askin' my maids.

It's fair to say that I've known who my bridesmaids would be since I was about ten. My bestest friend Becky...the free-spirited ying to my very awkward yang. My loving older sister Dana...the voice of practicality, and yet as understanding as can be. And friends-since-Kindergarten Roundup girl Andrea...a friendship over two decades in the making.

But here was my issue: two of the three girls lived seven states away. Given how very much they mean to me, I didn't want to lame out and send a text saying, "Will U B My B-maid????". 

So, I did this.

I fetched myself three unfinished Cigar boxes from JoAnn's...shelfprice of about $8 a piece. But, with three trips with weekly 40% off coupons, I saved myself a cool $10. Then, I busted out some paints: a sweet cream and blue bahama.

The outside of the box got two to three coats of light ivory to cover up the natural wood aura, and inside was treated to one layer of ivory, too. After that dried up, I attacked the inside lid with a pencil, attempting to freehand  this bracket shape. Turned out easier than I thought it would! (However, if you're frightened to freehand, you can easily find + print a tracing template online.) I slathered the inside lid with my favorite hue: a seafoamy aqua. One coat was enough.

In a perfect world, I would have painted "be my maid?" on the inside lid...but my hand isn't the steadiest with a paintbrush, and I knew I'd never achieve the look I was going for. So, I fell back on a few sets of playfully calligraphic adhesive letters.

To keep everything in place, I rocked two coats of satin varnish...even over the letters. It gave it a nice sheen, and I was significantly less stressed about my sending my maids a giant sliver waiting to happen.

Then it was time to tackle the contents. The bottoms got lined with vintage handkerchiefs, which were passed to me years ago by a family friend. I've been storing them...just waiting for my someday wedding. They were the perfect pop of color I was going for!

(Click to enlarge if you're interested in the details!)

I wanted to lay out all the details about our wedding, so the girls would know everything up front. Two packs of scalloped A6 postcards did the trick...I laid out my info in Word, making sure each postcard was progressively longer, allowing me to cut, then bundle them as seen in a prior photo. 

In these cards, was totally honest with the girls: more than anything in the world, I want them to feel beautiful on my big day. I explained that they'd be selecting their own gowns, something that they felt lovely + comfortable in. 

I also tackled the "role" of bridemaid, and what it meant to me: it doesn't mean someone who plans a shower, a bachelorette party, buys me some ridiculous gift or tags along to every wedding-related appointment for the next year. Truly, I don't want any of those things! Their role is to know that I love them, how much I've appreciated their presence in my life, and that I couldn't imagine the biggest day of my life without them next to me every step of the way. I'm honored to have their friendship and love. In short: wear a bangin' dress, wipe away my tears and have an amazing time.

Since each girl will be selecting her own dress, I threw in a few paint chips. My color palette is wide: anything in a light blue, aqua or seafoam hue is grand with me. I also threw in a few inspiration photos so they'd really get where I was going with the mismatched dress thing...and not think I've taken up cocaine. Because my biggest wedding fear is financially stressing out someone we love, we included that lil' polka dot envelope with a Visa gift card. I want my girls to be emotionally and financially stress-free. :)

All told, I gotta be honest: This project was a little time consuming...from shopping to painting to printing to mailing, it was an investment of about two hours a box. But since I'm being honest, it was worth every second. The girls loved them, and I feel like I really gave them a sense of what our wedding's about, as well as how much they're appreciated.

Plus, it was a good baby step into the absolute mound of DIY wedding projects I have planned. :)