I knew I would be giving gifts during our rehearsal dinner, but I did not I would be receiving gifts, too!

While we were waiting for our food to arrive, my soon-to-be father-in-law gave a touching toast. He even choked up a bit when he acknowledged that his “baby boy” was getting married.

He then turned it over to my soon-to-be mother-in-law, who surprised me with a sweet little speech. She explained that when she moved from the east coast to the west coast, Nick’s sister gave her a Tiffany’s heart necklace and said that they would always be close in heart. Mother-in-law later gifted the same heart necklace to her daughter and daughters-in-law. And now it was time to welcome a new woman into the family! I’m privileged to join a family with such strong and devoted women. And what a sweet tradition!

(Side note: When Nick was shopping for a necklace to give to me on our first Christmas together, his sister told him he was not allowed to get the heart necklace. You know what that means … she suspected we may end up together even way back then!)

Next it was our turn. Nick and I presented gifts to everyone playing a part in our big day.

I already told you about the ruby red earrings (I chose The Peach Tree) and the clutches I got for my girls. They loved both! I also slipped chapstick and tic-tacs into each clutch because I didn’t think they should be empty.

In addition to the awesome frames that Nick assembled for the guys, he also had mugs engraved with their initials. After the boys unwrapped them, we collected them back to bring to the reception the following night. Also, our dads got mugs that said “Father of the Bride” and “Father of the Groom” with the date. And we couldn’t leave the bride and groom without sweet drinking vessels. Ours said “Mr.” and “Mrs.,” of course.

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One of the most important things to remember in wedding planning is the list of gifts to be purchased for your bridal party, parents, readers, shower hosts and hostesses, etc.  Traditional gifts such as cuff-links and money clips will always be appropriate tokens of appreciation.  I, however, am a firm believer in giving people something they will love, not something generic in the name of tradition.  Here is our list of wedding gifts, some traditional, some unique, and some down-right random.

Standing up for me was my made-of-honor and my three brothers.  I also had four other ladies who walked down the aisle as bridesmaids (although they didn’t stand in front of church).  My goal was to get them something classy that they would be able to use right away as well as something sentimental.

I ended up gifting each of them with a different color leather Coach change purse.  They came in yellow, pink and gold.  Purchased here.

The other gift I got for the ladies was an even bigger hit. I got them all copies of the 5 Year Diary. I have always loved writing in a journal and the layout of this one is beyond cool. Check it out here.

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Before I start my post today, I just wanted to tell you sweet readers thank you for your excitement about our house, and we are happy to announce that they have accepted our offer!  We are doing inspections this week, and we close on August 10th!!  It is so surreal and exciting.  I told Vince the thing I’m the most excited about is putting our new KitchenAid Mixer right here on the counter:

So, on to today’s post:

My mom and I were browsing Etsy for ideas (naturally) for bridesmaid gifts and we came across this pattern that we love from seller Keyka Lou:

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Jessica from How About Orange always has the craftiest and most genius ideas. This time, she’s shown us how to made these adorable gift bags from envelopes — and she’s even given us a download for the pretty labels!

{Tutorial found at How About Orange}