Will You Be My Bridesmaid

One of the things I was excited about after getting engaged was asking my bridesmaids to be part of my wedding.  Pinterest has so many great ideas, it's really easy to find 1,000 ways to ask some of your best girls to be a part of your big day!  I must have seen an idea for the card I made on T.V. because I could not find it anywhere on pinterest!  I needed to up making a "rough draft" of the card since I was just going off a picture in my head.  It ended up being really easy and cute, so I went to work on the real thing!  I wanted the front of the card to have a 3-D affect with a "bridesmaid" dress and the girls' name.  Then on the inside I wanted it to say inflate above a balloon.  When the girls would blow up the balloon it would say Be my bridesmaid?! I LOVED the way they turned out and the girls all seemed to really like it!  It was a fun and exciting, but inexpensive way to ask the girls to a part of our special day!

Materials:

• Cardstock
• Glue
• Tape
• Xacto Knife
• Tulle
• Backing paper 
• Scrap booking paper with a fun pattern
• Twine
• Balloon
• Computer 
• Printer

First, I designed my card template on my computer using Microsoft Word.  I just picked fonts that I liked from my computer.  The fonts I used I download from da font, a free font website.  (The font I used is Simon Script.  It's free to download and use for personal use.)  I turned my page to landscape and added two columns.  Then I put the name one of my bridesmaid on the top of the left column.  All you do next is insert a page break and add the word inflate at the top of the left page.  When you go to print take all but one piece of paper out of the printer and print one side, then place your paper back in remembering to turn your paper over so it will print on the opposite side.  I highly recommend printing a practice sheet or two to make sure you print it correctly and that your spacing in your word document is to your liking.

After you print them out either draw or trace your skirt onto your card.  I went on google images and printed out a dress template I liked.  I cut it right at the waistline so I had a bust a skirt. 

Once you trace the skirt use your xacto knife to cut it out.

Trace your bust onto your scrapbook paper, cut it out, and glue it on top of your "skirt-hole" if you will. Haha!

Cut a length of tulle (I think I did about 12 inches or so), fold it in half and accordion fold it.  Then tape it on the inside of the card right above that "skirt-hole".  

Then cover your taped tulle with your backing paper.  I used a thicker grey piece of scrap booking paper.  Cut the paper to size so that it's a little bit bigger than the area the tulle covers and tape it on.  I tried gluing it first but the tape holds better.

I got my idea for the balloon from this pinterest post.  I blew up my balloon, twisted the bottom, and held it with a chip clip so I could write on it and then deflate it (which I saw on this pin-where they did save the dates on balloons! SO FUN!).  Make sure you use an oil based sharpie to write on the balloon! 

 *I practice this on Dollar Store balloons which worked great- then bought the all pink ones from Walmart and for some reason the writing dried and flaked off, luckily they were still read-able.  I also noticed the Walmart balloons remained kind of stretched out after I deflated them.  I'm not sure why but the Dollar Store ones worked great so I would suggest using those!

All you need to do now is deflated the balloon, cut two one inch slits in the paper under the word inflate, string a piece of twine through the slits and tie your balloon to it!

I wasn't going to be able to see all my girls at once, so I needed to mail some of my cards.  I made DIY envelopes out of scrap booking paper I had at home.  This post will give you all the directions you need to DIY your own cards.  I just printed out the addresses from a Microsoft Word doc. using the same fonts in the card so they match! Then I cut and glued them on the card.  Make sure you bring your cards to the post office to mail because they might weigh a bit more so you'll need an extra stamp!

That's it! It's really easy and for the most part fool-proof! The hardest part for me was adjusting my spacing for the printed card! The rest was smooth sailing!  I bought one fun patterned scrap booking paper and one backing piece of paper from Michael's and it was enough for 7 cards.  You'll need one piece of cardstock per card and one piece of paper for each envelope you need.  You can get all the supplies you need from Michaels, amazon, or walmart!

Hope you found this post helpful! Happy asking! :)

**I decided to DIY my own save the dates and invitations, so I made my bridesmaid cards to match those-but you totally don't have it! They're super cute no matter how you choose to do it!

Feyonce

Chris and I started dating six years ago when we were seniors at college.  We moved in together, then 2 years later bought a house together!  We're currently in the process of slowly fixing it up and making it our own.  

---Fast Forward---

April 11, 2015 I got one of the best surprises of my life! Chris had already surprised me with a puppy, Dagney, the previous month (I know--he's amazing and I'm SO lucky! <3) and I'm obsessed with her and want to bring her everywhere.  

This included wanting to bring her on our "date" Chris planned to celebrate my last few days before my teacher spring break was over. Chris found the Witherspoon Grill where Dagney could be with us on the patio while we ate and drank (mmm mojitos!).  I popped in to use the bathroom before our next stop, a nearby park for a walk with the pup! While I was in the bathroom, my sneaky man switched the dog tag unbeknownst to me.

When walking in the park we came to a cute bench surrounded by trees when Chris brought to my attention that he thought Dagney’s dog tag was messed up.  Although I assured him that the tag was fine, he insisted I look at it.  When I bent down to check it I noticed the new writing on the back. “Will you marry my daddy?  Please say yes! He loves you so much!”  Truth be told, I only got through “will you marry” before the realization and tears hit.  As I turned around, Chris was down on one knee with the most beautiful ring shining in the sunlight proposing to me!  Overcome with happiness, instead of saying yes, I said “thank you!” quickly followed by a yes!  As we hugged and cried Chris’s brothers and girlfriend came running up from behind the bushes!  It turns out they got to the park early, scoped out a good spot, and laid a trail of branches so Chris would know where to go! They found their hiding spots and took pictures and videoed the entire proposal!  As we left the park to head back to our house to celebrate we realized that the park sat on a street called Lovers Lane.  We took pictures at both the street sign and a beautiful sign on a nearby house labeled 11 Lovers Lane (perfect since it was April 11^th)!!

  

On our way back to our house to celebrate with Chris’s brothers, Chris seemed nervous and rushed.  I kept trying to reassure him that the surprise was over and I said yes so he didn’t need to be nervous.  Little did i know, our families and friends were back at the house ready to surprise me yet again and to help us celebrate! 

The best day of my life was full of surprises and involved all the people I love the most.  I am one lucky bride to be and so thankful to be marrying my best friend!