...the important question! "Will you be my bridesmaid?"
4 out of 7 of the ladies in my bridal party live out of state, so I knew I wanted to do something significant to show them how much they mean to me and how excited I am to have these ladies spend the day with me! I of course wanted to do something crafty and fun, so I did this:
Meet my friends!
Macey: Macey is my younger sister, my only sister. Of course I couldn't get married without my sister by my side. Even though she's quite a bit younger than me, the older we get, the closer we become. I think she is excited to be in her first wedding :) Right, Mace?
Andrea: Andrea is a dear friend of mine and was my roommate last year. We met through a boy I went to high school with, whom she is currently dating! I love my talks with Andrea, we can talk for hours and we have the same sarcastic sense of humor.
Erin: I met Erin the day we moved into the dorms our freshman year! We have had a ton of classes together and spent a lot of time together in college. We have a ton of things in common and know each other very well. Erin is now a Mrs. and lives in Dallas, TX with her hubby, Luke, creating another vacation spot for me :).
Tonia: Tonia is the reason Kevin and I even met in the first place! Tonia and I first met in our education classes at UNI and soon became friends outside of class. She introduced me to Kevin and we all spent many nights at our karaoke bar. Tonia and Kevin are first cousins, so Tonia is at all our family Christmas's, Thanksgivings, etc! Tonia and I have a freakish amount of things in common, which makes our relationship very easy and awesome.
Maddy: Maddy and I worked together in college, and it didn't take long for us to develop a friendship outside of work. I always have a great time with Maddy and she is a very dear friend to me. I don't know anyone who has been in as many weddings as Maddy, which speaks to how great of a friend she is :).
Heather: Heather is Kevin's sister, but I also consider her a friend! Heather and I have very similar personalities (Kevin says that's why he likes me) and I always love my conversations with her. I am very excited to gain Heather as a sister-in-law!
Lindsey: Lindsey is Kevin's other sister and also a friend of mine. She is also a teacher so I always love talking to Lindsey about teaching things (she's a pretty awesome teacher!) Lindsey is always a lot of fun to hang out with and I'm excited to have such a great sister-in-law!
I thought this would be a fun little way to ask my ladies to accompany me on my wedding day, as well as give them some of the details I had envisioned for the wedding. I mailed all the boxes to the girls, and here are the contents of the boxes:
I used paper maché boxes from Hobby Lobby. Remember my
Chevron Make Up Box? This is the same type of box, but lots smaller! Other supplies were acrylic paint, lace, a heart paper punch, paint swatches, mod podge, and hot glue. I used the paint swatches for all the paper inside the box.
To assemble the box, I first painted all my boxes in an assortment of colors. I still haven't decided on colors, so I just included them all! Which is honestly what I'll probably end up doing for the wedding :). I typed up my info and printed it out. I cut and glued it to paint swatches. I used my heart punch to cut out a bunch of hearts (which Tonia graciously called anthrax hearts when she received it in the mail.) I put it all in there nicely with lace, then hot glued lace to the outside of the box and stamped the names on the top.
Info included general details, their roles, their dresses, and then finally...the question! (If you're interested in the details, you can click to enlarge.)
I put 'em in envelopes, mailed them out, and eagerly awaited responses! (I know you're waiting on the edge of your seat. Yes, everyone said yes.) :)
Lindsey and Heather have a slightly different role but are equally important. Since my two brothers are ushers, and Kevin has 5 groomsmen, I thought it would work perfectly if Lindsey and Heather are "usherettes." You may be wondering...
The rest of their boxes were the same as the ones above (except obviously insert usherette for bridesmaid).
It works out perfectly and our wedding party is very symmetric... 5 bridesmaids, 5 groomsmen, 2 sibling ushers, 2 sibling usherettes. Between the 4 of them, all guests should see a familiar face to show them to their seat when they arrive at the ceremony.
Yep, we have a pretty awesome wedding party (I'd tell you the groomsment Kevin won't let me reveal his because he hasn't asked everyone yet. He says he hasn't "thought up a craft to do.") I know we are going to have a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to our party bus from the ceremony to the reception, stopping at our favorite bars :). And the whole getting married part, too.
I am so happy I took the time to pop the question properly and I'm so glad to have such awesome friends!!! Only 470 more days! June 22nd, 2013 CANNOT come soon enough!
