apron!)

My bridesmaids chipped in for my Kitchen Aid mixer, and some of them also made me some beautiful baskets. BMs Kelly and Laura, and my MOH made me a holiday gift basket, filled with all decorative goodies for holidays, and BM Kaitlyn made me a honeymoon basket, and a wine basket, which was so thoughtful. Each bottle had a note on when I was supposed to drink it (wedding night, first fight, etc) and I have to admit I totally teared up reading all of them.

After gifts, we had a Napoleon cake, which was unbelievably delicious:

And then Mr. B showed up:

And brought me flowers, which capped off a very lovely day!



My shower was perfect- great friends and family, generosity, my favorite restaurant and favorite things. It was really a wonderful afternoon and my mom and bridesmaids did an amazing job on everything.

And then it made me realize just how close we are to the wedding!

Bridesmaids' Dresses

BM Kelly surprised me this past Saturday by being the first bridesmaid to go try on her dress. I didn't even know she was going, so I was very excited when I randomly received a text message picture of her in the dress!

If you recall, I was a little nervous about the dresses. I had only seen my chosen champagne shade on a small swatch, and I was nervous that in an entire dress, it might be super close to white. Well, I am very happy I went with my gut and original design inspiration, because they look GREAT:

On BM Kelly (Personal Pic)

 Dress is Alvina Valenta 9866, not yet altered.

Admittedly, the photo's color is a little off, but I think we can all tell this doesn't look white. I love how the light shade really allows you to see the detail in the neckline, and I love the fitted look. I can't wait to see the finished product when it's actually altered, and to see the color in person, not just a yellowed out iPhone shot. I'm thinking when we're all together, we'll look something like this:

Source

We have similar color dresses, a similar junior bridesmaid dress, and very similar flowers planned. I love having this picture as a "preview" of my ideas. 

It's so excited to start seeing everything coming together!

Bridesmaid Reveal

We finally have bridesmaids dresses! After a uanimous decision by my five bridesmaids, we went with the Alvina Valenta 9866:

 Oh, you mean you can't tell anything by looking at this ridiculous pose? Try this: 

The girls really looked beautiful in this dress. Since they're all attractive and the dress is fairly straightforward, I assumed they'd look good, but my expectations were exceeded when I actually saw all of them in it. It looked great!

We ordered it in taupe satin-faced taffeta, which is the color seen here (this the dress we ordered for Toni, my junior BM):

Admittedly, I've got the heebie jeebies with the color. We saw it in person, but on a very 90s-style dress, which threw me off. And it looks super light in that pic, although when I had it next to a wedding gown in the store it looked fine. I think I am just getting a little nervous signing off on something when I haven't really seen the whole picture. I mean, you don't normally buy clothes by picking a style and color and never seeing the whole thing together!

Regardless, I'm so happy to have this task done! Plus it makes me love the girls even more- they all were able to take time out of their crazy schedules on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to meet up, and we all went out to lunch after and had a great day. Most of them knew each other already, but it was great to see everyone getting along and having fun, and it definitely makes me even more excited for all of the other events we'll spend together in and around the wedding!

Bridesmaid Indecision

After a bit more bridesmaid dress shopping, I've narrowed things down to two final choices. But it's hard to decide on which look to go with, as they're very different and I think the decision may swing the overall concept of the wedding in a certain direction. I'm torn because one is pretty, safe, and traditional, while the other is more my style but also more of a risk. Somehow, I find myself weirdly afraid to do something that is exactly in line with my inspiration board.

Here's the first, Alvina Valenta #9866. It's beautiful and classic, and the girls like it, but it's sort of typical bridesmaidy. I would do it in a pale champagne taffeta:

Alvina Valenta 9866.  

It's very elegant, traditional, and formal. It seems that whenever I make wedding decisions, I pick things that are elegant, traditional, and formal.

But let's recall my inspiration board:

It's more like elegant, romantic, and vintage. And I feel like this dress suits that concept better:

Nordstrom

Plus it has the added bonus of being $100 cheaper and genuinely rewearable, though those advantages are tempered by the drawback of being harder to alter- you can't cut through that lace.

So there's the dilemma. Crazy lady that I am, I'm going to buy the lace one tomorrow and bring it to my dress shop to see it next to my dress. I'm hoping it will look either shockingly awful or really, really awesome. That'll make my decision easier!

Which do you guys like better? Does anyone else feel weirdly afraid to "go for it" with some element of the wedding?

Want It, Can't Have It

Something I’ve noticed in wedding planning is that there's so many awesome items out there that it’s extremely easy to fall  head over heels for something that just doesn’t work for your affair. Like you might be having a formal blacktie reception and then die for rustic letterpress invites that look like concert posters. When that happens, sometimes you just have to admit defeat and move on, leaving your loved item behind.

I’m having this issue with my bridesmaids’ dresses. I am obsessed with a Lazaro to the point that I like it as much as my own dress (also Lazaro, coincidentally) and I’m honestly kinda jealous I don’t get to wear  it. It literally hurts to think about how elegant my girls are going to look. I’m not kidding.

Here, see for yourself!

That’s my maid of honor, looking awesome. And yes, that is a train- I LOVE that feature!

Problem is, the dress only comes in really dark colors, and I had my heart set on a cream and gold color scheme. I’m totally willing to compromise on the shade of gold- champagne, fawn, bronze, whatever- but not on the gold itself. This blue color is really amazing, but it’s not gold. The dress comes in a pretty shade of silver, but again, that’s not gold. And I love gold bridesmaids:

My original inspiration for gold, from the Knot

There is a small ray of light: the owner of the shop where I bought my dress is seeing the Lazaro spring show this Saturday, and if the spring line includes gold, she may be able to preorder it. But no guarantees.

So I’m prepping myself for defeat, and trying to move on to another dress. Right now,  I’m leaning towards these two options (in gold, of course):

 Impressions 3107- I do really like this, and the pearl brooch goes with my pearl theme!

 This was nice, hard to tell since it's a size 100 million, but very flattering. I'm a little concerned the satin quality is cheap looking though. This is a Dessy, but I forget the style number.

Thoughts? Which ones do you guys like?

Bridesmaid Dresses Begin...

Lately, I have been thinking a lot about the bridesmaids' dresses. For years (literally), I  envisioned the girls in the champagne colored Bow Monde, from J. Crew:

a

Source

But we all know how these things go, right? I'm no longer in love with the Bow Monde anymore. I still really like it, but I can't justify making my friends spend $250 on a short dress, particularly when so many other awesome designers exist at lower price points.

Like my beloved Jim Hjelm:

I'm really, really feeling these two dresses, and the color is perfect- a dark enough gold to work on everyone's skin tone. Plus, I bet the girls would feel a little sassier and less bridesmaid-y in a short look.

That said, we are having a black tie optional wedding, so there is a part of me that's thinking I should at least consider long dresses. (That's the part that listens to my mom repeating over and over that the girls should go long!) Long dresses definitely up the fancy factor, and I really love the slim, elegant silhouette they provide. Some of my favorites:

My favorite is the Lazaro in the middle, but it doesn't come in gold, only ivory, which I'm actually not opposed to doing. I've loved the idea of the bridesmaids in a shade similar to white since Charlotte married Trey on SATC, and Kate Middleton and her royal wedding only confirmed it.

So now I just need to get my girls together for some shopping, which is where you guys come in: I want to know, did you take everyone, or did you choose a style with one or two girls and tell the others what to do?  I'm trying to keep this as stress free as possible, but I don't want people to feel left out!

Bridesmaid Guilt

The other day, I made a list of the bridesmaids’ potential expenses.

There’s a LOT of them: dress, shoes, accessories, nails, hair, makeup, hotel, bachelorette, shower, and related gifts. Things could quickly could reach the thousand dollar mark.  I am racked with guilt at them spending so much, even though it is the reason that I asked, not told, them to be bridesmaids. We all know what being a bridesmaid entails, and I know they are comfortable or they wouldn't have said yes, yet I still feel bad about it.

To make it easier on them, I wanted to cover hair, makeup, nails, and hotel, but that would be $2,000+ for me, and I can’t definitively commit to all that right now,  especially considering no one else does it. But I feel bad anyway.

For sure, I want to cover makeup OR hair for each bridesmaid, their choice. Which might seem nice, except I’m secretly feeling guilty for an inner bridezilla thought:  certain girls kind of need their makeup done. But you can’t exactly tell your friends, who are beautiful, that their tinted moisturizer won’t photograph well next to professional makeup, right? (Eek I feel mean just typing that!)

I feel guilty that my wedding is going to eat up a lot of their schedules- an entire weekend and probably that Friday off from work, weekends for showers and dress shopping and bachelorettes, especially when they have super busy work and school schedules.

I feel bad that some of them are really unhappily single/waiting and that it's hard on them to be reminded of weddings. They're doing the best they can, I know, though lightening up on the haterade wouldn’t kill them either.

I'm also kind of uncomfortable with the idea that a bridal party feels like choosing favorites. Like, out of 4 equally close cousins, I only chose BM Katie. So doesn't make it seem as if I like her better? I don't, I just thought she'd be the most into it.  Or the maid of honor: it feels a little like openly identifying my favorite person, when all my friends mean a lot to me or they wouldn't be bridesmaids! Even though my MOH is especially significant to me, I hate that it's like saying she's above the rest, when I'm not looking to make any declarations.  It was uncomfortable too because I really struggled with, and still feel uneasy about, not adding BM Kelly as a co-MOH. She is an amazing friend, but at the time I feared offending everyone else by having 2 MOHs (“Oh look, two made the cut but the rest of you still didn’t. Sorry!”). 

And it works both ways- my MOH and BM Kelly are both engaged, and I will not be maid of honor to either of them, which makes me feel (surprise!) bad. Rationally I know it’s stupid, possibly crazy, but I can’t help but feel kind of hurt, as if the two people who are my most important ladies, don’t have reciprocal attitudes about me.

  

But I know when it’s my turn, I am thrilled to be a bridesmaid for my friends. The spending doesn't bother me,  and I’m genuinely pumped to be part of the planning, shopping, and events. So I wonder why I waste my time feeling guilty and assuming my girls don’t feel the same way?

Can anyone identify with my weird mix of bridesmaid guilt and happiness at sharing my wedding with friends?

Is it just me...

Or does it seem so many stores are suddenly starting online wedding shops? I don't know if I'm just paying attention more now that I got engaged, but it seems like every other day I'm getting email spam from various department stores, introducing their brand new wedding boutiques.


Like Bloomingdale's (who awesomely breaks down weddings into all the related events, from engagement parties to showers, and offers outfit options for all! Though the outfits don't exactly come cheap.)

Ladies' Lunch

So a few weeks ago I shared with you the cards I sent to ask my friends to be bridesmaids. In the card, I invited them to a brunch at my house, to get any necessary introductions going and amp everyone up for being part of Team B&T. Plus, I know that being a bridesmaid can be a bit of a time and financial commitment, so I wanted to do something nice to show everyone that I appreciated it. Orr I just like excuses to drink champagne at noon. So I invited the girls over for a yummy bridesmaids' lunch.