DIY: Bridesmaid Invite Boxes

Happy Monday, friends! Oh what a fun weekend it was for us... we had our best friends Ashley and Justin in town with their little nugget Annalee from Dallas to spend the weekend with us. We stayed up way too late, had breakfast casserole and mimosas the next morning, stayed up way too late again the next night - I felt 19 again! It was SO fun, we miss them so much. The weekend was even more special, because I asked Ashley to be my Matron of Honor.

From the moment I met Ashley, back in 2010, before she and Justin were even engaged, I LOVED her! She is like an older sister to me, and we just click when it comes to about anything. I could always go to her for advice and call her at 2am if I needed her, everyone needs a friend like this! But that isn't the only reason why I asked her to be MOH. Justin and Ashley have a relationship that is truly special, inspiring, and REAL. They have a love for each other that I admire, and I believe that when it comes to having a Matron of Honor, it is someone who is wise in their ways , who knows the beauty and hardships of marriage, and is an example... and that's what she and Justin are to us. Scott also asked Justin to be a groomsmen! It was a wonderful moment that I will never forget. Cue tears! I just love our Gamboa family.

Bridal Boxes

Over the past few months, I had seen some Pinterest Ideas (can be the worst and best thing while planning a wedding FYI!) about how to ask your bridesmaids formally to stand by you on your wedding day. I really liked the concept of a keepsake box for future use, but a lot of the colors made me cringe and I definitely didn't want to buy them all on Etsy it just would get way too pricey! SO I decided to make my own with inspirations of the colors of the wedding. 

We are having an outdoor spring wedding, and I wanted to incorporate a rustic, Texas feel mixed with antique/vintage accents. As I'm not the biggest fan of the trendy mint and coral look, I like the softer pallets of it. Like a sage color, succulents, mixed with baby's breath and soft peach colors with ivory and lace. So I had an idea of what I wanted when I went to pick up supplies.

I don't call myself a crafter, in fact a lot of DIY projects just scare me and I'd MUCH rather just buy the darn things, but since this was a meaningful gift I wanted it to be special. I went to Joanns and picked up the following:

3 Cigar Boxes - Unfinished

3 Picture Keepsake Boxes - Unfinished
A Couple Yards of Lace Fabric
1 Set of Peach Ribbon
1 Set of Mint Ribbon (They didn't have sage but it came out looking pretty!)
3 Sets of Mint Decor Flowers, Lace Decor Flowers, and Peach Decor Flowers (2 or 3 packs)
1 Pack of Foam Brushes

By the way, everything was from 25-50% off at the store, I couldn't believe it seeing my receipt, it was so cost friendly!

They did not have stains at Joanns so I stopped by Home Depot on the way home and got an English Rustic stain. I had never stained before so I was really nervous but OMG I love it! It is SO easy!! My Maid of Honor Suzy and I stained the boxes together with a few cocktails. SO fun!

I "wing'd" it when it came to decorating the outside of the boxes. I have 6 bridesmaids, so I saved the picture keepsake boxes for the Maid of Honor, MOH Jr, and Matron of Honor, and decorated the cigar boxes for my other ladies.

I really love the way that they turned out. All I needed was a glue stick, a glue gun, and some random creative ideas I'd get each time I did a new box. I downloaded a free printable from WeddingChicks.com for the "Will you be my?" and also wrote each bridesmaid a personalized note with a picture.

I filled the boxes with little tissue crinkles I got from HEB for about $1, and this is what I put in the box: 

Mini Champagne Bottle

Body Scrub
2 Perfumes
Nail Polish
Blingy Necklace
Ferrero Rocher Chocolates
Will You Be My Bridesmaid Cardstock
Letter to the Bridesmaid
Picture of us

I can say that this was SO fun for me to do, and meant so much to each Bridesmaid. I love these ladies so much and I wanted them to feel special and I think I did just that! Now for Raelyn, our little Flower Girl... she is about to be 3 years old, and so I what I did for her was a frame with a little poem, to be replaced with a picture of us together on my wedding day, her in her beautiful little gown she'll be in. I had 2 leftover flowers from my crafting so I hotglued them to a frame I already had, did the poem and decor on ribbet.com and printed it out as a 4x6 to fit in the frame. When Helen read it to Raelyn it was the sweetest thing!

So that's it! I still haven't given my Maid of Honors (Yes I have two, childhood friend and little sister) theirs because there is still some brainstorming and something else special I am wanting to do for them.

How did you ask your bridesmaids to stand by you on your big day or how do you plan to? I want to know! :-)