This post first started out as what I just got the girls in their get ready bags, but then it turned into what we also got our parents, and now it also includes what we got each other, so really this is just an all-encompassing post of every gift we gave during the wedding lol. Enjoy!
For the Girls: One of my main goals throughout the gift-giving of the wedding (especially for my girls) was to give them things I own, love, and use often. Just like with the bachelorette gifts and welcome bags for the wedding party, I wanted to get them things I knew they would like (and hopefully cherish and use after the wedding!).
My MOH was my sister and the only true "bridesmaid" since she's the only one who stood for me. But (I feel like I've mentioned this 10000 times so sorry if you've heard it before!) since we had a small wedding we didn't do our full party. If we did, all the girls at the wedding would have been standing with me, so I just treated them as such!!
Barrington Gifts Cosmetic Case c/o: Back in like 2017 (lol), I did a post with Barrington and happened to buy this cosmetic bag to showcase. Little did I know at the time I would become OBSESSED with it and use it literally every day for the next two+ years... Makeup is bulky as hell, and I was never able to find a cosmetic case that would fit everything. That is until this bag.
I can't even start to tell you how much this bag can hold AND how sturdy the zipper (and entire case) is. Trust me, I fill it past the breaking point, and it has never let me down. I knew that out of everything I wanted to give the girls at the wedding, it had to be this!
Going with the theme of getting them things they'd use forever... I wanted to each get them something custom for them vs. getting everyone the same thing and hoping they love it. That's another reason why I loved this idea -- because I was able to customize each one for each girl specific to their taste. I kind of lucked out though that they had this print (geometric) in so many options -- actually just enough for me to pick one out for each girl! It ended up being the perfect way to give everyone their individual gift but also making it have a theme!
I was visiting my sister last weekend in Atlanta, and I saw she was using (and living out of lol) the cosmetic bag just like I do, and we talked for like 5 minutes about how much we love it, and it made me really happy!
Roberta Roller Rabbit PJ Set / Long sleeve version here (also here and here) c/o: There will be a longer post about these on their own (that is linked here)!! But just a quick mention + link for now :) Oh! And here is my kimono.
Dudley Stephens Tote, Waterbottle + Shawl c/o: The girls at Dudley Stephens totally surprised me with these gifts, and I was over the moon with them! It worked out well that everyone got a bag for their extra goodies and a water bottle for their room. But the BIG hit was the shawls. They knew everyone would be wearing white, so they sent us each a white fleece shawl. And WOW, it's fantastic.
It's super soft, just like their fleece's, and it was SO WARM. We didn't need them during the day, but they were actually amazing for our dinner since it was outside. All the girls were able to bundle up underneath and kept warm without issue. Such a good gift -- especially for the holidays! Add it to your list!!
Lisi Lerch Earrings c/o: Another amazing company I work with, Lisi Lerch, has become one of my all-time favorite earring brands! They sent me a few for my wedding, and I asked if we could get some for the girls too. I had the girls wear whatever they wanted to the wedding itself, but I also wanted to give them options in terms of jewelry if they wanted something new and fun to wear!
For the MOH/Best Man:For my sister, I gave her her gift the night before the wedding. She stayed with me in my room (just like I did for her wedding), and we were up late talking and just doing sister stuff. So I decided it was the best moment to give her her gift and I ended up splurging a little (but I love her so much!!) on a pair of Chanel earrings that she's wanted for so long. The look on her face when she opened the box made it all worth it. I don't think she took them off the whole week!!
For John, Andrew's best man, he got him a really nice custom golf bag with his name on it! He surprised him with it during a round of golf a few weeks prior.
For our parents: So I have some photos from the photographer, but I didn't really want to share them here as they're a bit more personal to us and our parents aren't really public people. I don't mind sharing my parents on here as much, but I didn't want to just throw up photos of my in-laws without them knowing. So instead, we're just going to share bullet points below!
Mom's PJ Set: These are pictured above! I knew they'd both be more comfortable in long sleeve sets, so I found these from Target (was originally thinking these from Nordstrom, but my mom tried them on in-store and said they were so hot!) and they were perfect.
My Mom: For our moms, we wanted to get them both something they could wear to the wedding. And it worked out to get jewelry -- specifically sapphire jewelry (to be in theme with my ring and earrings) -- since both moms were wearing navy. As the big gift to the girls, I got them all tennis bracelets (post about that at a later date), and I wanted to do the same for the moms.
But both my mom and Andrews's mom already own that, so we ran into a hiccup. Thankfully my mom has an all diamond bracelet, so we instead found her a sapphire bracelet and gave that to her for her present. She loved it, and the good news is that she can pass it down to me whenever she wants lol.
My MIL: She, like my mom, is a big jewelry person. She also loves sapphire (same) but has a sapphire engagement ring, earrings, and tennis bracelet already, so she was a little more difficult. I had her show me her collection (sneakily of course) a couple months before the wedding and was asking some poignant questions. Turns out, she wasn't in love with her earrings, so we found a pair of the gorgeous tiered drop earrings that she was able to wear at the wedding.
My Dad: My dad is a big cyclist and so we ended up creating a custom bike jersey for him with our wedding print on it. He's a hard one to shop for, so I think we kind of nailed it. He ended up going for a ride around the island the next day and wore his jersey.
My FIL: We got him a new iPad as he's been using his old one (from like 2012) that just does not work. We laugh about it all the time, so we finally got him a new one that he ended up using that night to write the rest of his speech.
For Each Other:
To Andrew: So Andrew's family has traced back his dad's side to Gurnsey Island, and I thought, because it's us, to get him a trip to Gurnsey. See, Andrew is not a material kind of guy, so buying presents for him -- especially one this big -- is hard! He didn't want any of the traditional stuff like a watch or cufflinks, so instead, I gave him the gift we love to give: travel.
I originally planned it New Years with some girlfriends of mine, but it wasn't until like May of this year that he mentioned Gurnsey was on his bucket list, but he would want to go with his parents. So that weekend, I let them in on the gift and asked them to join us. They were ecstatic and of course, said yes, so we're looking to go next May with his parents and sister. The gift itself was the airline tickets for the two of us and the hotel stay (which is our norm when we give travel -- not that anyone asked but just wanted to clear it up lol).
I actually gave his gift via a Jeopardy quiz I made with his sister and her husband. Andrew played that game while I was getting ready, and the final question's answer was Gurnsey. So once he got it right, a note was passed to him from me that said what better way to become a LeRay then to go to where it all started. We're all really excited about the trip!
To Me: Andrew, in return, got me a custom Lightship Basket. They are locally known to Nantucket, and we were visiting the island a few years back and went to the Lightship Basket Museum one day, and I just fell in love with their history and look and mentioned how I'd love to have one, one day. They are usually passed down generation to generation but, hey! it has to start somewhere, right??
So he had one hand made for me and gave it to me clean, so I would be able to custom design the scrimshaw on the top and the nameplate inside. I think we're going to do a blue and white painting of the house we got married in! I wanted it to be something unique and personal to our wedding, and this was the perfect gift!
#Wedding
