The Best Bridesmaid Gift Bags and Shower Weekend Details
When one of my best friends of all time (since middle school!) announced that she was getting married, I’m almost embarrassed to say that my immediate reaction was: “Dibs on the Bridal Shower!” Even before I thought of a congratulations response, I knew I had to have that Bridal Shower. I love, love, love showers. They’re such special little events that you can easily customize to your Guest of Honor’s exact style. Since they’re usually on the smaller side, it’s fun to go ‘all out’ on all the little details that make an event truly special. Some of my favorite aspects, of any event, are gift bags and favors. I don’t know what it is about them, but I go absolutely nuts for a themed gift bag.
We decided to combine the Bridal Shower and Bachelorette Party into one epic weekend. The bride wanted everything held in her current town, Kansas City. And since most of the bridesmaids don’t live in Kansas City, we were planning from afar. Of course, Covid didn’t help matters either. We wanted to adhere to all CDC guidelines–holding it outdoors, keeping the guest list small, face masks, individual small bites, etc. We ended up renting a cute little Airbnb cabin in Kansas City that had a great outdoor space, complete with a little waterfall out back! Thankfully, the weather was perfect and everything went according to plan. To thank the other bridesmaids for all their hard work, I put together these gift bags.
I couldn’t leave the bride out of the fun, so she got her own gift bag too. I included all the things we’d need over the weekend, whether it was for lounging or going out:
- House Slippers
- “To Have and To Hold…Your Hair Back” Hair Ties
- Heart-Shaped Sunglasses
- Bridal Koozie
- “Fun” Straw
- Blowfish Hangover Tablets
- Set of Big Fluffy Eyelashes–since we were going to a social-distanced Drag show for her Bachelorette Party.
- Personalized Mask–since the Bride’s name is Mallory, and she loves a good pun, we dubbed the entire weekend “Holy MAL-trimony.” And I basically printed that on anything that didn’t move.
LINKS: Slippers, Hair Ties, Sunglasses, Blowfish, Eyelashes
TIP: When thinking about what to include in any themed gift bag, always think of what people would want before, during, and after participating in the activities of the event. Family reunion weekend and there’s a hike involved? Bottle of water, trail mix, and a cute sweat band with the weekend’s logo printed on. Thanking the other PTSA parents for chaperoning a field trip you organized to the apple orchard? Apple slicer, cute reusable produce bag, and ear plugs.
Speaking of logos, one of my favorite things to do for any event is create personalized touches like invitations, gift bags, tags, signs, etc. that incorporate pictures of the Guest of Honor. The older and more embarrassing the photos, the better. This is one of Mal’s official “Senior Pictures,” and while it’s definitely not embarrassing, it’s still just so 2003 and has always cracked me up in a really sweet way. I actually carried this picture, along with several other close friends’ Senior pics, for years and years after high school in my wallet.
Creating stuff like this couldn’t be easier these days. I use a super simple (and free!) graphic design program called Canva. I can’t recommend Canva enough [canva.com]. It’s incredibly user-friendly and you will become obsessed with it. You just upload photos and then drag and drop where you want things using their free templates, shapes, clip art, fonts, etc. Then download, print, and look like a complete baller at any event you’re hosting. It’s magic.
Print your Canva creation with a color printer and attach to gift bags—first with a glue stick, and then with fun washi tape at the top and bottom.
Can you believe I made this backdrop in Kentucky and then rolled it up and flew with it in a checked bag? There were several “questionable” things for the Bachelorette Party in that checked bag. I kept reminding myself that American Airlines has surely seen worse than a piñata banner and some bachelorette-themed straws (wink!) Or at least, that’s what I was banking on.
I fell in love with all the piñata-style party back drops I’ve seen lately on Pinterest and decided I had to try my hand at one for Mal’s Bridal Shower. It is crazy easy and not nearly as time consuming as you’d think. You only need plastic chicken fencing from Amazon and strips of plastic tablecloth in various colors. I picked her favorite bright colors and made sure to include lots of hunter green—which is going to be a big color in her wedding. So, it was like a little nod to the wedding itself. I bought the rose gold balloons at a local party supply store.
One of the best things about this backdrop is how easy it is to move around. Since it’s made of plastic tablecloths, it’s super light. We used good ol’ Command Strip hooks to display it outside for the Bridal Shower and then moved it indoors for the Bachelorette games. It was a trooper in both spots.
Going through a bunch of old photos of Mal gave me an idea for a Bridal Shower game. I framed and numbered eight photos of Mal, all at various ages and stages of life (childhood dance pics, awkward teen years) and put a couple in the middle of each table. Guests were given a sheet of paper to guess the year of each picture. It was a fun little game that led to some entertaining conversations and also served as table decor. Win win!
