a budget friendly way to ask your friends to be BRIDESMAIDS

Hi friends! Thanksgiving is finally here, and I'm super excited to hangout with family + eat all the things. My favorite Thanksgiving dish is my aunt’s sweet macaroni and cheese. BUT I’m also a huge fan of Thanksgiving desserts.....pecan pie, Mississippi mud pie, brownies, pumpkin pie, fudge.... Thanksgiving sweets are just better than any other holiday treats. Speaking of sweets, I wanted to share how I asked my friends to be bridesmaids! Of course sweet treats were involved!

Weddings can be overwhelming and very expensive, so I wanted to make a conscious effort to ask them in a meaningful way that didn’t cost a fortune. My bridesmaids are super important to me, and I wanted to create a meaningful experience instead of giving them “bridesmaid” knick knacks. I also know they will receive AMAZING gifts throughout the year. I'm very lucky to be working with top notch vendors who are generous enough to give awesome gifts that I can share with my bridesmaids. Some of you may be surprised that I didn't gift them anything but an actual DONUT when asking them to be apart of our big day! Traditionally, you see brides gifting gifts which is such a special and sweet gesture. For me I wanted to focus on the experience and have special photos that we could share for a lifetime! Here are some photos of the set up when they arrived at Shipley's!

Before I dive into decor details, I wanted to first point out a few things I already had. The clear water dispensers are my moms. I have no idea where she purchased them from, but I was able to link some inexpensive ones here! We have both used them multiple times since they are great for parties! Another item I was able to save on was the balloon garland. My MOH is quite the balloon artist! She already had the balloons and accessories required to make the garland! Here is the one accessory she uses for every garland linked here! The glass jar that held the metallic straws came from the dollar store. I purchased it for a previous blog shoot. Another one of my bridesmaids is a calligraphy artist and was able to hand write on the donut boxes!

I knew a fun donut + milk bar would be cost efficient + who doesn't love donuts?! I purchased six dozen donuts and four gallons of white non-fat milk. I ordered strawberry syrup for one of the milk bar dispensers to help create “pink milk” that was super cute and yummy. 

The blush velvet tablecloth came from Jefferson Variety! I got the milk glasses, straws, white boxes, box stuffing, and acyrlic donut holders from Amazon (I've linked each item). The grey velvet ribbon came from Joann Fabrics. All together I spent $79 dollars on decor. ​I think you could ask any of my bridesmaids and they would tell you how much they loved the experience. Especially since a few of them have been in a ton of weddings and this was so special and unique!

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Outfit Details:
Top | Zara
Jeans | AGOLDE
Shoes | Shein
Earrings | Wildflower

All selections and opinions in this post are my own.