Sooo, my baby sister is OFFICALLY off the market and a Bride-to-Be…AKA, shit just got real! OMG, I have soo many different emotions at the moment, but my biggest is EXCITEMENT! Anyone that knows my sister, knows she has been planning her wedding since before she had boyfriends, lol…true story! She has Pinterest boards dedicated to that special day and has always known where and what time of the year she has wanted to get married. Not to mention, it’s a WEDDING people!!!! It’s one of the biggest parties you can plan, coordinate and execute! By now, our B2B followers have seen our love for celebrations, but now, we get to really go BIG…so stay tuned!
Nevertheless, aside from party planning, I really enjoy buying or making the perfect gift, especially for a special occasion. As soon as I found out my sister was going to be proposed to, my mind went a million miles an hour, trying to come up with the perfect engagement gift. Already knowing a couple things about her upcoming wedding, I wanted to personalize it and make it as special and surprising as I could.
First of all, my sister has ALWAYS wanted to get married in New Orleans! We know and love that city well, so I had to bring a little NOLA to her gift. If the infamous beignet and coffee mix from Café Du Monde didn’t give it away, I don’t know what to tell you. Knowing their soon to be engagement date already, I really wanted to give her a beautiful frame that was engraved with their names and the date of their engagement, for I knew, it would soon hold a very special moment captured that day. I actually received the same frame I gifted my sister, from my Aunt Judy a couple weeks after my own engagement. It still sits on our dresser and I am reminded daily, of that special night. Knowing how much I love that frame, I knew Caro would too. One other extra special gift I wanted my sister to have, was the dainty little ring holder I have and use every day that our mom gave me when I got engaged. I think it’s such a great engagement gift and to be honest, it’s not soo easy to find something pretty and feminine to hold your most precious rings!
Of course, the obvious wedding magazines and planner/organizer were included in the basket. My sister and her fiancé (OMG that sounds so formal!!) love to cook so I for sure knew I was going to add a cook book in there. I went to Anthropologie for some inspiration (it’s also one of mine & Caro’s favorite stores) and saw some great books. There were quite a few “newlywed” ones, but I rather save those for closer to or after the wedding. Then I found the perfect book, Date Night In! The “date nights” have the recipes for full on date nights - cocktails, appetizer or salad, main entrée and dessert. GENIOUS! And let’s be honest, all young couples need to save money, so this was a win/win. I took a picture of the book to do a little more research and check the reviews. Not only did it have great reviews, it was almost half the price on Amazon…this MOH scored bigtime!
One of my favorite gifting store’s is Francesca’s Closet!!! This is always a go to for me, especially if I am looking for cute filler gifts, like this engagement basket. They had an entire bridal/wedding table filled with cute gifts. Again, I wasn’t looking for Mrs. items, BUT they had the most adorable beer opener that was wooden and engraved Mr. & Mrs.. My sister and her fiancé love drinking different beers and he even made his own tap at home, so I thought it would go perfectly in the bar area. I found a yummy gardenia-smelling candle that had a gold lid and engagement ring on the glass. (My sister and I love all things gold too..lol) I fell in love with this little wooden frame I found that read “Every Brunette Needs a Blonde Best Friend”. This is sooo my sister and me. We even have nicknames, Serena and Blair and our blog name…hello!..total sign to buy it. I will definitely be back to Francesca’s for a later date.
To finish off my basket of goodies, I made a lap at Target and Homegoods, other great gifting stores. I found the softest long sleeve t in the pajama section at Target..bright pink with a big ring on it, soo appropriate. It’s soo cute and cozy, you can even wear it out. And at Homegoods, I found another wooden frame that read “Happily ever after starts here”..this was perfect and ended up being the main focus of the basket, when it came time to wrapping. I also bought a rustic crate from there to house all of Caro’s gifts. I wrapped them in cellophane and added a bouquet of engagement balloons to the top, along with a card.
Note to self: Don’t put balloons in the trunk of an Uber! The big ring balloon popped before my sister could see her gift ☹ lesson learned!
Hope you are inspired to shop around when looking for the perfect gift. And remember, always think about the person you are buying for. Personalized touches go a long way and can be extremely meaningful. It’s not about the price of the gift. It's really about what the gift will mean to that person. Happy shopping and stay tuned for more wedding/bridal info in the months to come!!
Xoxo,
Sylvia – Maid (ugh-Matron) of Honor