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Bridesmaid Gift Guide – Gift Ideas for your bridal party + BFF’s

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Those of you who follow me on Instagram Stories know that I saw my first Christmas Tree of the year (or do we call it a Chanukah Bush?!) in central London this week. What does that mean? It might just mean that the season of gift giving is just around the corner… and with the first night of Chanukah and Christmas Eve falling on exactly the same day this year, I thought it might be fun to do some gift guides. I’ll be curating my fave picks for you, your best girls, fiancà©(e), hubs, wife, newlyweds, and more!

Kicking off the series, I’m picking out the loveliest gifts for your bridesmaids, BFF’s, mothers, sisters, sister-from-another-mister… you get the gist — Happy shopping everyone!

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1. Personalized Champagne Flutes by Fox Blossom Co.  £13  //  2. Personalised bracelet by Monica Vinader from £85  //  3. Rotating Stamp & Ink Set by Kate Spade £20  //  4. Engraved Bridesmaid Bangle by Kate Spade  £50  //  5. In Bloom Book Collection by Rifle Paper Co.  £52  //  6. Personalised Bridesmaid Make Up Bag by Not On The High Street £12.50  //  7. Fujifilm Instax Mini 8 Instant Camera £65  //  8. Personalised ‘The Adventures Of’ Memory Book by Not On The High Street  £19  //  9. Alphabet pendant by Monica Vinader from £150  //  10. Baies Scented Candle by Diptyque £42  //  11. ‘Same Mistakes’ Pencil Case by Kate Spade  £24  //  12. Personalised watch by May28th  £18  //  13. Eat Cake for Breakfast Thermal Mug by Kate Spade  £16  //  14. Charm + Alphabet pendant by Litzi from £70  //  15. Monogram Nail Polish by Not On The High Street  £7  //  16. Birchbox 12 month subscription  £100  //  17. ‘Bridesmaid’ Tote Bag by Not On The High Street  £13  //  18. Engraved personalised pendant by Monica Vinader from £35  //  19. Personalised Monogram Framed Print by Not On The High Street  £49

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Real Jewish Brides: Choosing Our Wedding Stationery

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Right now, Alex and I are in that really fun stage of wedding planning. Meaning, our invitations have been mailed out (phew!) and we’re just now starting to receive our guests RSVP’s back in the mail. Which for whatever reason, makes wedding planning  that  much more exciting. (what is it about snail mail that’s so deliciously appealing?)

Currently, coming home to check the mail is my favorite part of the afternoon, and because of that, I thought I’d talk about the process of choosing our wedding stationary.  

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Save The Dates

This is essentially a piece of postage that formally alerts your friends and family, that at some point in the not-so-distant-future, they will be receiving an actual wedding invitation. An invitation for an invitation, if you will. Alex didn’t care much about it (or think it was necessary) so he let me take the lead on the design and the entire process. Which I was more than happy to do. The save-the-date is the first piece of tangible evidence that shows we are going to be wed (minus my engagement ring, of course)!  

I booked a quick 30 minute engagement shoot with a local DC photographer, and scheduled our shoot in Georgetown. It was a ridiculously cold morning in March, but at the end of the shoot, we had nearly 200 photos to choose from before we settled on the one we ended up using.  

I loved the various save-the-date options I found online, however the price and lack of flexibility of the designs offered was enough to steer me towards a DIY project. And that’s exactly what we did.

I browsed Etsy until I found something similar to my vision. I worked 1-on-1 with a designer who tweaked everything to my liking. She emailed me a template, which I then uploaded and printed it locally at a shop. 100 copies for just about $50 (not including postage or addressing labels).  

I was thrilled with how they came out. They were in the mail in the very beginning of April. Providing our guests with a full eight months of notice – which for destination weddings seems to be standard etiquette. Fast forward through the summer…

Save The Date

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Real Jewish Brides: How I selected all my wedding vendors in under 10 weeks

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DARA-INTRO-IMAGE
We got engaged in January, and within 10 weeks, I had booked  all  our wedding vendors. I know, I know. That seems super fast, and a lot of brides are curious to know how I made such quick decisions in such a little amount of time, so I’m here to share my secrets…..

To preface, Alex and I are tying the knot across the country (in the USA) from where we currently live (think 3,700+ km). Rather than having the luxury of meeting potential vendors in person over coffee, at their respective studios, as many brides do, it meant that I was left with word-of-mouth referrals, online reviews, and phone conversations as the sole resources to make my final decision.

To be perfectly honest, the only vendor I really cared about meeting in person was the photographer, and of course seeing the venue IRL (in real life). The biggest challenge, in my opinion, is pin pointing where you want the wedding to be. The venue! And it’s true with what they say — Once you have that locked down, the rest sort of falls in line.

Securing a venue gives you a date and a place. You literally cannot do anything without those two. Picking our venue was slightly overwhelming, but once we stepped foot on Tubac Golf Resort and Spa, we knew we hit the jackpot. As I said before, we loved everything about it, and it incorporated everything both Alex and I envisioned for our wedding. We signed our contract within a week of our return flight to Washington, DC. Boom! We had our venue.

OK, so moving onto the other vendors: photographer, cake baker, musicians, florist, and a wedding planner! Now that’s when the ten weeks of non-stop planning really began.

Luckily Tubac had a list of their preferred vendors, folks that are (1) reasonably priced, (2) familiar with the space, staff, and (3) previous brides had been happy with — all aspects are important to a bride-to-be. I used Tubacs preferred vendor list as a springboard in my hunt.  I decided to focus on one vendor category at a time, and went in the order of which vendors I booked.

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Wedding Planner

Before I began with anything else, I figured that I wanted to secure a wedding planner. Someone to assist not only the day-of, but also guide me through the planning stages.

I had two phone interviews with two women who had been in the business for a long, long time which is great. I wanted someone with years of experience under their belt. They were both wonderful, but one wasn’t available on our wedding date to assist with day-of coordination, and the other was highly recommended by Tubac. It was a no brainer. We hired Jeri, our wedding planner and moved on.

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8 Tips To Get The Most Out Of Your Wedding Photography

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How-to-get-the-most-out-of-your-wedding-photography
This is a guest post by Rob Clayton

A good wedding photographer should be able to take great photographs at any event, whatever the light, and whatever the circumstances. However, there are things that you, as the bride and groom, to help ensure you get the best possible images from your day

1. Do your research

Find a photographer whose work you love (not just like, but love!), meet up with him or her and make sure you’re the right fit for each other. And then trust them! If you love the photographer’s work, it will be much easier to trust them when they start taking unusual angles, or making seemingly peculiar requests, rather than you having to worry, ‘why are they doing that? Is that the best way to take this photograph or that? Etc’.

2. Discuss things with your photographer

Talk to your photographer about what you do and don’t like, and allow him or her to explain their methodology. This should give you reassurance on the day that there is a method and a purpose behind all their actions (which may not always be obvious).

3. Prepare a shot list

What you really don’t want to happen on your wedding day is to have to stand around thinking about exactly which combinations of people you want in the formal photographs (especially with all your guests stood around you!). A shot-list prepared in advance will not just take the worry away, but will ensure that the formal photographs can proceed smoothly without delay.

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4. Manage your expectations

Unrealistic expectations can only ever lead to disappointment. Your photographer should be able to help guide you in this respect, but just don’t expect the impossible. For example, if you only set aside a small window of opportunity in which to take the formal family photographs, and then produce a gigantic list to get through, it may just not be possible to do them all without re-arranging the timeline (not something the chef will be prepared to do, I can tell you now!).

An example I have had personally, was a request prior to the wedding to take some pictures of the bride and groom on a beach at sunset. The wedding was in Liverpool city centre. Some expectations are just harder to achieve than others.

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How To Build A Chuppah {DIY Tutorial}

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How-to-build-your-own-chuppah
My chuppah ideas page is one of the most popular pages on my Jewish wedding blog, and whilst it’s filled to the brim with chuppah inspiration, what’s missing from it is a DIY tutorial on how to build a beautiful chuppah yourself.

And what could be better than making your own chuppah? After all, the chuppah symbolises the home that you and your partner will build together during your marriage, and by making it yourselves, it will feel that much more special standing under it during your ceremony.

You needn’t worry if you’re not particularly green fingered or creative, as the fabulous Fiona from Revival Rooms has come up with a step-by-step guide for a stylish rustic alternative to the traditional Chuppah with a floral canopy which is genuinely breathtaking.

And the best part? It’s relatively simple to recreate… and cost-effective too!

Here’s Fiona’s step by step guide to building a chuppah.

How To Build A Chuppah_0445

What you’ll need

  • 4 Posts and bases
  • Sticks and twigs of various sizes
  • Soap and scrubbing brush
  • Cable ties
  • Chicken wire
  • Secateurs
  • 1mm thick wire
  • Step ladder
  • Flowers – we used white, lavender and purple Stocks and pink Lisianthus
  • Foliage – we used Eucalyptus and Willow

Before you start, it is important to have base poles for your Chuppah. We went to our local B&Q (a DIY supplies store), purchased 4 posts of our desired size, drilled holes into each bottom, and had base plates made at our local hardware shop. The floral canopy can become heavy and it’s important that you have sturdy enough posts to take the weight. Sticks and twigs just won’t be up for the job. Once you have your posts in place you are ready to begin!

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