Gifts for your attendants

What kind of gifts do you get for the lovely ladies that have helped you out throughout all of your wedding planning and dramas?

Most people give their bridesmaids some sort of gift for helping them out on their special day. Not only will they help you on your day with getting ready, calming your nerves, making sure that you have everything that you need, but sometimes they have to help you even more than you would realise. Depending on your dress, some bridesmaids even need to help you use the bathroom. Not only on your big day are they required to help, but think of all that they have done in the lead up to the wedding. Sometimes, bridesmaids may have thrown the bride a Hens Night or a Kitchen Tea. Some of them may have given up countless weekends having dress fittings, hair trials or just being amazing supports for you when you have had lots of things to do or check out for the big day.

In saying all of this, you don’t have to go and spend hundreds of dollars on the girls. You just have to exercise a little bit of thought and you can get them something great to show your appreciation. There is also nothing like a beautiful card that you have written something to each of them that tells them how much you love and appreciate them and their friendship.  You could also find an old photo or your favourite photo of the two of you and put it in a nice frame. Other than these lovely sentimental ideas, here are some other practical and fun ones.

Something to wear.

This is always popular! Something to wear as far as jewellery is always an excellent choice.  It is a great keepsake and is something that will ensure that all of the attendants are matching, and is handy if all of the girls are wearing different styles of dress. It can act as something that ties them all together. The same applies if you use a shawl or wrap, it can be something that you can add to the style of the day and be part of your thank you gift. A classic and elegant bracelet is always lovely. Something that they probably wouldn’t buy for themselves, but something that they could wear again on a special occasion. Or you could have something for them to wear when they are getting ready and all of you are spending time having your make up and hair done. Personalised robes or t-shirts are a great bit of fun and something that they can use later on and will prompt memories of your special day every time that they use them.

Something to carry things in on the day.

Depending on if you want these seen or not, there are a few options here. You could have some lovely custom made tote bags done, keeping with the colour theme of your wedding. Having the bridesmaids initials monogrammed on to a tote is a great way for them to keep all of their belongings together, especially if they are going to have to take them to the venue. This will be something that they will get use after the big day too. My best friend got all of us girls lovely little handbags for us to have at her wedding that were perfect for our make up, mobile phones, some tissues and for other little things. They are stunning and all of them had our names engraved on them. There were no mix ups and it was another great way to give us something that all matched as we had different style dresses, but we all had the same lovely handbags.

Something to keep, or a tradition starter.

Another thing that my best friend did was to put a lovely brooch on the bouquet of flowers. At the time, I don’t know if she intended these just to be a pretty way for the bouquet to be done up, or if the brooch was something that she really loved. I personally have used this the most out of all of the gifts that she gave us. I wear it now when I conduct weddings and it makes me think of how much fun we had on her special day and reminds me of her every time that I wear it. This would be a great idea especially if your attendants are not yet married, you could mention that they could pin it onto their bouquet on their big day too, or pin it inside their dress (especially if it had some blue on it somewhere), or attach it to their garter if they were wearing one.

Something to eat and drink.

People always love food and drink! You could incorporate this with the tote bags and fill each one with different things that your friends love. If one girl loves champagne and Oreo biscuits, put all of those things in her tote bag, and if another likes vodka and chocolate frogs, put these things into her bag. It is a great way to show them just how well you know them.

Something for after the big day.

Another great way to show them your appreciation, would be to get them something they can do after the big day, like gold class movie vouchers. Or perhaps treat them to a pampering massage, or facial, or maybe even organise a girls spa day! This way, you can all spend some quality time together when you come back from your honeymoon, stress-free post-wedding!

Again this is something that is only limited by your imagination. Think about something that your friends like and go from there. Have you been in a wedding and been given an amazing gift?

Thanks to Untamed Images for their photos on the blog check out their website here and their facebook page here too. Check out my facebook page here too and be kept up to date with all things wedding.

Allergies and dietary requirements at your wedding

With all of the things that people are allergic to nowadays and so many people choosing to be vegetarian or vegan, it is something that you need to be mindful of when planning meals at your wedding. It is something that you need to talk to your venue about in advance and make sure that you put the option for your guests to advise you of any dietary requirements on your RSVP cards (you can read my blog about RSVP cards here). This will allow you to have plenty of time to tell your reception venue or catering company of any changes they may need to make to their dishes.

This is a very important factor to remember, as it may not be something that you initially think about especially if you are not allergic to anything yourself or are not vegetarian or vegan. I think that most people remember the vegetarian and vegan options, but a lot of the time we forget about those who are gluten or lactose intolerant, or something similar. Or if one of your guests has a nut allergy, it is important for the caterers to know that they can’t eat them or it could cause much distress. There would be nothing worse than having to call an ambulance because of a guest being ill from the food. These are things that the venue will most likely have experienced and as much as you might have no idea what is involved in solving such an issue, people who deal with food for a living will be able to sort out.

I couldn’t think of anything worse than someone being a guest at the wedding and not being able to eat their meal because of allergies. Firstly, because you have paid for the meal and secondly you really don’t want people to have to go through a fast food drive-through on the way home from your wedding!

One idea is to have a tick box on your RSVP card, so that people can tick what they need. Some people prefer to have a section for people to write their dietary requirements in, but do beware that people may also just put what they don’t like on that line too. You may receive responses like ‘I don’t like garlic’. Answers like this do not indicate necessary dietary requirements and is merely a preference. It is up to you if you take any of that on board, but you probably won’t be able to please everyone if you do. It is also up to you as to how far you want to take this matter. If one or two of your guests suffer from coeliac disease, you might want to check with the venue if they can make the hors d’oeuvres that are gluten free and maybe depending on what sort of wedding cake you are having, you could organise to have a tier of the cake made gluten free. Or have some cupcakes and have some of them especially for people who cannot eat gluten, this could also work for guests who are vegan. It isn’t just the main meal that you need to think about. It is all of the other food components of the day too. Being thoughtful in this matter will not only mean that all of your guests and their needs catered for, it will also make them feel special and considered on the day.

Thanks to Lauren at Purely Taken. Photography for the lovely shots for this weeks blog, check out her website here and her facebook page here.