(The title is a weak attempt at quoting How the Grinch Stole Christmas.)
When it came time to decide what to gift the bridesmaids with, I started by thinking about what I would personally like to receive as a bridesmaid. Similar to wedding favors, bridesmaid gifts seem kind of pointless to me sometimes, and I couldn’t think of a whole hell of a lot that I would be jonesing for if I were a bridesmaid. But I’m not a complete bitch—I still want to get them gifts! After all, this is my way of thanking them for doing my bidding, traveling to my shower/bachelorette party bonanza and listening to me drone on and on about my friggin special day for over a year. Really, I should be giving them salaries.
After thinking for a while (quite the task, at this point), I decided that if I were going to be in someone’s wedding, I would love to be beautified for the big day. However, most of my bridesmaids have short hair and are hair control freaks, so I assumed they wouldn’t want me to hire hair stylists for them (side note: I thought wrong. All four of them made their own hair appointments). Instead, I decided to throw a manicure party for them the day before the wedding. I admit this was partly selfish of me since I wanted the opportunity to attend a manicure party myself. Since a manicure isn’t a tangible gift, I made these little cards for them instead, which I showed you earlier:
Again, the “e” fell off of the dark pink one, but it has since been replaced.
I’ve been wanting to go to this one fancy salon by my house since I was a little girl, so we’re having the manicures done there. I’m not even sure how fancy of a salon it is, since pretty much everything seems fancy to me, but I hope my bridesmaids are equally as unsophisticated.
I was a little worried about not having anything to present them with at the rehearsal dinner, so I also got each of the girls a bottle of wine. I tried to pick something personalized for each girl, but since I am unsophisticated (see previous paragraph), I mostly just judged the wine based on the art on the bottles.
I found these chevron bags in the dollar section at Target, so if you’re throwing a chevron wedding, get it grl.
Next up, the groomsmen. I tried to come up with quirky, nontraditional gifts for the guys, but it turned out that Mr. Unicycle already knew what he wanted to give. And since the gifts are from him anyway, I agreed. We ended up getting these gray and white polka dot ties from Etsy seller MeandMatilda:
Image via MeandMatilda on Etsy
We also found these cool typewriter key cufflinks on Etsy, and we bought cufflinks in each groomsman’s initials:
Image via Philipapipa on Etsy
We opted for simple gift cards for the parents, and we classed it up by taking a page out of Mole’s book:
Yeah, this photo sucks. It started raining as soon as we took this, and Mr. U wanted to get his camera inside. We figured it didn’t matter too much since it’s just a placeholder anyway. I love how the thought bubble isn’t even coming out of his head. FAIL.
I wrapped all the gifts in polka dot wrapping paper and made some yellow bows using the tutorial on How About Orange.
I’ve run out of space for wedding stuff, so these live on my bookshelf.
What would you like to receive as a gift if you were a bridesmaid, groomsman or parent? Did you take that into account when you chose your thank you gifts?
Good call on the mani party. Who doesn’t love having pretty nails? Much better than something they’ll never use. And I’m in love with your dress/tights, FYI.
one of the best bridesmaid gifts i got was a cute little gold clutch that went with our bridesmaids dresses. it was great since you rarely think of what bag to take with you when you’re a maid, and it was a neutral enough color that i’ve gotten tons of use out of it since.
For my out of town bridesmaids, I will get them a mani pedi from Josephine’s Salon and Day Spa which is where I go to get my nails done. I’m still thinking about what to get for all my bridesmaids, I really want to get them Tiffany bracelets or necklace but that will add up with four bridesmaids
The mani is really nice because that is something that they may not have necessarily paid for themselves (like they would have with their hair). The best gifts are sometimes something you want but wouldn’t want to pay for yourself!
I’m officially obsessed with all your craftiness, fyi. The cards, the bows, the freaking awesome “I owe you a photo” picture. I’m totally going to do this (thanks, Mole). Oh, and pretty art is a totally acceptable way to pick out wine. I like to find fun names, too. Like Fat Bastard. 
I love the typewriter key cufflinks! FI didn’t want to wear cufflinks, but now I might have to convince him to cause these are so adorable. Also, thanks for the bow tutorial–they look so easy to make!
I gifted my girls a Birchbox subscription, heel savers so they wouldn’t sink in the grass at the wedding and a few beauty supplies.
I pick out wine by artwork and funny names, too! For our peeps, I’m getting the girls a variety of stuff, some of it for fun, some of it in hopes they’ll actually like it.
The chevron bags and polka-dot wrapping paper are to die for!
I LOVE those cufflinks so much! And I’m definitely going to have to get me some chevron wine bags, just to have on hand.
These are such great gifts, and the packaging of them is adorable!
I’m planning on a mani/pedi party for me and my girls too! My mom keeps asking if we’ll have time to do this before all of the wedding activities and I keep saying yes!! (I really want to have a nail party… It just seems so bridal; oh and it’d be one less thing for me to DIY lol)
I’ve been gifted a variety of things in past weddings from chocolate, wine, cluthes, pashima, robe, pair of toms shoes, picture frame, tote bag, jewelry… the possibilities are endless, which makes it so hard to figure out what i’m going to give! Love the mani party – it’ll be so relaxing and fun to do with your girls! 
I know this is really random, but I love your stockings in the “I owe you photo”. A mani party is such a great idea… I would love that as a bridesmaid!!
Mrs. Unicycle, Chicago, IL Age and Occupation: 23, Editor for a Web Publishing Company Fiance's Age and Occupation: 23, MD/PhD Student Engagement Date: March 26, 2011 Wedding Date: June 2012 Venue: Bridges of Poplar Creek About Me: I’m a writer by trade who likes analyzing pop culture, making fun of celebrities, and laughing until I cry. I’m the queen of half-assed crafts, and there’s nothing I won’t try to DIY. You can usually find me reading blogs on my laptop in front of a good Lifetime movie, wine in hand. I’m planning a polka-dotted summertime wedding to my physics geek college sweetheart, and when I’m not making stupid puns I’m freaking out about my wedding timeline.
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