Can't Say I do without you: How I asked my Bridesmaids

Happy Monday!

As some of you may know, I recently got engaged and am planning my wedding! Today I am sharing How I asked my Bridesmaids! This is one of the few things I have enjoyed during wedding planning so far. One of my bridesmaids Amy had a brunch when she asked all her bridesmaids. I thought that was such a cute idea, so I took a little note from her book. I will have eight ladies in my wedding and seven of the eight made it! Most of them live here, but my friend Kelly lives in Minnesota, Jodi lives in Iowa and Rhys’ sister Morgan lives in New York! I am more than appreciative of Jodi and Kelly driving all the way out here to celebrate! Especially Jodi who is eight months pregnant, what a trooper!

My bridal party consists of My sister as the Matron of Honor, Rhys’ sister, three of my closest childhood friends and three of my college roommates. I’ve been friends with these girls for the last 13-25 years. They are my sisters and I am so honored to have them stand by my side. I couldn’t ask for a better group of women to share my day with and I am so lucky to have them as my framily (friends + family) haha.

How I asked:

I knew I wanted to gift them something to open, because who does like presents? When I started shopping around, creating boxes online I was a getting a little carried away. I would create a bag or box of something and then realize I needed to pay for that times eight. When I started to calculate everything it was just getting to be so outrageous. I knew I needed to scale it back, so I decided to gift them three of my favorite things. An Anthropologie Candle, a collagen face mask and L’Occitane Shea butter hand cream. I scoured the internet for the perfect black matte box, but I couldn’t find any in the right size or price. The boxes I got for the candles from Anthropologie, ended up being the perfect size for the entire gift. I finished them off with a matte black ribbon I already had at home. Next, I needed to find something that distinguished who the gifts were for that weren’t present tags. I found these super cute rose gold personalized gift bags from Etsy, along with these personalized bridesmaid proposal cards. What I loved about the proposal cards was that I was able to not only customize their names, but their hair color and hair style. I really thought about each girl and how I would picture each of them wearing their hair based on the options available! It was a nice added touch!

“Guac may be extra, but I’ll try not to be”

When I decided to have a brunch, I was originally going to cook but I really wanted to enjoy the time with my friends. I decided to cater, because how often are all of my friends together at once? When I decided to cater I immediately thought of Big Star. I wanted to get something that was fun and that had plenty of options. Catering with Big Star was such a great experience, I would definitely cater from them again. I also thought they were reasonably priced compared to a lot of other menus I looked at. On our DIY Taco Bar we had Papas (spicy potato) and Pollo (Chicken) tacos with corn tortillas cilantro, pickled onions, white onions and cheese. A Big Star meal wouldn’t be complete without Chips, Guacamole, Salsa and their delicious Margaritas. You can opt to buy their Margarita Mix or their Margarita Package that includes alcohol but isn’t mixed. I purchased their mix and had my own tequila, agave, limes and salt for the rim. They were delicious and I definitely had a massive hangover the next day. I cannot drink tequila like I used to haha!

What was next?

After deciding on my gifts and food, I knew the party just needed to be a little more extra. I knew I needed the help of another creative mind to put my ideas into place! That’s when I thought of Elise from Chic from Chicago. Elise is an DIY Blogger and Event Planner. We had been following each other for a while and a couple months ago I reached out to Elise if she wanted to go to a Liketoknowit event in Chicago. The blogging world is scary, intimidating and it can sometimes be hard putting yourself out there. Elise was so kind when I met her the first time I knew I wanted her to help me plan the rest of this party. She helped me over the course of a few weeks plan around the colors I had already picked, my menu, what little added touches I was looking for and how we could make this day extra special for my favorite girls. Elise and I texted back and forth about balloons and the perfect wall message. We went back and forth between ‘Brides Babes’ and ‘Can’t say I do without you’. She sent me so many photos of signs, decor, platters, dishes etc that I could borrow from her for that day. We currently don’t have a lot of serving platters, cake stands or boards right now because we are waiting to register.

On the day of the party Elise came over at 9:30am. She was so organized and right on time! She had all of the balloons blown up prior for the wall and the balloon garland she created. Not only did she set up all of the decor she brought, but she helped me organize the gifts and other decor around my house to make the whole space more inviting. She waited until the food was delivered so she could style it as well! She really thought of every little detail that just made the day even more special. I am so glad that a couple months ago I went out on a limb and asked her to an event. I highly recommend reaching out to her if you live in the Chicagoland. Thank you Elise, for making everything perfect!