Thanking Your Bridesmaids, Post Production

In all likelihood, your bridal party comprises of your closest friends and family. Even more likely, these are the women who have supported and helped you at just about every turn of the wedding process: the planning, organising, panicking, laughing, crying, and, of course, eating involved in wedding planning.  Many brides choose to give a more formal recognition of their thanks to their bridesmaids, so we’ve compiled a list of gifts worthy of these amazing women.

Like any other gift, your gifts to your maid of honour/ bridesmaids can take two forms: the experiential or the physical. You might like to stick to one category or mix it up, depending on your and your bridesmaids personalities. You should also consider if you want your gifts to vary- do you want each bridesmaid to have a slightly different present? Should everyone have the same thing? Or should only the maid of honour receive a seperate present? There are no right or wrong approaches, so let your imagination run free.

Experience- Based Gifts

These tend to be popular as they capitalise on the event itself, as well as the time spent bonding (yep, it’s perfectly acceptable to buy this gift for yourself, too!)

Some of these include:

• A day at the spa, or simply
• One of the services a spa offers, such as a mani, pedi, massage or facial
• A special meal at one of your favourite restaurants
• A catered picnic (many catering companies provide this very service to your specifications)
• A day at a theme park
• A morning/ afternoon/ evening cruise
• Cocktail night (though if this is a gift, this means you’ll have to foot the bill)
• Gold Class cinema tickets
• Tickets to any type of concert (music, musical, play, dance)
• A one-off art, cookery or dance class

Physical Gifts

These are  tokens by which your bridesmaids can remember the event-  and your gratitude- forevermore. Some of the most traditional gifts include:

• Personalised towels or linen
• Personalised stationary
• Personalised luggage
• Jewellery (engraving is a popular choice here)
• A gift subscription to a favourite magazine

Some less traditional- though equally useful, beautiful and acceptable- include:

• Any pampering items, such as body washes or scrubs, bath bombs, nail polishes etc.
• A special item for the home, such as a piece of art
• A framed picture of all bridesmaids together
• Their favourite DVD (leave a personalised note for extra happiness) with some popcorn
• A book they’ll love (again, sign and date the book with a note to add some sentimental value)
• Luxury coffee, chocolate, wine, pate or cheese
• Or the longlasting version of the same idea: a wine rack, French press, cheese platter and accompanying knives, or serving dishes and cutlery

Money tight? Or just feeling particularly creative or sentimental? Go the DIY route. This will depend on your personal interests and talents, but some options include:

• A personalised scrapbook
• A ‘pamper pack’, personalised to suit each bridesmaid individually
• A simple photo collage
• Bake them some of their favourite foods! Desserts with those for a sweet tooth, and a variety of mini- appetisers for those without, perhaps?
• Ingredients presented in a care-pack for their favorite food, with an included note (Note: layering the ingredients in a clear jar looks beautiful)
• Packs of seeds to plan in their gardens
• A deck of ’52 Reasons Why I Love You’ cards

Ultimately, there are as many gift ideas as there are brides and bridesmaids. What is important is not how much you have spent on your gifts- it’s that you’ve taken the time to consider your bridesmaids and what they mean to you, and show them in a way that they’ll be able to treasure forever.