All in all, I think I have tried pretty hard to be as considerate of my bridesmaids as possible. I set a price cap (for myself) on how much the dresses would cost (anything over $200 and I'd foot the difference—which made the urgency of an affordable dress much more... URGENT!), and I paid the surcharge on the plus size dresses (for my decidedly NON-plus size bridesmaids... darn you, bridal industry sizing!) without telling anyone. I picked a dress that I hope will be re-wearable (I would wear it), but if not, at least it's pretty. In fact, I gave everyone two choices on their dresses, to make everyone comfortable.
I'm not insisting they throw pre-wedding parties for me, or that they have their hair and makeup professionally done, or even that they do much of anything at all for me other than show up on time and not complain too much. ;) So I would also like to continue to be considerate of them, my top five ladies, in selecting their bridesmaid gifts! (And also considerate of my ever diminishing wallet!)
So I took some time to think about what I would like as a bridesmaid. I've been around the bridesmaid block a few times and I wanted to avoid distributing little trinkets that didn't mean anything or that weren't
quality. My first idea was black cashmere pashminas. I found some online at such a good price I almost don't believe they are real! I thought to myself:
I would like a real cashmere pashmina, and black goes with everything. But if I bought these super affordable pashminas (which were only affordable by standards relative to the $200-300 price tags I usually see them carrying, not to my bridesmaid gift budget!), I wouldn't be able to afford any accompaniments, like customized tote bags or any of the other cool things running through my head that I might have appreciated more than
yet another bath and lotion set, if I were in my girls' position. And even though
I would love this bridesmaid gift, I can't be sure that all of my bridesmaids would.
So I did what any sane, sensible, decision-capable bride-to-be would do: lose sleep over it!
But not to worry; I did eventually make some decisions, which I'll tell you about... later. :)
Did you have a hard time figuring out what to gift your ladies?
I'm still sort of deciding, but i think i'm going the practical route - things they'll use on the wedding day (and maybe beyond!).
ReplyDeleteSo far, I have tote bags filled with flip-flops, pink and orange water bottles (which will actually be filled and distribute the morning of rather than placed in the bag), pearl necklaces, a wedding day emergency kit for the MOH, and itineraries for the day's activities. I kind of like the idea of wraps as well, but we'll see how they fit into the budget. i can't really picture any of them using the wraps in the future, which is why im hesitant.
I am having the hardest time deciding what to get! The price is a big question mark too. I want to get them something nice, but buying 5 something nices can really add up.
ReplyDeleteSo far, I found 8x8 scrapbook in our wedding colors from a store that was going ot of business, this was a while ago but I planned ahead. They were only $4 each so it's a good place to start. I'm not sure what I'm really getting them though.