One of the most exciting parts of starting the wedding planning process has been selecting my bridesmaids and preparing to ask them to be part of the wedding. I have been blessed to have so many wonderful friends in my life that it was hard to narrow it down. Every member of my bridal party is so important to me, and I wanted them to feel incredibly special when I asked them to be part of the big day. More than anything, I wanted my bridesmaid proposals to stand for my love for my friends and how excited I am to celebrate together.
Once the process of proposing came along, I went back and forth for weeks. There are so many ways to propose to your bridesmaids. You can host a brunch; you can send everyone flowers or wine; you can put together an elaborate box; or you can just give them a call. Since my friends are spread out all over the world, I wanted to be able to send them something special. I looked into personalized wine bottles, personalized travel bags, and a million different boxed proposals.
In the end, almost everything I found was horribly cheesy. I’m really not the kind of bride who wants all these “bride squad” items, and I wanted my bridesmaids to actually USE the things I sent. Because of this, I decided to DIY Italian-themed bridesmaid proposals. Since we are having a destination wedding, it felt right to put together a box that would get my bridal party excited to join us in Tuscany.
Below is a list of everything that went into the Italian-themed bridesmaid proposals. I was able to give a few of the boxes in person, and everyone said they loved them. I’m personally so happy with how they turned out and could tell my bridal party was already excited for the big day.
Xx, Kelsey
Custom boxes – I ordered boxes with everyone’s name on them for that personalized-feel. I really loved how the script on these boxes didn’t feel cheesy. They were also very high quality.
Vintage postcards – Since I have five bridesmaids and one bridesmate, I didn’t want cards in my boxes that asked them to be bridesmaids, specifically. In the end, I decided to use vintage postcards of Florence, which added to the Italian theme and allowed me to write a very personal note for each of my friends on the back.
Italy sleep masks – Since most of my bridal party will have a long flight to join us in Tuscany, I found these adorable sleep masks that said “Wake me in Italy.”
Personalized passport holders – No one in my bridal party is Italian, so they’ll all be carrying their passports when they arrive for the wedding. I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of these pebbled leather holders and was able to add initials to each.
Italian candy (EU) – Each proposal contained two boxes of Italian candies. I picked up an assortment of flavors from Aperol spritz to Amarena cherry.
Prosecco – Is it an Italian-themed bridesmaid proposal without prosecco? Mini bottles fit perfectly into the proposal, and I sent a full-size bottle to my Maid of Honor.
Custom champagne flutes – Since so many other items in the proposals had names or initials on them, I decided to do something very Italian on the champagne flutes. Salute is the Italian word for cheers and felt very appropriate.
