Gifting our crew

So after our rambling speeches at the Welcome Cookout thanking everyone, it was gift time!

We'd already gifted our officiant and dear friend Gene with a room at the Sanderling for the weekend. This probably would've been smoother had the hotel not managed to screw up every single reservation we made, including his, which forced him to switch rooms halfway throughout the weekend. The screwup of our reservation forced our first conversation with anyone else the morning after our wedding to be one involving raised voices and flared tempers, which was awesome, and also to pack up and move into the house a day earlier than planned immediately following the post-wedding brunch. But I'll save the bitterness for another post. So anyway... a nice room for Gene! Who deserved it! Yay!



My mom's good friend Sandy helped her tremendously during all things DIY, and also served as our point-person that day, which was really helpful. Sandy's fantastic, and we gave her local jewelry as a way to say thanks in advance for the help we knew we'd need the next day.


To my cousin Zoe, who played violin for us at our wedding - and is packing for a whirlwind music prodigy camp in Europe as I type! - tickets to West Side Story in October, her favorite production that she's never seen.



We gave our mothers the same gift - a gorgeous pair of Tiffany earrings that really suited both of them.We had a special MVP award to pass out, too. It went to my mom as well, which you might expect if you've been reading about her craftiness over the last few months. I mean, look at those fabric pomanders in action!!!! We gave her a hot stone massage two days after the wedding when guests would be gone, so she could really relax and enjoy it. Hilariously, I called her on Monday to remind her about her massage appointment, since we'd never discussed it, and she had no idea she even had one. I'd attached a note explaining the massage to a mini Bliss Triple Oxygen Mask that I wrapped - and she thought her entire thank you gift was the sample mask! Um, no. I mean, it's a great mask, but not that great...


For my dad, I decided to get him three things that he knows and loves: campaign t-shirts, travel coffee mugs, and white hankies. Each had a twist. I had a shirt and mug made on Zazzle with our campaign logo that rocked. The hankie came from Molly and Mom and had "Father of the Bride" embroidered in white with the date. I knew we'd done well when my NM girls said they wanted a shirt and mug, too. ;-)


The gifting to Trevor's dad kicked off the wedding party introductions, since his father was his Best Man. Trevor did a great job talking about each guy standing up there with him and how they represent a different part of his life: his father Dean - family; my brother Lane - my family; Alex - college (and brother-in-law next year!); and Travis - his Dallas friends. Here are the guys, in a photo I think T hates because of his windy hair, but oh well!:

(More screen grab photos, sorry... I'm beginning to think my CD of professional photos was lost in the mail.)


Remember my Christmas gift post when I described the sterling silver "shirt stiffeners" I put in Trevor's stocking? He liked them so much he had a pair made for each of his groomsmen. They're made by Chris Parry, and each was engraved with their names. We'd already mailed the guys their ties, belts, and pocket squares, but we threw their fun socks into the gift bags, too. Finally, Trevor had cufflinks made for each groomsman, and had a blast doing so. Each was from a different etsy seller in mostly red and represented each person individually. Dean received dominoes, Lane Dogfish Ale bottle caps, Alex old-school Nintendo hockey figures, and Travis, a sickle and hammer (inside joke). Here they are, minus my brother, who was late for the "candid getting ready" portion of the afternoon:


Next up, the ladies!!! As I was speaking about my bridesmaids, I inarticulately tried to present a theme of family, calling on the bounty of fantastic girlfriends I'm blessed to have in my life, but who weren't part of the wedding party, first. Our small wedding party really did give it a family structure: my sister Lisa as Best Woman (and about to pop with my first newphew!), Trevor's sisters Morgan and Avery, and my best friend Heather, who has attended more Thanksgiving dinners with my family than I have over the last ten years. Here we are:

I had clutches made for all of us that coordinated with our dresses. You can see my sister holding hers above. They were made my SML Bags, and I had a blast picking out fabric. All of our bags were red silk shantung with a cornflower blue shantung flower on the outside. Mine was lined in the same blue and used a fabric swatch from my wedding dress to cover the buttons. The girls' bags were lined in seersucker and were flat-out adorable. Here's a close-up from SML:

I stuffed the bags full of goodies: their Smitten hairpiece, a pot of sheer red Stila lip gloss, more mini Bliss Triple Oxygen Masks (which all of you should own, by the way), and personalized Sarah+Abraham stationery. Here's Avery with her hairpiece:

That's a wrap!

Next up: our gifts to each other.