One of the first things that came to mind about planning our wedding was who our wedding party was going to be. We both agreed that we wanted a wedding party that wasn't too big which lead us to deciding that each of us would have four people stand up for us. J has a group of guy friends who've all been together since high school and he knew which of them he would pick almost right away. I've always had more of a select, smaller group of best friends as opposed to having a posse of 20 always around so my choices were relatively easy as well.
But that's it for us. There will be 10 people, J and I included, standing in the front of the room during our ceremony. We don't really have anyone younger that's close to us so junior bridesmaids, flower girls and ring bearers are out (unless J convinces me to let Ollie participate, ha!). I have a very small family, J doesn't have any young cousins, nieces or nephews, no friends with kids (yet), and we didn't feel like we should place people in our wedding just for the sake of doing so.
When we returned to SD after the holidays I was immediately checking out Pinterest, drafting ideas and trying to find the perfect way to ask my Maids to be part of our wedding day. There are so many creative options out there but I knew I wanted something a little more minimal since they were going to be sent through the mail as opposed to hand delivered. I loved the idea of giving a bottle of wine or something like that but when it came down to shipping cost I removed those ideas from my inspiration. After many amazing options I decided on this as my final inspiration....
After a trip to Michael's to pick up some card stock I pulled out my watercolors
(remember how I made them?) and got to work. The process is simple and outlined completely in the post I linked to through Pinterest but just to give you an overview.... Write or trace over a print out using a white colored pencil, watercolor over your designs, let dry mostly, wipe off excess paint and dry completely. I absolutely love how they turned out so I'll let the pictures do the talking.
They are all similar but all unique. I chose cooler colors and used the same 3 colors on all the cards but in a different layout for each. I love that they're personalized and handmade and I think the ladies did too.
For the insides I printed out two different sets, one for my Maid of Honor and one for my three Bridesmaids. I cut the paper so that it would cover the whole inside of the card because the watercoloring left the paper slightly wavy. I glued them in, signed them and let them sit between a bio-chem and a physiology text book overnight. (I knew those books would come in handy again!)
While my paints were drying I also made custom envelopes with pretty scrapbook paper. The details for these are found in the same Pinterest link as well but again they're super easy. Just measuring, cutting small triangles, folding and gluing. They're amazingly unique and again I loved how they came out. I chose paper that was bold enough to be different but was still reasonable to address without causing confusion for the postman.
I finished off the cards by sliding them in their envelops along with a photo of me and each girl respectively and off they went. Three to Colorado and one a couple hours away in San Diego. I couldn't think of four better ladies to share in this journey with me and I am honored they all want to have a place in such a memorable day for J and I.
One maid of honor, three bridesmaids and one extra happy bride-to-be!
(all of the ladies have already gotten their cards which is why I can finally share this with you)
