Bridesmaids!!!

Bridesmaids Galore

Creative Ways to Make Your Favorite Ladies Feel Special!

Before I even met my wonderful fiance, I knew that whenever, and if ever I was to get married, I always wanted to have a lot of bridesmaids. When I started planning our special day, It was so hard to narrow the list down of amazing women I have in my life! So I came up with ten plus a couple. I have ten bridesmaids, 2 flower girls, and a few "honored guests". I saw a girl on Pinterest who made some beautiful bridesmaid boxes, so I can't claim all the credit for it (and I can't find the website again, so if it was you, thank you!!!), but I changed it up a little to fit my wedding. Here's what I came up with!

I got these wooden boxes at Hobby Lobby and left them raw, yet added a little floral stencil in one of my wedding colors. I also attached a paper card with their names on each box. I used the paper so that If they wanted to use the box later they could easily take off their name. 

I also added a little string of pearls to add a little extra feminine flair. 

In each box I put little knickknacks that represent our wedding theme as well as items the girls should wear. There was also little cards with instructions on each card. 

I didn't want to leave my flower girls out, so I made them a smaller box. 

I gave my girls their box during our bridesmaid luncheon. I was planning on using them on the table, but there wasn't quite enough room. I didd have enough room for these which is where my mom and I sat. Hobby Lobby too! 

The place I had my luncheon was great! It's a little dessert cafe in West Jordan, UT. "The Chocolate" allows you to bring in your own food and just asks that you rent the room for $20.00, and spend $40.00 in dessert. Well that was easy! They have the cutest setup and they even had fresh flowers. Just make sure you call and make a reservation before you plan on any dates with your girls. I think that since we had our luncheon, one of my bridesmaids has gone in to do her collage homework while getting a hotchocolate. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the free wifi! 

One of the best desserts at "The Chocolate" is this cake! And how perfect is it that it's called "The Husband" The lady working cut it and helped us serve it. YUMMMY!!! (I might have to go get another piece.) We pre-ordered this cake, which would probably be a good idea to do if you're thinking about going, because "The Husband" sells out fast! 

I make chicken salad sandwiches, popped open a bag of some yummy salt and pepper chips, a couple strawberries as well as sparkling cucumber water, from Harmon's Grocery Store that I had chilled (it was definitely an acquired taste.) "The Chocolate" provides ice water and I brought a gallon of milk which we poured into their teacups to accompany the cake. I let them take home their teacups, their boxes, and their vase and fresh cut tulip from my parents yard. I got the paper doilies, soap roses, plates and napkins from the dollar store, and the teacups from Savers! 

 And what to do with all these invitations? Easy! Guilt my bridesmaids into coming over after to put them all together! Beautiful Wedding Announcements in Riverton, UT was a great place to go! They're priced pretty reasonably, and we had them address our envelopes and score everything so it was pretty quick for us to do! 

And I have a great Photographer who knows how to photograph photographs! 

Amber Shaw from Amber Shaw Photography has been great! Can't wait for her to take pics on our big day! Six days to go!!!

P.S. We also gave our grandmas a necklace to wear on our special day and our grandpas and my fiance's mom's husband a chocolate brown tie. I can't wait to see everyone!!! 

Another P.S. I have no idea if anyone actually cares about my blog. I might have 1 follower?  I think I do it more for myself. This one was designed for other people to read! So if you'd like me to keep sharing crap like this, you should follow me. Or something. 

The Story Of My Wedding Ring

It’s funny how the major moments in your life cause you to write in your journal. It’s also crazy how it’s easier to blog than journal. I will someday be good at journaling, but until then, I’ll have to blog. Yesterday was one of those days.

I got to the Johnson Mill in Heber to take my bridals. It was a beautiful place and I chose it because I fell in love with the idea of bridals in a canoe. The very first thing I did was climb in the canoe, slightly afraid I’d tip in my big beautiful dress. As my photographer held the edge of the boat for me to get in, I grabbed the side and felt my wedding ring slip off my finger and into the lake. Mortified.

Everyone thought I was joking. The lake was not deep, so we thought we were in luck. The only problem was that there were three or more feet of silt at the bottom and one little movement would stir it all up.

I had no choice but to smile through my bridals as so many people searched. My dad even drove all the way back to South Jordan to get flashlights, a pool net, a shop vac, swimming suits, wet suits, anything he could think of.

No luck with the flashlights, so we had no choice but to start scooping silt. It was too thick to sift, so we put it on the bank of the lake and everyone started searching. The smell was horrendous. Rotten eggs to the max and most likely a lot of poo. Still no luck. My dad thought it would be good to dredge the piles and piles of silt with water and hopefully the ring would rinse though it.  It worked, but for all we knew, the ring could still be in the lake.

I’ve had nightmares that I’ve lost my ring, the diamonds fall out or something, but this was far worse due to several factors, one of which, sifting through this horrible, poo smelling silt. I decided it was time to text Jackson and tell him the bad news when they found it! An honest to goodness miracle! I sobbed and sobbed. And I sobbed.

I understand that a diamond ring is simply that. It’s a ring. The world would continue to turn if I had not found it. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a symbol of Jackson’s love to me and mine to him. And now it’s even more than that. It’s a memory. It’s the beauty of seeing the good in people. It’s seeing my little sister on her knees in a wet suit, ready to take the next step of getting in a cold, smelly lake. It’s my mom shooing away swans so it wouldn’t end up in one of their bellies, It’s my dad, driving distances and rubbing my back to comfort me. It represents that mankind is good, that strangers would sift through grime and spend hours and hours to help someone they don’t even know. It’s the power of prayer and the knowledge that God knows your heart even if he knows its not about the value.

I wish there was some way I could properly thank all the people who helped me yesterday. Thank you Jackson, for loving me if I had not been able to find it. Thank you Amber Shaw, for keeping me calm and having me smile through it. Thank you Mom, for your consoling words. Thank you Hannah, for helping me laugh, Amelia for being determined, Dad for going to the ends of the earth and for having faith, to Sarah and Stacy for your prayers off site, and to all the amazing people at Johnson Mill, for searching through mud and giving me your entire Friday evening. And thank you God, for giving me all these people, when I needed them most. 

You'd think that they were happy, but I think my sisters smile in shock.