Wedding Wednesday | DIY ‘Be My Bridesmaid’ Boxes

Much like sweets tables, personalized hangers, and mason jar everything, bridesmaid boxes appear to be a wedding trend created for and blown up by Pinterest. The rest of the interest has porn and cat videos, but Pinterest has compulsively re-pinned images of “easy” bridal tutorials and other nuptial-related must-haves you should “pin now, read later.”

I say that like I don’t eat it all up. Of course I do. Like… so, so much. My secret wedding planning boards feature more trends than my entire wardrobe and musical collection combined. Vintage brooches with old suitcases and birdcages and succulents? Yes, please!

But my favorite Pinterest-crazy wedding trend has to be the bridesmaid box. What a charming way to ask your lady-friends to buy a dress they might not want and keep you from getting too drunk. To be entirely honest, I could have scribbled “Bridesmaid?” with a permanent marker across a bottle of wine, and my ladies would have been equally pleased; but alas, I thought we ought to class things up a bit. Formalwear will be required, after all.

Here’s a peek at what I used to bribe my beautiful bridesmaids…

They’re very easy to make, and quite inexpensive.

Start with a box. Any will do, but an empty Birchbox is the perfect size.

Cover the logo with a decorative notecard, then stamp the person’s name onto it and apply stick-on gems. Looking classy already!

Stamp your question onto another notecard, then attach it to the inside of the lid.

Fill the box with decorations, such as confetti, tulle, tissue paper and party decor, like this miniature paper fan. Do everything festive you can think of, besides filling it with loose glitter — unless you’re hoping they decline your bridesmaid offer.

Now, add fun mini-gifts in your wedding colors; I went with makeup, candy, liquor, and jewelry. [One box was mailed to a bridesmaid, so I removed the alcohol, included eye shadow instead of nail polish, and wrapped the candy in plastic. I know you can ship nail polish because I’ve gotten nail polish in the mail before, but it seemed like more of a hassle and liability than a perk. Make sure to keep your gift appropriate for the person, especially if they live out-of-state!] I also included a bridesmaid/maid of honor button in each box, because they’re charming without the in-your-face obnoxiousness that comes along with rhinestone t-shirts. #sorrynotsorry

Hunt for inexpensive, colorful items for your boxes at the party store, dollar store, and drugstore, as well as on clearance racks and in holiday sections. And do not buy your miniature liquor bottles at the grocery or drugstore! Drag your bride-to-be-butt to an actual liquor store, where I found these for a fraction of the convenience-store price.

Now if only anyone knew what to drink Fruit Loop-flavored vodka with…