For as long as I can remember, one of the most exciting things of planning a wedding for me, was the idea of having my best friends by my side. Because my immediate family lives in Russia, over the last 10 years my friendships have grown to be even more important to me than they were before. My friends have become my family (no matter how cliché that sounds), and I could not imagine my special day without some special girls by my side. When Steve and I got engaged, these 6 girls were the first people that I told(after calling my mom and dad), so I couldn’t wait to start planning my Bridesmaid Proposal, to ask if these ladies would agree to stand by me on one of the biggest days of my life! Together with the amazing team at The Capital Moloko, we planned an unforgettable day for my girls that I wanted to share with you guys, as well as share some ideas of how you could ask your bridesmaids too! I hope that these ideas inspire you, for when it is your time to Pop The Question!
Now, I know that asking your bridesmaid doesn’t need to be an “extra” affair, but I am in the fortunate position where I could go a little bit over the top, so when the Capital Moloko team and I spoke about this event, we had a few things in mind, but it all turned out so much better than I could have ever imagined! The Capital Moloko can do this for anyone’s special day such as a Bridesmaid Proposal, a Bridal Shower or a birthday party! I’ll have a separate post about this wonderful hotel next week and why you should use it as the destination for your next special event (spoiler alert- they have the most amazing staff that will go above and beyond for your special moment!). This is what we got up, and here are a few cute ideas and elements that you can include to ask your own bridesmaids.
Decorate a private area with special memories and fun décor.
At the Capital Moloko there is a place called The Red Lounge, which is often used for private events and conferences. Having a place to yourself is important, which is why I wanted to do something like this, rather than just taking the girls out for lunch. It’s always special to include personalized moments, so I bought 2 frames at CNA which I filled with photos of the girls, and then photos of Steve and I- after all, we are gathered here because he asked me to marry him ;). The Capital team also included photos of me and the girls as a slide show on a TV which adds a lovely touch(and just shows what a thoughtful team they have!).
For the fun décor bit I got some “I Do Crew” letter balloons from China Town that we hung up as well as some “Hip Hip Hooray” and “I Do Crew” balloons from Party Spot. We did a little champagne bar (I mean, this is a celebration) on arrival and got cute straws, napkins and “Let’s Party” alice bands to fill it up with. I got the “Champagne And Chill” stand from Typo last year, so I suggest that before you even go shopping, you look around your house and see what you can already utilize! I also already had the light box from Typo that I got as a gift 2 years ago, and I added some bridal photo props that I got as a gift from Bride and Co when we got engaged. The decorating part cost me about R600 excluding drinks, so it wasn’t bad at all!
Dig around your home to see what décor items you can utilize, and even ask friends if you can borrow something of theirs (everyone always has that one friend that is the hostess with the mostess, and has party décor on hand). This is where I asked my girls, and it was a special moment, we cried, we laughed and we celebrated!
Take your girls out for a drink.
This is a great idea to do, if you don’t want to go all out, but still want to do something special for your friends. The Capital Moloko team decorated the pool area for us with a giant unicorn floaty and little unicorn drink floaties, so why not do something similar at home if the weather allows? You can get the cutest floaties at Cotton On, Mr. Price Home and Party Spot, and if you, or your parents and friends have a pool at home, this is a lovely setting! Or you can just head over to the Capital Moloko, and they will set it up for you 😉
Plan a PJ sleepover and have a viewing of Bridesmaids (or your favorite movie)
Coincidentally Bridesmaids happens to be my favorite movie AND it was fitting for the occasion, so the team set up a little private movie theater in the hotel. There is nothing like a good old girls sleepover, and asking your bridesmaids is the perfect time to re-ignite this cool ritual! You can watch a movie and then chat all things boys and bridal until the early hours of the morning. Plus, you’re in your pjs so you are super comfy. This is a fun idea to do at home, or you can treat the girls to to a hotel stay as well.
Do a Candy Station and a Make Your Own popcorn bar
The Capital team really went ALL out for our amazing candy station, and I hope that the girls can re-create this for my bridal shower 😉 I personally love a little “Make Your Own” popcorn station where I can go crazy with the popcorn flavor, throw in some smarties and cover it all with gummy bears on the top(don’t judge). I’m a bit of a home-body so going out to a club doesn’t sound like fun to me, but watching a movie with candy, popcorn, hot chocolate and yes, a little bit of G&T is actual heaven to me. You can also do this for during the day, or by the pool, its a lovely touch and delicious touch to any Bridesmaids Proposal.
Take the girls out for dinner and wine and dine them!
There is not much that compares to a good meal with a glass of wine, with good company. One of the more traditional (and probably the easiest) ways to ask your bridesmaids, is to take them out for dinner. We were spoiled at Reuben’s Restaurant (I have only been to the Cape Town branch before) and it was simply delicious. I will touch more on this amazing restaurant next week, but as I’ve been to Reuben’s before I can confidently tell you that it is indeed worth all of the hype and the rave reviews that it gets!
Spoil the girls with a Spa Treatment
My ultimate “Treat Yo’ Self” spoil , is always taking myself to the spa. It’s not a cheap exercise, so when I really do feel like I need a treat, I book myself a back massage. So what better way to spoil your special girls than by treating them to massages (or mani-pedis too) too! We indulged in a 30 minute back, neck and shoulder massage at Camelot Spa, which is also at the Capital Moloko’s property. I will chat more about the actual spa in my post next week, but if you have a little bit more money to play around with, my first choice would always be to spend a half day at the spa with my bridesmaids.
Other cute ways to pop the Question
Plan a wine and cheese tasting evening.
Easy to do at home, and especially fun if you yourself are a wine and cheese lover.
Have a high tea party
Always a firm favourite in my books, some classy tea and scones time with your ladies is the best!
Gift Them With A Special Gift Box
I put together a lovely box of goodies for each of the girls, with some of my favorite things, and some things that they could use for the wedding day. I searched high and low on Instagram for some of the items, and here is a list of cute little things that you can add to your bridesmaid’s gift box.
The Boxes– I searched long for some “Will You Be My Bridesmaid” boxes, until I eventually just decided to make my own. I found some beautiful personalized boxes on Le Lapa, but at R350 a box, I couldn’t afford them, because I have 6 bridesmaids. To Be Gift Boxes are also an option and there are even cute pre-packed boxes on TakeALot. I chose to get my own pretty boxes from Mr. Price Home for R70 each. I printed my favorite photos with each bridesmaid, with special notes on them from Nifty250, and stuck it on the box, as well as inside the box.
“Bridesmaids” mugs– Because I’m a huge fan of tea, I had to gift each of my girls a very large tea mug, so that they can also enjoy the tea with me while we do wedding planning. I searched around, and ended up using Shop Cocoa on Instagram, as it was the best value for what you get. The mugs were R50 each, and she also does some pretty rose gold ones for R60 each. Other suppliers that you can check out are Bride Squad SA and Net Florist.
Personalized Notebooks– The lovely Kate from Love And Sparkles gifted me with my own “Future Mrs Devine” mug and “Bride’s Notes” notebook when I got engaged, so I wanted to get little notebooks for the girls to write down all of my requests! 😉 The notebooks are a sweet touch, and you can leave a personalized note inside it for each of the girls. They are R35 each.
Earrings from Cotton On- I thought this could be cute for the girls to wear on the wedding day. I got them each 2 sets of earrings, and I got it on a really good promo at the Cotton On Factory Store! You should check them out because every now and again they will have promo on jewelry, and I got 12 pairs of earrings for just R200.
Bridesmaids DVD– As this is my favorite movie, this was also super fitting for the occasion! I added this as a cute touch, so the girls can always remember who they got this DVD from! I ordered these from TakeALot for R50 each.
“I Do Crew” sashes– Who doesn’t love a little dress up? Bride and Co kindly gifted me the “Bride To Be” sash when I got engaged, and I got the girls these matching ones from Party Spot (R250 for 6 sashes). We wore them on the day, and we will also wear them when it’s time for my bridal shower and bachelorette. This is from a brand called Ginger Ray, which I love and always buy my party decor from.
Harry Potter House PJs- I know that a lot of the brides do lovely robes for their girls that say “Bridesmaid” at the back. I looked into it and found a couple of suppliers, my favorite beings Lilies and Lust and Bride Squad SA. I decided that this is something that I want to do for the actual wedding, rather than the Bridesmaids Proposal party, so I got these super cute sleep T-shirts from Typo. I’m a huge Harry Potter fan, and have been obsessed with the book since I was 12(for a while, I was convinced that my name should have been Hermione!). Because we were watching a movie that night, I thought it would be nice for the girls to have something to wear for the night. These were R300 each, and I knew which house each of the girls belonged to (because if you’re friends with me, we have the “Which Harry Potter house do you belong to?” conversation at the start of our friendship ;)).
Beauty Bits– As I come from the beauty world, I needed to include a little treat from the beauty world in each of boxes! Each of my girls got a fragrance (I’ve been stocking up on them for a few staff sales now ;)), an Urban Decay VICE Lipstick in a neutral shade for the wedding and an Essie nail polish. A nail polish is so cute to include inside the gift box, and Essie nail polishes are just R99 each! A lipstick is a bit more of a spoil, but I wanted them to have something to wear on the wedding day.
I hope that this post has given you some inspiration for your special day. This day would not have been possible without the amazing team at the Capital Moloko!
Professional photos by Reflection 9 Photography
Elsandra Gouws says
Wow!! Wish I was one of your bridesmaids!!