Let's get back into wedding content and talk wedding party! How I asked my bridesmaids, what everyone wore, and where we found it all.
The getting ready pajamas were a lot of fun to shop for! Mine were from Katie Kime my bridesmaids from J. Crew Factory.
The bridesmaids dresses were a bit of a process. I first thought I wanted a jade green color, but couldn't find exactly what I wanted. So I shifted to this shade of blue called Larkspur and I really love how they turned out! We first bought them through Brideside. I was able to meet with the Charlotte ladies at their showroom, and those that lived out of town were able to have a try-on box mailed to them. However, as I mentioned in a previous post, Brideside went out of business just a few weeks before the dresses were supposed to arrive. The color I picked included styles from Dessy, that were luckily still available to order directly through their site. We had plenty of time before the wedding, but since Brideside just shut down without notice, my girls each had to each file a credit card dispute to get refunds. Once that was worked out, we placed another order, and they actually came in just in time to deliver them all to my Charlotte friends just days before I moved to Atlanta. I mailed the rest to those who lived in other cities.
Once it was all came together, I really liked having a few different style options of dresses, and the girls all wore neutral heeled sandals and whatever jewelry they wanted.
My mom's dress was from Teri John, and we got bow ties that matched the bridesmaids dresses for my dad and (a mini one for) our ring bearer also from Dessy.
The guys rented their tuxes from Men's Wearhouse and TJ purchased the bow ties as part of their gifts from there as well. I can't say we had the best customer experience at our local store in Georgia, but it was convenient for the guys all to visit different locations. It all worked out fine, however we had a close call with one of the groomsmen forgetting his jacket at the store. Of course he did not realize until it was time to leave for the church. But I never knew, because he went back and got it just in time!
Our whole crew, I was so glad to have all of them there with us!
My side was all friends (from a big range of college, high school, blogging, work, and fitness) and my brother's girlfriend. TJ's side was his 2 brothers, my brother, and some college friends.
On to the gifts!
I asked my bridesmaids with these cards I bought from Etsy mailed with a piece of jewelry I made for them and a bottle of nail polish. One of them might have gotten lost in the mail, and another had the nail polish explode ruining the rest of the gift...but it was still fun to put them together!
During my bridesmaids luncheon the day before the wedding, I gave them all tote bags I painted with a color I thought they wore often and their initials. I also made one for myself, my mom, and my mother-in-law and I used mine all summer long. I got the tote bags from the Walmart site and they came in packs of 6.
I bought my mom this embroidered handkerchief and this engraved bangle in rose gold to go with the accents on her dress, both from Etsy! I thought a lot of the typical father of the bride gifts were really cheesy. So I got my dad a few things sort of unrelated to the wedding, but related to his favorite hobbies.
TJ made these collegiate plaques for his groomsmen with his laser cutter! It worked out perfectly that his groomsmen (and both of our dads, which he also made them for) all went to either NC State or Clemson. He also presented the gifts with a stand to display them.
Other Wedding Wednesday posts:
Thanks for reading!