Little boys and little girls..

How are you going to thank your little helpers for giving their (somewhat) helping hand during the big day? After all, they are the cute factor of the wedding… you can’t not have something special prepared for them right?

I found this area especially hard because I wasn’t really thinking specifically about which little kids would fill the spot. I know who we’d potentially have as our Ring bearer, but we aren’t planning on going the flower girl route. Even thinking about the ring bearer, It was harder to find something decent for them… Besides an engraved whistle (no thanks) and a silver plated yoyo… there wasn’t much choice around here.

You want to try to keep the personal feel throughout the gift, also throw in a couple things YOU KNOW the kids would love.

So I put together a little mock list of potential ideas.. and here’s what I was thinking…

Flower girls:
Canvas tote bag (take out your fabric paints and Bedazllers ladies!!)
Dress up Paper Doll Book (personally, I loved this as a kid!)
Little baggy filled with personalized M&Ms of her fave colors
Little silver Jewellery box (engraved to add that special touch)
Cute little earrings or engraved personalized Charm Bracelet

Ring bearers:
Wicked cool Backpack (You can let your hubby pick it out.. he knows what’s cool)
Juggling balls (in a special tin)
Little bag filled personalized M&Ms of his fave colors
Little boy watch (to attach to his belt loop)
baseball jersey/bat set (personalized of course) with matching hat
Small Lego set (to keep him busy while everyone is running around)

I was pondering the idea of coloring books and pencils and a set of markers.. but there is a risk factor that isn’t 100% kiddie full proof. You don’t want to have to scramble around at the last minute if your ring bearer thinks it’s funny to draw on your flower girl's dress.. oh yeah… believe it or not, it’s happened!! (Rule #1, ALWAYS keep a Tide stick close... in case)

I really liked the idea of Fleece blankets as well. Go to Old Navy for these (they always have pretty funky colors and at a great price you can't go wrong) or have it specially ordered with their initials on it for that special touch.

FindGift.com also had a great box gift set with miniature pops, sweets & gadgets for the kids.

Oh.. one site I was looking at today suggested engraved paperweights for the ring bearers… honestly?? What does a 6 year old boy need a paper weight with his name engraved on it for??? It’ll end up being launched at his parents when he’s not happy… not so good!!

If you still have no clue where to start, here are great tips listed on Bridal people :

Ask the parents for clues and ideas, chances are they will know exactly what to get the kids.

If that fails, take them out for a “Ring bearer”/ “Flower girl” day of fun! This can count as your gift by treating them to an activity packed day! If you still plan on giving them a gift, this is also a great way to find out more about their likes and dislikes. Should make your job easier in the long run.

The last thing to remember is to make them feel like they are an important part of your day. Don’t forget to have fun. Kids love to feel special too, they will always remember your wedding as being the coolest they've ever been to.

Include your pets..

By Invitation Only Design via Etsy

I was browsing Etsy this afternoon, and I decided to look up local shops. One by one I checked them out and this particular image stuck out. By Invite Only Design is a stationary custom design business specializing in creative wedding invitations and more.

What a great idea!! I was trying to figure out a way to include our little guy in the wedding (when the time comes.. not yet) This is probably at the top of the doggy idea list. Table numbers with photos of our four legged furry friend.

Truly love this.

I {heart} Kate & Clifton

Holy Double Matrimony by Kate* via flickr

Around this time last year, I was browsing flickr for photobooth themed wedding invites for inspiration. I wasn’t looking for anything specific but any type of idea would have been good at the time.

Then, I stumbled onto this…

Double weddings aren’t very common where I come from, and it’s not necessarily the first thing that comes to mind for wedding shindigs either. Brides seem to have it ingrained in their heads that it’s supposed to be “HER” special day. Well, technically you are sharing it with the groom and technically it’s “YOUR” special day.. if you catch my drift. So.. while you’re at it, why not make it Double the fun??

In Comes this double matrimony extravaganza… there is so much detail and personal touch in everything! From the handmade buttons right down to the table cloths (made by Kate’s mother), everything is beautiful.

The reason for the double matrimony?

we are all friends, and all of our friends live spread apart...so we decided to
save some money and some money for our friends and get married at the same time!
(quote via Kate* )

They made it a theme…

Kate, documented her wedding prep on flickr by posting photos and adding clever captions through the different stages of planning. When I first saw this set, I absolutely loved all these ideas. I was quick to print them out and stick them in my scrapbook of lovelies for safe keeping.

I’m not sure if I could stomach the work that went into this project, but it is brilliant to see the stages of prep during and after all the final details were in place.

1200 photo strips were printed, cut BY HAND… (lots of paper cuts come to mind?) and Gocco’d over with both sets of the Bride and Grooms' names. (After printing behind 150 of the strips, they decided maybe printing on top of the strip would work much better.. oh boy, did it ever!)
They also printed over handkerchiefs by ironing fabric to wax paper and then cutting them down to individual squares to fit into a laser printer for a great Double Matrimony design they created. The result are pretty impressive!

The RSVPs are my fave part of the project. The colors, page layout and text wording just blew me away. The pink and orange card stock made the gold gocco paints really pop off the page. (The double cake graphic is to die for) The invitations are simple, yet seriously awesome. In this case, less really is more! Again, the gold lettering makes this set work. Everything in this package ties together so wonderfully. It has a very vintagy/moderny feel to it.

After everything was done, the invitations were assembled (like a little press pack if you will) and placed in plastic see-through envelopes ready to be sent out to guests.

500 handmade designer wedding buttons, 175 personalized music CDs and stacks of beautiful programs later, PERFECTION!!

See it for yourself...