...POPPING THE QUESTION!! :)

After deciding who I wanted to be in my wedding party, the next decision was how exactly I wanted to ask them. I wanted to do something special for the girls, something that made it seem like I cared versus just sending a card or even just asking over lunch, but I wasn't exactly sure what. I had seen something on Pinterest where a bride had used ringpops (the candy) to ask her bridesmaids and though I thought that was cute, It definitely would not have been my from own heart.

So I started the process by looking for a cute gift as the main idea, aside from ringpops. I looked all over the internet and in wedding magazines and nothing really stuck out. Finally, I was online one day looking at these wine glasses that were custom made and it dawned on me--that would be the perfect gift for my bridesmaids, if only the lady could customize them the way I needed! I immediately emailed the business who makes them and asked everything I needed to know. To my surprise, I got a response back that same night and the lady making them said she thought she could do what I had asked and quoted me a price--it was that easy! I sent out all the information needed the next day (names, colors, etc.) and within a few short weeks I had these!

I chose the colors blue and white as those are our wedding colors (along with silver). Each glass has swirls all over it, and then on one side, a dress, with the initial of the girl on it. On the back side, written in cursive, the glass reads "Will you be my bridesmaid?" On the bottom of the glass it has the girls name written out and also has swirls all over it. I thought they turned out wonderful!

After receiving them, I went to Target and bought blue shredded paper, gift baggies, and Hershey Hugs-n-Kisses. I stuffed the shredded paper down in the glass about half way, then put the gift baggie in and filled it with the candy. I then tied it off with gold or silver ribbon hanging off the top. I thought filling the glass this way was the perfect way to make it look full, since I obviously couldn't send them a glass full of wine :)

With that being complete, I started thinking of something small to add to it, that reiterates the fact that they not only mean a lot to me, but also that I want them beside me on my special day. Finally, I was laying in bed one night and literally just started typing away on my phone. I was starting over and editing, starting over and editing, and finally I ended up writing this...

Once satisfied, I saved it as an email until I could think of what to actually do with it! The next day I thought of making magnets, maybe just putting it in a card, and then finally I thought of turning it into a bookmark. I used bookmarks all through college in my text books, in my cookbooks at home, and since I'm from the stone ages, I even use them in my leisure reading books to this day, so I figured "Hey, this could be something they would look at all the time AND be able to make use of."

I dragged Ryan to a few scrapbooking stores the following week and ended up buying all the paper and ribbons needed and got to work! I have to admit, I didn't go with the theme colors, although that would have looked better, simply because this leopard print paper was too cute to pass up! I ended up printing them, piecing them together, laminating them, and finishing them off with ribbon the following week.



I changed them all a little bit, depending on which girl it was going to..."BCF" is what my cousins and I call ourselves; it's like BFF but Best Cousins Forever...silly, right? :)

I then tied them to the top of the wine glass and wrapped them up in pretty tissue paper. Finally, to make each more individual, I finished off each gift with a card made specifically for each bridesmaid. I told them how much they mean to me and how thankful I am to have each and every one of them in my life.

Finally, I was ready to give them each their gifts. I was so excited to give them to each of the girls, that I could hardly contain myself--I wanted to tell SOMEONE. Of course, the people I wanted to tell ALL ABOUT THEM were the ones who would be receiving them though, so I had to keep quiet for a few weeks as I found the time to give each theirs. Finally, after they all got theirs, I was more than happy with the outcome!! The girls seemed to really enjoy them and one friend in particular (my bestie) said she couldn't quit smiling for two days and her whole family kept asking what was going on with her haha. So cute! My sister couldn't stop crying for 20 minutes when she opened hers! :)

If anyone reading this has been a bride, I would LOVE to hear what you did for your bridesmaids!! Were you as excited to ask them as I was?!

I just recently got asked to be the Maid of Honor in a friends wedding also!! (So excited!) Here is how she asked!! Now share YOUR stories and ideas with me! I'd love to hear how you asked your bridesmaids/maid of honor!!

**You can find the rest of my wedding planning/proposal things here
**See how I asked my flower girl here