Mrs. Honey, Durango, COAge and Occupation: 28, Financial AssistantFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Lab Tech/PhlebotomistEngagement Date: August 1, 2010Wedding Date: January 2012Venue: Vallecito LakeAbout Me: I am a Colorado girl through and through, marrying an adrenaline-fueled Alabama boy. We love the outdoors just about as much as we love spoiling our dog and three cats. On any given weekend you can find us being adventurous, doing anything from rafting to snowboarding, and everything in between. We live in an outdoor mecca and truly believe in "Work Hard, Play Harder." I'm an optimist to the core, a crafter wannabe, a Southern food cook-in-training and a big time believer in girls nights. We met, fell in love and got engaged in eight short months and are now knee-deep in planning what we hope to be a super-fun, very us wedding celebration. Join us as we plan a rustic meets whimsical, Colorado winter wedding with loads of personal touches and good food!
Three weeks before our wedding and I still didn’t have the slightest clue of what gifts to give to our wedding party. When you add our parents and officiant, we were buying for a total of seventeen people. We decided we wanted our gifts to be simple, meaningful and cost effective.
Let’s start with the boys. We briefly contemplated custom cuff links, but couldn’t decide on what exactly we would pick out…kayaks, skateboards, snowboards, states? We couldn’t pinpoint any one idea so we scratched it. We both really liked the idea of flasks, but felt like it was too common and expected. The solution came when I realized how much Mr. Honey really enjoys drinking beer out of a frosty beer mug (seriously the man loves an ice cold mug straight out of the freezer for his brew).
Ah ha! Custom made beer mugs for our groomsmen, dads, and officiant! We picked up this glass etching glue and this reusable stencil set from Hobby Lobby for a total of $13 (after a 40% off coupon). After browsing Ross & TJ Maxx for an affordable set of large (Mr. Honey requested they be large in size) beer mugs; we happened to stumble upon the Dollar Tree. Gigantic beer mugs for one dollar! The etching process was pretty dang easy: apply stencils, secure with tape, slather with etching glue, let sit for one minute and rinse!
Mrs. Elephant, Dallas, TXAge and Occupation: 27, Financial Operations AnalystFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, IT Student/Store ManagerEngagement Date: March 29, 2009Wedding Date: April 2011Venue: The Tribute Golf ClubAbout Me: I'm a Philly native creating roots deep in the heart of Texas. I might be a little obsessed capturing those Kodak moments of anything and everything (mainly on vacations). I've become more of a gamer thanks to Mr. Elephant, who I met online and can't wait to spend the rest of my life with. We are planning a wedding based on our favorite colors, blue and green, with a travel theme for 150 of our closest friends and family. Hopefully our long (2-year) engagement won't kill me!
I don’t want you to think I’m a slacking since we’re only talking about gifts for the guys today. Gifts for my girls have already been purchased but I know that they read this so I won’t be posting pics until after they get them. Love you ladies, but I think you would be too tempted to look! For BM Cali and BM Aggie—no telling your husbands what their gifts are.
Mr. E loves the Chucks that we ordered for our engagement pictures so he designed some for his groomsmen to change into for the reception. They are black with a couple of blue touches. We had a very interesting time coming up with nicknames for each of the guys.
This pair is for Elephant Bro - “Black 24″ is his favorite number on the roulette table
Mrs. Trail Mix, New YorkAge and Occupation: 26, PE TeacherFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, MBA StudentEngagement Date: March 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Tannery Pond at the Darrow SchoolAbout Me: I'm a country girl who somehow found herself living in the Big Apple and loving every minute of it. I'm planning a rustic, country-chic wedding in my hometown in upstate New York and it's going to be a Party with a capital P. White wine, flea markets and running keep me happy and my friends, family and fiance are my world. I'm a little bit crafty, a little bit crazy but mostly just crazy in love.
Let’s be honest: shopping for guys pretty much bites the big one; it’s so not anywhere near as fun as shopping for girls. What are the options? An electronic gadget, a tie or cologne? Girls are easy, give ’em some lotion, makeup and jewelry and everyone’s happy. Guys, on the other hand, are not so easy (and we women are supposed to be the hard ones to please, ha!).
So it took Mr Trail Mix and me a long time to decide on gifts for the groomsmen. We debated some of the customary gifts, such as a flask accompanied by a bottle of alcohol or a monogrammed overnight bag, etc. but ultimately decided that for our groomsmen, a “thing” just wasn’t the right choice.
And so we decided to go for an experience, instead. Namely, a sporting experience. Mr Trail Mix, in lieu of a traditional gift, is purchasing tickets to a sports event for each of one his groomsmen to attend with him.
This gift is cool for multiple reasons: Read more…
Mrs. Frog, Phoenix, AZ/Chelan, WA
Age and Occupation: 29, Public Relations
Fiance's Age and Occupation: 28, Online SalesEngagement Date: February 8, 2009Wedding Date: July 2010Venue: Amy's ManorAbout Me: I'm an opinionated Midwestern girl now living in the Valley of the Sun marrying a laid back Northwestern guy. I'm equal parts sass, silly and sweet. I'm fiercely loyal with a strong devotion to my family and friends. I have a not-so-secret obsession with apple juice, a new obsession with DIY projects and I love a really good cheese plate...with lots of wine. After 7 blissful years of dating, I'm having the time of my life planning the destination wedding of my dreams to my Mr. Frog-turned-Prince Charming.
It’s funny how many little things you don’t think about when you first start planning. One that you really cannot forget is to thank those wonderful friends who stood by your side throughout your courtship and were thrilled to have been invited to again stand by your side as you say I do. (Can I get an “awwwww”?)
If your groomsmen are anything like ours… a gift connected to alcohol will probably hit the spot (pun intended). And for those who are looking for something that won’t necessarily promote lushery—it’s my post and I say it’s a word—read on because each of these gifts can go double duty.
Mrs. Beagle, AustinAge and Occupation: 26, Electrical EngineerFiance's Age and Occupation: 28, FinanceEngagement Date: July 12, 2008Wedding Date: October 2009Venue: Church Ceremony/Reception at The Waterford HouseAbout Me: I am a true, but rare, Austinite---I was born, raised, and continue to live in this great city! Although
I am an engineer by day, I feed my inner creative side through crafting, sewing, and obsessing over Martha Stewart. I love coffee, my mister, NPR, and exploring all the nooks and crannies of Austin.
I can't wait to share my adventures in DIY and wedding planning with all of you!
I gave each of my bridesmaids a grey wrap, to keep them warm in case it was cool later in the evening. The color looked great with their purple dresses and I think it’s neutral enough for them to wear again:
I also decided to get them a piece of jewelry to wear, if they chose, on the big day. I was debating between earrings or a necklace and finally decided on a necklace. I purchased them all from Jeweled Blossoms (I purchased items from her shop prior to the wedding, so I knew her products were great). Again, I tried to choose an item that would both work with their dresses and would be something they could wear again. Read more…
Mrs. Scissors, LaGrange, GAAge and Occupation: 25, Photography & Graphic DesignFiance's Age and Occupation: 24, Engineering Grad StudentEngagement Date: January 1, 2009Wedding Date: June 2010Venue: Ceremony - First United Methodist Church; Reception - My parents' house!About Me: I’m a six-foot-three bride with a fifty-foot personality! I love great art, fabulous design, intense color, tons of music, indie photography, watching movies on repeat, and being really awesome. This super-tall, Southern, loud, quirky, neurotic artist is marrying a German, quiet, silly, super-amazing roboticist in an eclectic, funky, fun, snazzy, technicolored June wedding. Anything is game for this shindig, for it is all about us! We’re bringing giant paper cranes, six-foot-tall portraits, fortune cookies, a photo booth, a club-circuit DJ, handcuffs, and possibly a kidnapping to this small Southern town. Watch out, y’all, and try to keep up!
(This video in no way relates to the post, other than the fact that it says “boy.” And, well, is amazing.)
Bridal party gifts haven’t ever been a big question for us—we’ve known what we wanted to give our party members since the very beginning. Something that was important to us was that the gifts be fun, functional, and personalized.
I am under no impression that any of Mr. Scissors’ groomsmen read this stuff, but just for safety’s sake…
Everyone else may follow me after the jump. Read more…
Mrs. Moonbeam, Los Angeles/San AntonioAge and Occupation: 26, Intern ArchitectFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Studio Analyst, aspiring ScreenwriterEngagement Date: May 20, 2009Wedding Date: November 2009Venue: Our Lady of Grace Catholic Church (LaCoste, TX) and Mary Gray Events Center (Castroville, TX)About Me: I was born and raised in Texas, but after college I moved to Seattle for a couple of years and loved it. Then I followed my beau out here to LA and we're getting settled in. I've been making things since I can remember. I was raised by crafters. I love to sew, draw, paint, build, cook, bake (anything with a tangible end result is fair game). In that same spirit, I've been hosting since I was old enough to cook and set a fancy table. I kind of take after my grandmother, who believes that your morning OJ always tastes better out of the good crystal.
Mr. Moonbeam got his guys flasks with their initials monogrammed on them. It’s standard, I know, but the guys loved them and used them immediately. We picked ours up at Things Remembered.
Mrs. Cheeseburger, Baltimore, MD/State College, PAAge and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentFiance's Age and Occupation: 25, Medical StudentEngagement Date: June 28, 2008Wedding Date: March 2010Venue: Catholic Church Ceremony & Hotel ReceptionAbout Me: I'm a passionate girl from Pittsburgh, currently living in Baltimore for school, who loves Penn State, seeing movies, football, thunderstorms, black and white photos, Christmas, good beer, my amazing friends and family, and of course, my mister! We met, fell in love, got engaged, and will be married at our alma mater (go lions!) in a traditional Catholic ceremony followed by a hotel reception with lots of DIY details. It means so much to have our families and friends meet at our favorite place on earth to celebrate our love for one another - I truly couldn't ask for anything more!
Another thing Mr. Burger and I took care of recently was gifts for our bridal party! I’m going to hold off writing about the gifts for the girls for now, so we’ll all just have to settle for a post on groomsmen’s gifts!
We went shopping with the objective of finding ties for the guys (you see, they will be wearing tuxes, but no vests or ties from the shop - just regular old neckties). Remember, the girls are wearing a deep purple, and we figured that it would look great if the guys wore green ties.
Our official color green is sage, but we were looking for anything in the ballpark, really. It was important to Burger that we get “cool” ties - so any of the plain satin ones were out. After striking out at J.Crew, Banana, Kenneth Cole, and some generic “tie store” at the mall, we finally found the goods at Calvin Klein!
Mrs. Lamb, NorfolkAge and Occupation: 25, Homeland Security ConsultantFiance's Age and Occupation: 27, Graduate StudentEngagement Date: January 2009Wedding Date: January 2010Venue: Trinity Presbyterian Church/Harrison Opera HouseAbout Me: I’m a Homeland Security Consultant with a tendency towards pulling office pranks, taking lunch breaks, and drinking Wawa shakes. I’m also an English major with a serious obsession with alliteration and rhymes. While I’m not keeping America safe, I’m training for half marathons and the Escape from Alcatraz swim. Or moving for the third time this year. Or baking. Or wedding crafting. Or crying about wedding planning. All the while, I’m getting myself into Lucille Ball-esque scrapes and making Jim Carey-esque faces. Our big fat Czech/Baptist/Jewish/Italian wedding is a combination of vintage eclectic, DIY, and little spoonful of sugar from our Event Coordinator. It’s going to be a Norfolk flavored wedding with the verve of an only-daughter-blow-out bash!
Besides bouts, the other man accessory I love to love is the cuff link. Come to Momma, French shirt wearing man with cuff links and those detective suspenders holding his gov. issued weapon! Seriously.
Take a cold shower and join me again in the cuff link discussion. I saw Miss Bruschetta’s cuff link post and found some new inspiration for gifts for the men in my life. Because I’m certain the men in my life also don’t bother themselves to read wedding blogs (they’re adverse to throwing up in their mouths a little bit every time I say tulle, thermography, and centerpieces), I’m going to reveal the cuff links that I purchased for my dad and brother to wear.
Mrs. Stiletto, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit/FundraisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer and PhotographerEngagement Date: March 2, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The 19th Century ClubAbout Me: My fiance and I love living in the city of Chicago with our cats Basil and Linus, and vow to never move to the suburbs if we can possibly avoid it! We’ve poured ourselves into planning a wedding that reflects our personal style - modern and high contrast with a vintage twist. Blogging keeps me creative, baking keeps me happy, and grande nonfat no foam sugar free vanilla lattes keep me sane.
We’ve gone through a lot of gift ideas for the guys - we’ve considered ties, beer mugs/highball glasses and/or money clips, and even Chucks. But the mister just couldn’t decide, so we tabled the discussion for a while. Guy gifts are so hard… a lot of guys don’t wear ties or cufflinks regularly. We don’t want to gift them something that they wouldn’t really have a use for… that doesn’t feel very much like a gift!
Mr. S was looking online the other night for ideas, when he thought of the Flip video cameras. Small. Handy. Kind of fun. And a lot of people don’t have actual video cameras these days. They may record video through their phones and still cameras, but a Flip would be fun to have when you’re on vacation or somewhere you don’t really want to risk damaging your nice digital camera. So… enter the Flip!
Mrs. Glitter, Los AngelesAge and Occupation: 27, Research Consultant/WriterFiance's Age and Occupation: 29, AccountingEngagement Date: May 6, 2007Wedding Date: June, 2009Venue: Millenium Biltmore HotelAbout Me: I was born and raised in West Los Angeles, California. I spent eight years in the Northeast working and completing my education. Having split time between two sides of the country has given me a true appreciation for both coasts. It has also provided an overabundance of cross country drives, flights and long distance relationship fun/misery! I love my family, my doggy Emma, fabulous wine, Anthropologie, politics, reading, being outdoors, exploring new cities, and good movies! My fiance and I are complete opposites, but somehow we have managed to fall completely and hopelessly in love.
A while back, I wrote a post about how Mr. G selected my little brothers to be his best men. I was, and still am so touched by their close relationship to each other. Mr. G really wanted to get them gifts of appreciation and love for taking part in our wedding, but he kept coming up short. Leave it up to my mom (of all people!) to come up with the perfect idea.
Mrs. Crab Cake, Columbus, GAAge and Occupation: 25, Registered NurseFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Director of Education and Living History for a museumEngagement Date: April 6, 2008Wedding Date: June, 2009Blogging Since: November 26, 2008Venue: Holy Family Catholic Church, reception: National Infantry MuseumAbout Me: I'm a perfectionist trying to balance two jobs, motherhood, my craft obsession, and wedding planning. I am obsessed with all things wedding, especially creative ideas for saving money and DIY projects. A Southern Belle at heart, I love anything southern, especially sweet tea, grits, afternoon thunder storms, crab cakes, and good old Southern hospitality. Mr. Crab Cake and I are planning a vintage inspired wedding with tons of Southern flare (can y'all say that with a thick Southern drawl?).
So, those bags are from Target. And while we haven’t picked out gifts for our groomsmen yet, I was in love with those bags. They’re perfect for out of town bags, right?
I immediately ran to Target to find them, as they were on clearance.
Target was out of them! I didn’t think much of it, but Mr. CC was in love with them. I started brainstorming ways to recreate them. I purchased a couple kraft paper bags and designed a graphic. Then I tried to shove those bags through my printer. Read more…
Mrs. Stiletto, ChicagoAge and Occupation: 26, Non-Profit/FundraisingFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Engineer and PhotographerEngagement Date: March 2, 2008Wedding Date: September 2009Venue: The 19th Century ClubAbout Me: My fiance and I love living in the city of Chicago with our cats Basil and Linus, and vow to never move to the suburbs if we can possibly avoid it! We’ve poured ourselves into planning a wedding that reflects our personal style - modern and high contrast with a vintage twist. Blogging keeps me creative, baking keeps me happy, and grande nonfat no foam sugar free vanilla lattes keep me sane.
What to get for the men in the wedding? The bridesmaids are so easy because I’ll gift them their jewelry, plus a couple of other accessories/sentimental items. But you can’t be as sentimental with the guys. And with 5 groomsmen and 3 ushers, we definitely need to come up with some manly gifts.I was really surprised to find that Tiffany’s has crystal barware that we can actually afford! Wouldn’t paring one of these glasses with a small bottle of their favorite liquor or beer (depending on the guy’s drink of choice) be fun? Although something from Tiffany’s would probably be much more appreciated by the ladies than the guys, I assume that in general, unveiling Tiffany’s boxes should class up any rehearsal dinner, regardless of the recipients.
Mrs. Pinot Noir, New York/Napa ValleyAge and Occupation: 24, Health EducatorFiance's Age and Occupation: 31, Market ResearcherEngagement Date: November 10, 2007Wedding Date: October, 2008Blogging Since: June 25, 2008Venue: Auberge du SoleilAbout Me: I am a Minnesota raised, NYC transplant planning a destination wedding in Napa. I'm balancing my love for the environment and my hubby-to-be's love for tradition to create our "green wedding in disguise." Our wedding will include local food and wine, antique touches and lots of love and laughter. When wedding planning isn't taking up my free time (and money) I love to read, cook, workout, watch baseball and travel! Follow along in my adventure as I attempt to plan an eco-friendly and socially responsible wedding (with eco-oblivious Mr. Pinot Noir).
I love giving people gifts, and finding gifts to thank my favorite people was no different. Whenever I have the opportunity to buy a gift, I like to make eco-friendly choices. I think the best way to do this is to give “experiences” and “useable” items. These items don’t turn into clutter, then don’t get replaced, and they don’t end up in landfills. They are simply used and enjoyed.
Father PN
My dad loves coffee and he always buys Fair-Trade Certified, Organic, Shade-Grown coffee from his local co-op. The sound of the bean grinder and the smell of fresh coffee will forever remind me of my parents’ home. Our gift for my dad was a 4 month coffee subscription to Citizen Bean. Each month he will receive 1-lb of Fair Trade Certified, Organic Shade-Grown coffee in the mail. Citizen Bean only works with small batch roasters that are committed to sustainable practices. Even more, Citizen Bean gives a portion of each month’s sales to a charity selected by the featured roaster. I called Citizen Bean and spoke with the owner. He assured me that my dad wouldn’t receive any information until after the wedding. He even sent me the welcome card so that I could give it to my dad in person.
Mrs. Spring Roll, TampaAge and Occupation: 23, Certified Pharmacy TechnicianFiance's Age and Occupation: 26, Concert PhotographerEngagement Date: May 1, 2008Wedding Date: March 2009Blogging Since: September 16, 2008Venue: Beach Social HallAbout Me: I'm the stereotypical girl who enjoys sewing, baking, and decorating. I am blessed to share my life with Mr. Spring Roll and our two shih tzu's, Isabella and Gabriella. Hello Kitty, musicals, Target, and Chick-fil-a are a few of my favorite things. I have a fear of fish and Freddy Krueger. Planning our wedding has become a huge part of my life, and I love every minute of it!
While I have been very cautious regarding the budget for our wedding, I refused to cut corners on the gifts for our bridal party and family. It is important to me to give each person a gift that they appreciate, and to make them feel appreciated as well. I must say that picking out the gifts for the groomsmen was as easy as pie.
Mr. Spring Roll wanted to give each guy a flask, so I purchased flasks with their initials from The Knot’s wedding shop.
All-Inclusion Invitation Suites
Source: Amazon
Source: Tiffany & Co.
