7 Unique Bridesmaid Proposals
Now that your bridal client is engaged, it’s time for her to “pop the question”—to her bridesmaids!
You don’t need to take a wedding planning course to know how much time, energy, and money goes into planning a wedding. The bride takes the brunt of the load, but it’s no small commitment for the rest of the bridal party, either. Many brides want to make the experience extra-special for their best friends by personalizing their proposals.
We’ve rounded up some of the most fun, creative, and thoughtful ideas out there, so you can help your bride make the best bridesmaid proposals ever!
1. Something sweet
For the bride who bonds with her friends over delicious desserts, a sweet treat is an obvious choice for a bridesmaid proposal. Plus, this way your client can be one-hundred-percent sure that her girls will actually use the gift!
Your bride can keep it simple by giving each friend a pretty box filled with candy, chocolate, cookies, or a cute cupcake. A label on the inside of the box or a little card asking “will you be my bridesmaid?” gets the message across!
To step it up a little, your client can put her message right on the treat. Think cookies shaped like fancy dresses or cupcakes with the bride’s big question written in icing. Spell it out across a box of chocolates—one letter per truffle—for friends with a cocoa-flavored sweet tooth.
Our top pick? Well, we have to say we love the cupcake-in-a-jar proposal trend that’s popping up across the Internet. Layers of cake, creamy icing, and a yummy topping—all tucked away in a rustic mason jar with your client’s message on the lid. Somehow, anything you can eat out of a jar with a cute spoon just tastes better.
And finally, to avoid tempting the sugar-loving friend who’s trying to watch her weight, these felt fortune cookie bridesmaid proposals keep things sweet—without the sugar.
2. A little sneak peak
Bridesmaid proposals are a relatively recent trend in the wedding world, so chances are your wedding planning course didn’t cover this new hit. That doesn’t mean you can’t help make your bride’s proposal just as much a part of the wedding as the engagement party or the bridal shower, though. If your clients have a theme in mind for their wedding, the bridesmaid proposal is an awesome place to start personalizing!
Take The Knot’s 2016 Dream Wedding couple, NFL player Devon Still and his fiancée Asha Joyce. Football is such a big deal for the couple that it had to be part of their wedding, so Asha brought it to her bridesmaid proposal with personalized jerseys!
Is your bride planning a sunny seaside wedding? Slipping a little message inside a seashell helps set a beachy vibe right from the start. Or maybe she wants to print a proposal that looks just like a plane ticket to hint at her plans for a destination wedding. For a bookish bride with literary friends, a note slipped inside a pretty edition of a romance novel (think Jane Austen, not Harlequin) could set the tone for a wedding inspired by her favorite classics.
3. Pop it—literally
Your bride can literally “pop” the question by sticking her message inside a deflated balloon. Once she’s blown them up she can hand one off to each of her closest friends along with a sharp pin and instructions to give it a poke! For some extra excitement, put some paper confetti or glitter in the balloon along with the message.
Or try the opposite. Help your bride find a place where she can get her proposal custom printed on deflated balloons (bonus points for a cute pattern or color thrown in as well).Then get each bridesmaid to blow it up to read the message!
4. Cute keepsakes
Your bride is picking the most important ladies in her life to fill her bridal party. Why not help her show how much they mean to her with a special keepsake?
Incorporating a favorite photo is easy. It can be as simple as placing a special snapshot inside a card—or getting crafty with a customized proposal frame. A locket also gives your bride the chance to remind her friends of a favorite memory, while also gifting a pretty piece of jewelry.
5. Prepare them for the road ahead
As a professional wedding planner, you know better than anyone that the path from engagement to marriage can be a little bumpy sometimes. Being the wedding planner, you’re there to help your clients deal with the technical stuff, but when it comes to emotional support your bride is definitely going to be turning to her bridesmaids. And that’s not always an easy job!
Your client can make things a little easier on her friends by putting together a DIY bridesmaid box (or, for a little lighthearted fun, a bridesmaid survival kit!). The options for this are endless, but here are a few suggestions for what to include:
- Mini wine or champagne bottle
- Nail polish (match the shade to the wedding colors!)
- A swatch of the wedding colors (or a few, if the bride wants her friends’ input before making the final decision!)
- Lip gloss
- Chocolate or other treats
- Jewelry (maybe something for them to wear on the big day?)
- Homemade “hangover kit” (for the day after the wedding!)
- Favorite photos
- A card outlining her responsibilities
- A handkerchief (for wiping away a few tears at the ceremony)
- A handwritten card
6. Wine
Do we really need to say more? A bottle of wine (or whatever the soon-to-be-bridesmaids like to drink) can be the perfect—and perfectly functional—gift for your client’s closest friends. Pair it with a card, or get some custom labels printed, like these ones. Your bride can customize them with her friend’s names, special messages, or even a photo.
7. Keep it simple
A formal proposal—even a simple DIY one—isn’t everyone’s style. If your bride wants to ask her friends more casually, she can still make it special.
Organizing a special brunch gives her the perfect opportunity to ask everyone at once, plus it gives the whole gang a chance to spend time together before the wedding planning really sets in. For something a little more one-on-one, she can take each friend for coffee, dinner, or hike to plan an outing that’s personalized to every unique friendship.
And for those long-distance friends stuck on the other side of the country (or even further away), a nice card or even just a well-timed phone call can help make the experience something to remember.
