How I asked my bridesmaids.

(Those "flowers" are actually weeds Matt and I picked out of the ditches this summer on our bike rides. Who says a weed can't be pretty? Memories were made!)

I was surfin’ the net one day just doing my rounds trying to catch up on my most favorite wedding blogs. Green Wedding Shoes – check. Ruffled – check. Style Me Pretty – check. Wedding Chicks - ch…”OH. MY. GOSH!!” I thought to myself as I came across a post about Bethany’s DIY wedding bridesmaid boxes (see how she asked her bridesmaids here). I immediately was in awe of the whimsical feel and uniqueness of the bridesmaid boxes the Rinse. Repeat. founder had so fabulously dreamt up!

I followed the link to view her blog and was immediately blog-struck (tee-hee). This girl has a fairytale romance, stunning beauty, a kind heart and creative talent! I e-mailed her to introduce myself like any normal person would do (ha!) and decided I had to attempt boxes similar to hers.

I agreed with Bethany that sending a text saying, "Will U B My B-maid????" wasn’t exactly the personal touch I wanted to approach with asking my girls! I knew who I wanted to ask and that I wanted to make the boxes but tackling this task was going to be a bit difficult.

See, even though I grew up sanding wood in my parents’ wood shop and spent every Saturday of my childhood at a craft show with my mother selling grandma wreath’s and what-not for Kim’s Kountry Krafts. I’m not exactly what you would call artistically inclined. With the KKK we stuck with the 3 main craft décor colors of the 90s: hunter green, navy and maroon. So you can see where anything out of my comfort zone would frighten me right? ; )

Anyways, I decided to give it my best anyways and off to town I went. I had six boxes to do and according to Bethany’s instructions each box took about 2 hours each. From that, I decided to go with a smaller box to save myself some strife. The boxes I chose were only $1.99 at Hobby Lobby – steal!

I then had to decide color, design and font for the box. Most of my girls aren’t “pinks” like I am. I chose a cream color so they could use it as a keepsake and used my blush pink on the inside to give it the Brandi touch. I love anything with a mason jar (totally am drinking from one now). They are so versatile and can do just about anything superpower related…just kidding but pretty damn close! I decided I would do a mason jar background and use letters to arrange over it to spell their names

Now for the inside goodies!

I liked how Bethany included a gift card in her box to let the girls find a dress that fit their style and their bodies. My Mother and I had already found the dresses I wanted for the girls (she was even so graciously kind to purchase the girls’ shoes and dresses for them J) though so I knew gift cards weren't an option.

I thought and thought – wondered and pondered - trying to think of woodsy-ish things that wouldn’t let me stoop as low as stuffing a slaughtered squirrel or coon-tailed hats in their boxes. I finally decided on Twilight Woods body washes from Bath and Body Works because not only does it incorporate a woodsy name and label it is also my – and a couple of my girls’ – favorite scent! I purchased these during a big sale at Bath and Body for about $1.25 each.

Well, I couldn’t just have a box with just body wash included – they would have thought it was a polite gesture asking them to shower right? I liked that Bethany’s boxes contained paint swatches and pictures and I decided to get creative and put together an inspiration board of our woodland fairytale wedding ideas to include too. I wanted my girls to feel they were somewhat in the loop as to what I had in mind. *This is the paper wrapped in the blush pink lace.*

I love love loved how Bethany typed her whole shpeel and so I used that as a template. I thought the “most likely to” was just the darndest thing and had fun deciding what my girls would be most-likely to be on our big day.  I agreed with Bethany about bridal showers and bachelorette parties and just had to let them know that them standing beside me when I marry the man I love would mean more to me than any cake pan and/or penis tiara ever could.

 

  (See below what I had to say to my girls closer below)

big day:

who: Matthew & Brandi

what: A wedding. A union. A celebration.

when: September 22, 2012 - sunset.

where: Our beautiful home in good ol’ GC.

why: Our souls have found their mates and we’re in love duh!

soul sisters:

I always thought the phrase personal attendant sounded so not personable. To me, it was a bossy phrase. Matt is only having 2 groomsmen so I was torn on how to include my best friends! This is where I came up with ‘soul sisters’. You will be treated equally as a bridesmaid in every detail of the wedding. I will most likely have you walk 2x2 down the aisle to start us off during the ceremony. You’ll have a matching dress, bouquet, etc. I couldn’t stand the thought of you not in our wedding party. You mean too much.

So are you wondering who your fellow ‘soul sisters’ are? (granted they all say YES)

           

             Drum roll please. . .

Magz: I’m so blessed you took me under your wing in 1^st grade. Who knew we’d still be the best of friends? Most likely to: grab an apron if the caterers are a no-show.

©        I love her ability to never stop giving and to always do it with a smile.

Bethany: The most understanding individual in the entire world. Always up for an adventure and would drive 3 hours just to make the tears stop and the smiles arrive. Most likely to: gush over my doll-face and drink their body weight in morgan diets.

©        I love her feisty, golden spirit and her laugh.

Jennifer: She. Knows. All. Embarrassing. Moments. A person I look up to for all she’s been through. A person who can make me laugh from the time I wake up until the time I fall asleep. Most likely to: use her handkerchief like it’s going outta style and keep me looking glam all day long.

©        I love her for her wild dreamer spirit and for her beauty.

Bre: If I was to have a twin, she’d be it. We’ve been through crazy things the past 5 years but it’s made “us”! Most likely to: dance her face off and squeal with me in excitement all through the day.

©        I love her for her selflessness and our ability to understand each other like its nobodies bus-nass!

bridesmaids:

I couldn’t have asked for fate to send me a more loving blended family. A long time ago (as toddlers) we were all strangers. How amazeballs that destiny brought strangers into our life and turned them into family? I am so happy I am able to call you my sisters and most importantly, my friends. I love you so much!

Britt: The big sis who takes care of all her little siblings. The most loyal person on the planet! Most likely to: call me out on my bridezillaness but, ironically, most likely to give the sweetest speech.

©       I love her for our late night chats and her capability to generously always think of others before herself.

Cass: The most introverted of us all. My fellow lover of all sorts of crazy things! (Barbies, Disney, etc..) Most likely to: pout about not wearing fairy wings.

©       I love her for her hippie spirit and her gift of laughing at all my horrid jokes.

your duty:

Traditionally, the role of the brides’ wedding party would be lots of work throwing bachelorette parties/showers. That’s not what I want. Your presence is all that I need and want. truly.

Your only jobs as my bridesmaids/soul sisters:

©       hold some gorgeous flowers.

©       wipe away my happy tears.

©       dance the night away.

©       realize how much I appreciate you just being there and most of all: how much I love each one of you sooo much.

also:

I included pictures and paint swatches so you can get an idea as to what we’re up to for décor for our “Woodland Fairytale” – “Neature” wedding.

A lot has changed since I first made these boxes. I declared Soul Sisters an official wedding party person so I could still have my girls even if they didn’t have a boy to walk with but now that we’ve included my male siblings they may just be bridesmaids – we’ll see! And our date has completely changed. We are now getting married September 14, 2013! We still are having a “woodland fairytale” themed wedding. Side note: I don’t think the theme seriously could be any more fitting. My life seems to be consumed solely by woodland creatures and Matt these days.

I hope you enjoyed checking out this post! They definitely didn’t turn out as whimsical and lovely as Miss Bethany’s but my girls really appreciated the thought and were tickled I went out of my way to ask them this way. And if I can do it…..anyone can do it!