Spoil Your Wedding Party with These Bridesmaid Gift Ideas
For most of us, the people that we invite to take part in our wedding day on an intimate level are those people that receive an invitation to be a part of the wedding party. These are presumably the most important people in our lives - our best friends, brothers, sisters, extended family members, or mentors. We want them by our side as we take our very important vows. Asking them to be involved is super exciting for everyone! Bridal party responsibilities can include anything and everything that helps ensure your wedding day runs smoothly. Traditionally, many brides and groom couples want to thank them for that.
Let’s focus on the bridesmaids. Bridesmaid gifts can include a whole range of fun and interesting ideas. You may have been to weddings in the past that handled this aspect of the wedding party more like a task that needed to be completed rather than an opportunity to really say thank you and give something that creates a memory. Perhaps an engraved wine glass or a flask…
Bridesmaid gifts can include things like jewelry, monogrammed clothing, custom-label wine, and other keepsakes. Some brides-to-be have a specific item in mind for each person in their party that shares a special love between them. But for the most part, the bride and groom are selecting something that may resonate with everyone in the group, then sharing that with them. Perhaps a favorite item loved by the bride or groom that they want each person to own.
How Much Should You Spend on Gifts?
In the United States, tradition has evolved over the years specifically with the millennial generation. The giving of bridesmaid gifts has not always been customary. Generations ago, the bride used to be expected to pay for all wedding party expenses, so additional gifts were not the norm. The larger the wedding party, the more well-to-do the bride was as size reflected the status of wealth. Though the idea that the more you pay for, the more it costs still applies today - it doesn’t necessarily indicate wealth or ability to pay. If you’re already paying for your wedding party’s dresses and other expenses, don’t feel bad about not providing gifts. It can be a lot.
Today, however, most bridesmaids pay for their wedding expenses and their dresses. In fact, this is a consideration for most people today in whether to accept the invitation to be in someone's wedding party. After all, it could include the expense of travel, a bachelorette party, professional wedding makeup and hair, shoes, hotel rooms, etc, etc. Gifts have become more customary now because of the financial commitment and time the wedding party members have given leading up to the big day, so makes sense to extend thankfulness.
So if this is your wedding party (and it probably is) then gifts are a great way to show gratitude. This really shows that the bride appreciates and cares for the bridal party.
What To Get For Bridal Party Gifts
Modern-day brides-to-be really value experiences over things. And when they value things, they value their favorite brands over keepsakes and trinkets. Or, they may find value in ‘things’ that lead to experiences. So we’ve put together our list of the Top Five things to give your wedding party as bridesmaid gifts.
Sunless Tanning Packages
This one is in the experience category. Sunless tanning has become a common expense that many bridesmaids take on when participating in a wedding party. In fact, some brides will not only purchase sunless tanning packages for themselves but also introduce a skincare routine from an advanced esthetician to ensure that perfect glow. For brides looking to bring an experience to their wedding party, a trip to a sunless tanning spot is an amazing day party. Since it’s typically recommended that you do a pre-skincare treatment and a post tan clothing dress-down, this can literally become a full day of girl time for the entire wedding party that is all about relaxation.
How do you perfect this day? If the bride is looking to pay for and provide something that she and her crew will remember for years to come, here’s our best advice…
Book group sunless tanning packages for a day leading up to the wedding day.
Provide pre-tan products and instruction for skin prep to make it fun.
Show up together and have a blast getting your sunless tanning applications.
Bring the wedding party back to your place for charcuterie, champagne, and to revel in your experiences together.
*** Have a bigger budget? Book a private lunch at your favorite restaurants for everyone after your tan.
Speaking of the perfect glow, where should you go for your tan? The top sunless tanning experience in the country is a little place called goGLOW. goGLOW was awarded Allure Magazine’s “Best of Beauty” recognition with this comment: goGLOW has elevated a 'spray tan service' into a professional skin service, winning numerous nation-wide awards in the making.”.
goGLOW is a Minneapolis-based company. You can book your appointments at their Edina, Maple Grove, and Burnsville locations. They also have a location in Chicago. But what if you don’t live in Minneapolis or Chicago? That shouldn’t stop you from enjoying the sunless tan products that help prepare your skin for the experience and also extend the life of your tan after you’ve had it done. They ship nationally and can aid in any sunless tanning experience.
Designer Handbag Gifts
We’ve seen this one become more popular! It falls into the ‘thing’ category but again can create an experience with your wedding party on the day of the big event. Brides that love to bestow beautiful things on their bridesmaids love to give the gift of designer handbags. One way to give this gift and have it make a lot of sense is to integrate it into the bridesmaid attire. Many brides today do not dictate what dress their wedding party needs to wear so much as what color or style they must have to fit the overall theme. So gifting a handbag to everyone that suits their needs for the day will serve as a single accessory element that ties everyone’s look together.
What type of handbag should you consider buying? Well… a crossbody bag makes a lot of sense for a wedding day. Your crew can carry it with a strap for the day’s activities and remove the strap for the wedding or the evening reception. One of our favorite handbag brands is Moda Endrizzi.
Get luxury leather goods at a great price! Endrizzi luxury handbags are handmade in Florence Italy by some of the same people that are producing bags that you may know, such as Tom Ford, Jean Paul Gaultier, Roberto Cavalli, and Louis Vuitton. They offer classic designs and are also local to Minneapolis. Want to know how your favorite bags are made? Endrizzi educates us in their article “How Are Designer Handbags Made?”.
Bridesmaid Robes
Another squelching trend these days is to outfit your wedding party in bridesmaid robes. This one also fits into the ‘thing’ category but also satisfies the experiential piece of being together in matching robes. We commonly see this in the early hours of the wedding day while bridal hair and makeup artists are on-site. One national company that offers both bridesmaid robes and bridal robes is called Pretty Plum Sugar.
A WPI wedding party in bridesmaid robes
Lasting memories are what it’s all about, specifically for today’s bride. The day of raging bachelorette/bachelor parties until the wee hours of the night is fading as today’s couples are finding more value in relationship-building experiences with the important people in their life. The Knot Wedding network also published a great guide about bridesmaid robes your squad will love. Check it out!
Wedding Day Hair & Makeup
Of course, beauty is on the list and there is no better wedding day beauty solution than yours truly - WarPaint International Beauty Agency. Giving the gift of bridesmaid hair and makeup can really make the day special and super fun for everyone involved.
The below images were taken by the very talented Shane Long Photography for WPI Beauty bride, Greta.
Many brides often wonder if they should contract a professional beauty agency for their wedding day beauty services. While our answer is biased, we can not encourage you enough to weigh out the differences between hiring a single freelance artist that you may like vs. working with an agency that has processes in place for you and for your wedding party. This can help curate a wedding day experience for everyone that is really memorable. Beyond that, some of the benefits that come from working with professional beauty agencies are:
Background checks. At WarPaint International, our entire staff goes through national background check with Trusted Employees. Though we’re focused on luxury and excellence in hair and makeup artistry, our main priority is the safety of you and your wedding party, and your personal things inside of your private spaces. After all, you invite us into your homes, your churches, and your venues.
Contracts written by attorneys. Protect yourself. You may view a contract as red tape when hiring beauty services, but inside of that contract, you should see some performance guarantees. “What happens if… my artist gets hit by the proverbial bus”. A freelancer will have to cancel. An agency will replace your Artisan with notes and trial images so that you can simply continue with your day rather than have a five-alarm emergency. We have personally helped dozens of brides already this year in this exact situation or who in some cases lost their artist due to a better opportunity. This is all too common.
Large teams. This one goes hand-in-hand with the above. Having a pool of Artists that all work for the same team, that are trained to the team timelines, and have same-standard practices makes your day go extremely smooth. The potential for headache and worry from your beauty professionals will be little to none. Also, if you have a large party, you can likely be accommodated without having to source multiple people, which also can introduce challenges on-site on the day of your event.
WarPaint International books brides in Minneapolis, Chicago, New York City, and Jacksonville Florida. We have experience with thousands of brides for a flawless wedding day beauty service.
Silk Pillow Cases
You may not have thought of this one, but it really makes a lot of sense for your bridal party. Today, women are very personally aware of their beauty and sleep routines. Some women put a lot of thought and financial resources into their hair care routine and part of that will require that they only wash their hair on certain days of the week. So how do you keep your bedhead from snarling up all that hair?
Image: Justpeachy.co
Enter silk pillowcases. Let’s review the benefits… One can not deny the luxurious feel of resting your head on silk, but besides that, you can expect these benefits as well:
Wrinkle prevention. Sleep creases on your face will be a thing of the past. And sometimes they can hurt! Of course, those sleep creases may eventually disappear as the day goes on, but it turns out that repeated compression and creasing of the face during sleep can turn into permanent wrinkles over time.
Skin-soothing relief. Silk offers numerous benefits for your skin. Other than avoiding a sleep crease from forming, those with sensitive skin or delicate facial skin, acne, eczema, or other irritated or inflammatory skin conditions may be especially aided by the smooth fabric. Overall, those that sleep on silk often report less irritation, relief from itching, and reduced inflammation. Sign us up!
Smoother, healthier hair. This is the one we’re after. How do you help keep your hair routine in check when you have full head of long hair? Silk pillowcases ladies, silk pillowcases. Because silk is naturally smoother than other fabrics, such as cotton, resting your locks on a silk pillowcase reduces the friction of any tossing and turning that occurs while you sleep. This provides many benefits for a healthier head of hair, including fewer tangles, less breakage, and reduced frizz.
Hydrated skin. Natural silk fibers repel moisture more effectively than other fabrics. So rather than soaking up all the hydration in your skin, a silk pillowcase can help you retain it. This, in turn, can make your nighttime skincare products all the more effective.
If this sounds wonderful to you, it’s not too hard to find some great options. Companies like Blissy and Night pillowcases offer great products at reasonable prices.
