So I have the Man, the blessing of both our families, and a beautiful destination to wed in.  But I still can’t say I Do without my girls.

A couple weeks ago, there was an insane Bridezilla Email that went viral. Of course, I found out about this AFTER sending out my own bridesmaid invitations to the girls. Needless to say, I was a little freaked out about this letter, and even more so that a potential bridesmaid-to-be was the one that told me about it.

The email simply became another reminder of exactly what I’m trying to avoid throughout this planning process:  To turn into a Bridezilla.  I firmly believe that to be a bridesmaid is much more of a favor to the bride, than it is an honor to be one.   With dresses to buy, parties to plan and attend, and constant emotional support to give, the bridesmaid role involves a lot of work, time, and money– an irreplaceable role that deserves the bride’s appreciation from beginning to end.

I wanted to spend a lot of time in reaching out to my girlfriends about how much they mean to me, how thankful I am for their friendship, and inevitably ask for their hand in bridal party commitment.  My main goal for the cards was to inform and NOT demand.  I also wanted to set the mood for everything that Bryan and I want this wedding experience to be– creative, colorful, memorable, and overflowing with love.

Browsing through creative invitations and care packages flooded on Pinterest and the internet, I found Bethany’s Bridesmaid boxes and was completely inspired to make cards for my girls.

{ Front Cover:  Martha Stewart Craft Punches }

The card first opens up to a fun, corny invitation to a few of the bridesmaid “roles”, with an enclosed love letter to each girlfriend.  Then the card opens up to a mini tri-fold portfolio, filled with a complete wedding planning guide– important dates, bachelorette party ideas, venue location and photos, inspiration photos for dresses, a color swatch that I personalized, and a fabric sample for dresses.

Two of my bridesmaids live out of state, and while the rest are local, we are all on different hectic schedules called life.  So it has become a huge priority for me to keep everything organized and flexible, with consideration to everyone’s time and budget

{ The CUTEST and FREE Fonts from Kevin & Amanda! }

The Gifts:  The Key to Friendship is Giving

Jewelry certainly worked for me when Bryan popped the question (among other things too), so I hoped that bribing gifting my girls would work too.  Each piece was personalized for each girl, using scrapbook paper and inside jokes or cheesy friendship quotes.

Thankfully, with the help of scrapbooking skills and a little gift giving, I was reassured with all Yes-es from the girls!

xo,

k.spanish