Remembering Your Bachelor

Weddings are supposed to be all about the couple, but let’s keep it real: its mostly about the ladies.  So when my friend P. told me about this great little project she’s putting together for her groom’s bachelor party, I was so excited!  I don’t exactly know what to call it, so let’s just call it bachelor party care packages…

Here’s what she’s including:

Step 1: Custom T Shirts

P. went to Custom Ink and designed shirts:

Preview courtesy of custom ink!

She included the image of a car because the guys are driving to Atlantic City in vintage sports cars as a tribute to her car-loving guy.  She also went in blue and orange, which are classic Porsche racing colors.  Cute right?  I’m sure it would be easy to come up with a similar image to suit any bachelor party theme without much work.  You could easily do this for even less money by buying iron-on printable transfers and making them on your home printer.

Step 2: Custom Ribbon

PrintMyRibbon.com's version

P. is making special ribbon to wrap around each T shirt.  The ribbon will say “Please take care of [Fiance].”  Sure you could pay someone like PrintMyRibbon.com to do this and it would look good, but she’s going to use paint pens and regular old ribbon.  Genius right?

Step 3: Add Necessities

P. is tying Tums and Excedrin onto each bow to complete the care package.  Because we all know our men generally go out and do all kinds of crazy dumb things at bachelor parties (from what I hear, the poor bachlor usually is the best-behaved and it’s the groomsmen who go wild, but what do I know, I’m sure they’re all fibbing.  Ahem…)  In any event, I think they’ll appreciate the pain relief the next morning.

Tum tum tum tum...

Step 4: Fake Mustaches

Villainous Hairy Mustaches, $4.99 per dozen!

I don’t really think I need to explain why adding these is a great idea.  P. found hers on Oriental Trading and got 20% plus free shipping with a $20 purchase using an online coupon.  These will go in cello bags with the other “Necessities.”

Do you love this idea as much as I do?  What would you include?

Bridal Party Swag: The Groomsmen

Like most couples, J. and I wanted to give our bridal party members a little something to say “thank you” for being a part of our day.  And though I had created some cute Christmas ornaments for everyone, I couldn’t just stop there.  But the problem for us was that so many of our guy-friends are already married, and also our groomsmen are not all the same age (I have a 16 year old brother) so the traditional beer mugs or T shirts didn’t really fit- or had been done already.  So J. and I shopped around and found some other goodies for everyone.  Ultimately, we decided to give everyone a few fun things- things we thought everyone would like- instead of just one big gift.  And personally, I think they came out great.  Here’s the goods:

(1) Monogrammed silver cufflinks from Groom Stand to wear with their tuxes (J. once received these at a wedding and loved them, so we decided to gift them too).  The guys really loved them!

I love the art deco font on these.

(2) Shaving supplies from The Art of Shaving (This was hands down, the thing everyone was most excited about- to my pleasant surprise!  These little kits retail for $25, and inside is a $25 gift card for the store where the guys can go buy more!)

We went the fragrance-free route, just in case anyone has sensitive skin.

(3) A good book (this isn’t the exact book, but it’s close enough)

Perfect for hotel room reading.

(4) And socks for those tuxes.  Of course for the socks, I had to get some DIY action in, so I took basic black socks (check your dollar store for inexpensive ones) and put belly-bands on them.  I also added labels that say “In Case Anyone Gets Cold Feet…” which is not an original idea, but it did turn out cute!  Now, the groomsmen were maybe less excited about these than me, but they did wear them!

The stars of the show- special socks.

Detail shot!

Everything was wrapped in gold paper with green ribbon, and placed in white gift bags purchased at Paper Mart in bulk.  To dress up the bags and help us keep them straight, I wrote each person’s name on their bag using rub-on transfer letters in gold.  And some green tissue completed the look.

The whole gift!

What would you give your groomsmen?

Bridal Party Swag: Christmas Ornaments!

How on earth can one have a Christmas wedding without Christmas ornaments?  Not possible, I tell you.  So early in the planning process, I started the research to figure out how I’d make some for our bridal party gifts.  Initially I thought I would purchase and decorate plain ornaments but in April, they were somewhat difficult to find.  But you know what isn’t hard to find?  Christmas clearance at Crate and Barrel, and CB2!  Pottery Barn also had some cute sale ornaments, but CB2 definitely had the most affordable options- the only concern was making sure I purchased something with a vintage enough vibe.

So when I stumbled upon these blown glass cuties at CB2 for $.50 apiece, I immediately snapped up 30 of them.  And to my surprise, the arrived individually packaged in perfect square boxes!  So I got to work getting them gift-ready.  I ordered green paint pens and coordinating ribbon from JoAnne , and then I wrote our names and the dates on each piece, adding a heart later after deciding it needed a heart.  It was not as easy as it looks to use paint pens on ornaments… but the great thing about paint pens is that you can use a wet paper towel to wipe off paint and then re-do it if you have to.  And so 5 nights and two cramped hands later, we had these!

I love how cute the scrolled decoration is!

While the ornaments had originally come wrapped in plastic, I decided to re-wrap them in coordinating green tissue, and then I placed them back in their boxes.  But that wasn’t good enough for me.  Oh no, it was April and I was not yet oversaturated with “wedding” so I kept going.  I wrapped the boxes in gold paper (from the Christmas Tree shop, where I bought 10 rolls for $1.99 apiece!) and used green ribbon (purchased on clearance from Michael’s for $1 per roll), and sealed the ribbon using a white embossed sticker with our monogram.

Ta-Da!

So the total cost for this project, even with shipping costs and gift wrap, came in at about $30 for 30 ornaments.  Which was perfect, since we still wanted to give other goodies to our bridal party.  Stay tuned to see what they got!!

Thanks Mr. Postman!

Last Friday I came home to the most wonderful surprise in my mail.  A package from my bridesmaid S.’s mother, who made our wedding boutonnieres.  I had initially considered making these myself after seeing so many great non-floral bout’s on etsy, but when S. suggested her mother might be able to help out I jumped at the chance.  S’s mother did the floral elements for S.’s sister’s wedding, and they had been gorgeous, so I knew she’d do a much better job than I ever could.  And she really did deliver!

Just look at these delicate fabric roses which she handmade- and the amazing lace “leaves,” not to mention the extra touch of bling.  I am in love!  And who knows if the groomsmen will actually keep these as a keepsake but it sure is nice to know it’s an option.  J. and I will, of course, be keeping his.  This is just so personal and special, I am so excited about how they came out!!

oooooh

ahhhhhh

Thanks S.’s mom!!

Groomsmen Gift Idea: Pens

If you’re like me, you find the typical groomsmen gifts kind of lame.  Well, ok, not exactly lame, but it seems that the whole world assumes that groomsmen are primarily interested in drinking, hence the prevalence of personalized beer mug options for gift giving.  Not that there is anything wrong with giving beer mugs- they can be fun and personal in the right context, and J. and I love putting his in the freezer for cold drinks- but what if your groomsmen are no longer in their 20’s or aren’t necessarily enthralled with the glory of drinking anymore?  Or what if you have so many friends who are already married, that the beer mugs have already been done?  And of course, one’s next options are typically golf related (again, not a bad idea if appropriate, but not everyone loves golf).

So when my friend B. told me about his groomsmens’ gifts, I totally loved them!  B.’s groomsmen are, much like ours, mostly professionals out there in the “real world” who live in NYC and don’t have room for much clutter.  And so I thought these pens were a terriffic idea for a gift!

The Roller Pen from the Cross Townsend Collection

B. Purchased these at Joon New York and he received a considerable discount just by talking to them about his plan.  Using his finely tuned Fordham negotiation skills (which anyone can use), he basically said he would either be buying five pens or zero, depending on whether the price was right.  Needless to say, the store worked with B. and he got these great pens to give as gifts.  He’s planning to have them engraved with each groomsman’s name and job title, where applicable.

I have to say, I think this is a stellar gift idea.  I myself have received some good pens as gifts, and I even wrote my bar exam essays with such a gift (a gorgeous pen gifted for graduation from a family I used to babysit for- I used it for good luck, and I think it worked).  People always forget about pens, but I think even bridesmaids might like to receive one!

Free beer mug image courtesy of FreeFoto.com

Boutonniere Love

My friend S. has a very talented mom, who is going to help out with the wedding by making boutonniere’s for our guys.  Originally, I had considered traditional flowers for the bout’s, but when I saw all the good things happening on etsy, I changed my mind!  J. liked them too, so it was an easy decision.  I mean seriously, check these out!

Outfitting the Men

When J. and I first started planning our wedding, we envisioned a not-too-formal affair, maybe a destination wedding, something that would allow us to avoid renting tuxedos. Not that we dislike tuxes, we do like them! But ill-fitted tuxedos are bad news bears, and sadly, all too prevalent in our worlds.

Soon it became apparent, however, that our informal, backyard vision was not going to happen. Rather, we settled on a Holiday wedding in December. Our vision of an intimate chapel turned out not available to us, so we went with a stunning larger church who could accommodate our group. And the colors we chose, moss green and gold, were more gatsby than casual.

We reconsidered the tuxes. After all, both my FSIL and my good friend H. had found some seriously good looking tuxes for their weddings. The photos were lovely, and I’d never even thought about the fact that the tuxes had been rented- this was a good sign!

I got online and began fiddling with the Men’s Warehouse website. Did you know MW has a free tool where you can select up to six types of fabric swatches (for the vests) and they will send them to you in the mail? Sounds good right? Except when you get them in the mail, they are not fabric at all- they send you a piece of paper with the computer images printed on the paper. I was not impressed.

But we didn’t want to rule out MW yet, since they seem to be located everywhere, and our bridal party is basically also located everywhere. To be responsible, J. and I went and visited our local MW. Although we were surrounded by cheesy marketing, and although 90% of their tuxes were not exactly our taste, we did end up finding a nice looking tux that J. looked great in. And we were treated well by the employee who helped us. She was extremely patient and good-natured and I appreciated that she let me pour over all of the fabrics and samples repeatedly, without pressuring us for a choice!

The tuxes our guys will be rocking, sans all the pink…

While MW did not have a huge selection of vests to choose from, we got really lucky because they make a vest in a color called Fern, which looks very olive here but was more moss in real life. It was a solid choice, and the fabric was of surprisingly good quality (and here I’d been expecting them to feel like umbrella fabric)!

The vests!

J. will be wearing the same pattern vest in ivory, and I think he’s going to look great! Of course, the proof will be in the pudding and we won’t know for sure until we get them, but I think the moral of the story is that even brides like me who want to avoid stereotypical wedding vendors, sometimes have to cave. And sometimes its worth it!

And PS- MW gives the groom his tux for free if five groomsmen rent there. Pretty good incentive if you ask me.

Were you surprised by any of your wedding decisions?