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Hopefully next week I’ll be able to share the wedding I was lucky enough to capture over Valentine’s day weekend. But for now, since it’s on my mind I thought I’d discuss the contributions of the little ones in your wedding: the rinbearer(s) and flowergirl(s), and for some of you, Jr. attendants such as a Jr. Bridesmaid or Jr. Groomsmen.
We knew instantly who we wanted to ask to be part of our wedding in this capacity. Ryan has some gorgeous little cousins of whom we attend regular birthday parties and have spend many hours playing hide-and-seek with at family gatherings. I was a bit hesitant to ask their parents if all three of them could be in the wedding due to the expenses involved, but we didn’t feel right not asking them all. Luckily everyone agreed and it’s been a lot of fun thinking of things for them to wear and do.
I remember when I was about their age, and I was asked to be a flower-girl at my uncle’s wedding. I was SO excited, as a kid, you feel so special, as if the day is actually about you. It is important to recognize that while they may seem like a more minor part of the day, their parents are contributing a lot of time and in some cases money to make your vision what you want. So don’t forget the little guys. Include them in everything you can, because after-all, they are a part of your wedding party. Besides, who doesn’t love watching a little kid who has all the attention on them?!
We asked them to be in our wedding shortly after we got engaged. I found these awesome tins to make it a special day to remember.
By now you probably know about my infatuation with ETSY. Thats where these little guys live, here at this shop: ExQuisiteInVitations
I also did a little googling and found children’s books about ringbearers and flowergirls for them to read (and stickers, kids love stickers 😉 ). Sometimes we forget that while the kids may be excited to do this, they probably don’t understand what it is they are going to be doing! They were a great hit!
We decided that our flower-girl would do the traditional routine of tossing petals on the isle. However, I totally didn’t want a traditional flower-girl basket like the ones you can buy almost anywhere. They are stark white and all look the same. While at hobby lobby (which if you’ve never been you NEED to go!) one day I found a fabric pattern that I loved, AND it was 60& off! I bought about a yard of the fabric for $1.50. I figured I could line a basket with it, AND make a ring-bearer pillow to match. During the same shopping trip, I found a cute little rustic looking basket that was 50% off. It ended up being $3.50. How can you beat that?! This is what I came up with….
And for the ring-bearer pillow, as I mentioned, I used the same fabric. I just purchased, (50% off) some ribbon to complete the look. I had some buttons in my craft drawers to use, and I really just kinda played it by ear when making it. I am pretty happy with the turn out:
I still have some fabric left over. So total for the basket and the pillow, I think my total would come to about $6.00 or so! Can’t beat that!
We gave the boys’ parents the option of either getting fitted for a tux like the rest of the guys, or just wearing some shorts and a nice shirt. They decided to go with the tux. We are providing the ties as part of their gift. I can’t get over how cute they are! I found these bad boys on ETSY as well:
They can be found here: TheBellandtheBeau
And shortly after the boys got fitted for their outfits, our flower-girl wanted to know what she got to wear? I wanted her to love her outfit and feel like a special little princess. So I wanted her to be a big part in picking out her outfit. I also didn’t want her mom to have to spend a fortune. So I had oringally thought that we would go looking for dresses around Easter this year because the colors would be right, and everything would be on sale. However, while I’ve had some down time I had some time to search for some online. I was pleasantly surprised to find some adorable dresses at reasonable prices. I send them a few choices, all from pinkmarie.com:
I had my favorite one, but I liked them all, so I was okay with letting her choose. She ended up deciding on this one:
WHICH I LOVE!! I think it is adorable!! We were trying to think of how to tie a little purple into it, however I think it will be fine because there will be touches of green throughout the wedding party. I ended up buying her an adorable headband that combined the colors:
I love it! I got it off of my good friend ETSY as well! This girl seriously rocks, I bought a lot of stuff from her, including my garter, and all my bridal party’s jewelry, and some awesome brooches for my ushers; check out her shop here: LoveOwlEyes.
*****A little helping hint: when buying many items from a seller on Etsy, don’t hesitate to ask if they will offer you a discount! I know, I know, its not my style to do such a thing either, but when you’re on a budget, you have to do what you have to do. I have bought much more than just the a fore mentioned on Etsy for the wedding and I never hesitated to ask when I was buying multiples. And I was lucky every-time. All the sellers were able to do a little something for me!******
****Also, DONT BUY ANYTHING THAT ISN’T ON SALE! Most stores, especially craft stores have a new sale every week. AND they often rotate the items on sale. If you need fun paper and it’s not on sale this week, it will most likely be next week or the next.****
Finally, to top of her look I got her some pearls. I am wearing my grandma’s pearl necklace that she got from my grandpa for their engagement. He bought it while he was oversees for a war, and I am so touched that she offered to let me wear it 🙂 She even got it restrung, *tear*.
Also, all my bridesmaids will be wearing an ivory flower in their hair, so I got my flower-girl one too, incase she wanted to wear it like the big girls. I actually got them at Claire’s in the mall. I believe they were $2.50 each, because they were buy one get one, regularly $5.00. That totally beats $10-$50 a piece that I’ve seen them for!
Now I’m psyched to share the rest of my Etsy finds!! But it will have to wait for another week because that’s all I’ve got for today. Hope you’ve enjoyed!
Cheers!
